Why were Americans so paranoid about people being communist spies?

Answer 1

Americans were paranoid about communist spies during the Cold War due to the intense ideological conflict between the U.S. and the Soviet Union, which was marked by fears of nuclear war and the spread of communism. The Red Scare, particularly in the late 1940s and 1950s, fueled this paranoia, as high-profile espionage cases and accusations—such as those involving Julius and Ethel Rosenberg—suggested that communists had infiltrated American institutions. The government's aggressive anti-communist stance, exemplified by McCarthyism, further amplified public anxiety, leading many to suspect even their neighbors of being potential spies or sympathizers. This climate of fear was exacerbated by Propaganda that portrayed communism as an existential threat to American values and democracy.