During the 1930s, when the United States was economically crippled by the Great Depression (1929–41; see entry under 1930s—The Way We Lived in volume 2), some Americans came to believe that the capitalist system (where production and distribution of goods and services are owned by private groups or individuals) had failed. A few who were looking for economic alternatives joined the American Communist Party. Others simply were liberals and humanists; they were concerned about the future of their country and disturbed by the suffering of their fellow citizens. After World War II (1939–45), and at the beginning of the subsequent Cold War (1945–91; see entry under 1940s—The Way We Lived in volume 3) pitting the United States against the Soviet Union, the House UnAmerican Activities Committee (HUAC), a subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives, began investigating alleged influence by communists (who support the control of an economic system by...