We, the Hollywood Ten, consisting of motion-picture producers, directors, and screenwriters, were demanded to be questioned by the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) in 1947, but refused to do so. This lead to us being blacklisted by many Hollywood studios during the Cold War Era.

Alvah Bessie, Herbert Biberman, Lester Cole, Edward Dmytryk, Ring Lardner, Jr., John Howard Lawson, Albert Maltz, Samuel Ornitz, Adrian Scott, and Dalton Trumbo

Due to the United States fighting the Soviets in the Cold War, and them being communist, America wanted nothing to do with that form of government. This only made us, who believed in communism, more of an enemy to the HUAC.

The HUAC was formed to try and prevent communist ideas from coming and spreading throughout the United States. In 1947, the HUAC came to Hollywood where numerous people were found to be communist. The HUAC began calling people in from Hollywood to testify, and when it came our turn, we refused to testify, which made them leery of our beliefs. 

As anti-communism only progressed among America, we were becoming fearful for our careers. Eventually, in April of 1948, all ten of us were sentenced to prison for one year and were all required to pay a $1,000 fine. Although many people were afraid to speak out, a lot of communists protested for us to get out of prison. 

After being in prison for long enough, a member of our group, Edward Dmytryk, decided that he had had enough and agreed to unite with the government, and additionally gave 26 names of supposed communists. Due to communist affiliations, our group was boycotted and not necessarily hired in Hollywood ever again, with the exception of Edward Dmytryk for awhile. This lead to many member of our group creating fake screen names and still continuing to write scripts, but eventually most of us were allowed to write under our own names.

It was very hard for us to get back into Hollywood, but eventually most of us were able to at least beginning writing screenplays again.

Essential Question: To what extent are Americans willing to sacrifice liberty for a feeling of security? 

We, the Hollywood Ten, sacrificed out own freedom by expressing our beliefs because to us, this was more important than staying quiet and was going to have a larger impact on the nation. Ultimately, we got thrown in jail for doing so, yet there were also lots of people who wanted to do what we did but were too afraid. If it were not for us standing up, there would possibly still be communism issues within our country. Because we did this, there are Americans that now feel more secure, simply due to sacrificing our liberty.