We chose the topic of Second Red Scare, known as McCarthyism, because we had expressed an interest in the Cold War

era. McCarthyism and the actions of the FBI were especially intriguing because of their contentious nature and significance in American history. In our research we first looked to credible encyclopedias which gave basic information and numerous external links that led us to more reliable sources. We were able to find several primary sources early in our research, such as the McCarthy-Welch exchange transcripts and letters from President Eisenhower. Easy accessibility of strong sources like these confirmed that our topic is researchable and supportable. We next narrowed our topic to the FBI's role in the Second Red Scare. We aimed to answer questions regarding why the government and FBI were compelled to rid America of communists, and how America was affected as a whole. We then consulted the local library and acquired strong sources including an Edward Morrow documentary called The McCarthy Years and the book Many Are the Crimes by Ellen Schrecker. Next, we dove deeper into our primary sources to find evidence on specific events and personal opinions. Since the McCarthy era was controversial, many sources we found were biased. However, we continued to read these sources in order to gain a better understanding and broader perspective. We next synthesized our information into an argument outline and made diagrams of our arguments so that we could find and address any holes. Having these resources gave us a foundation to build the rough draft of our website. They gave us clear separation in our arguments that helped us separate our subpages. We enhanced the information from our outline and put it on our website. Finding images was task that was made easier because photography existed during the mid nineteenth century, and because printed articles dominated American media. We carefully chose from the vast selection of visuals the ones that would help enforce our argument. We agreed to convey our project through a website because it is accessible to edit virtually anywhere and provides a medium for mixed media and clear organization. We chose pages that would allow us to provide context, information about government and FBI actions, and significance, in a logical and neat manner. During the mid 20th century, the fear of Communism swept America during the Second Red Scare. As countries such across the globe fell to Communism, the United States government felt the responsibility to prevent a Communist overthrow in America in order to "secure the blessings of liberty." This responsibility resulted in aggressive government actions, executed by the FBI, which infringed upon the rights on the American people. Americans who were fired or arrested were often assumed guilty, and the actions taken by the FBI to prove their guilt were questionable and sometimes illegal. Throughout the Second Red Scare as the FBI executed more and more arrests and investigations its power continued to grow into a national threat to the rights of the American people.