Alger Hiss and the Rosenbergs

In the years following World War II, American paranoia shifted from the Nazis and the Japanese to the communists, especially in the Soviet Union. This paranoia fueled many spy cases; the two most famous cases were those of Alger Hiss and the Rosenbergs. In 1948, a former Communist spy, Whittaker Chambers, accused Alger Hiss of spying on the United States for the Soviet Union. The biggest piece of evidence was microfilm of government documents supposedly found on Hiss’s typewriter. Congressman Richard Nixon gained fame through trying to prosecute Hiss, who was convicted of perjury and sent to jail. Hiss claimed he was innocent, but later evidence showed he was guilty.

The next case began with the explosion of the Soviet Union’s first atomic bomb, three to five years earlier than expected, On September 3, 1949. Klaus Fuchs admitted giving information about the American atomic bomb to the Soviet Union. Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, minor activists in the American Communist Party, were implicated in the case. The Rosenbergs denied the charges and pleaded the 5th amendment, but they were found guilty of espionage. The couple was sentenced to death by electric chair in June 1953, despite heavy public protest.

By Andrew and Bonan

Atomic Bomb Ends the War

As the Allies began to win the war in the Pacific, President Truman sought to avoid invasion of Japan and looked to alternative methods to end the war. The lone solution was a project former president Franklin Delano Roosevelt left behind, the Manhattan Project. Set up by the Office of Scientific Research and Development, the Manhattan Project was started at Columbia University and had as many as 600,000 workers involved. The result of the Manhattan Project research was the atomic bomb, a devastatingly powerful weapon that would be used to end the war. The first test of the bomb was done in New Mexico on July 16, 1945, and was a success. President Truman ordered for two bombs to dropped on Japan on July 25, 1945. The U.S. gave Japan a chance to surrender, but the Japanese refused on August 6, the Enola Gay, a B-29 bomber, dropped the first atomic bomb "Little Boy" on the city of Hiroshima, leveling the city in 43 seconds. Once again, the U.S. gave Japan a chance to give up, only to be refused again. On August 9, the atomic bomb "Fat Man" was dropped over the city of Nagasaki. 200,000 people were killed by the blast or radiation from the bomb. Emperor Hirohito was devastated by the destruction, and ordered the military leaders to surrender, ending the war in the Pacific.

By Andrew, and Bonan