On United States soil, American citizens began to fear that there were Soviet spies everywhere. The accusations of Alger Hiss aroused their first severe suspicions and paranoia how to write an essay to college. In 1948 Whittaker Chambers, a senior editor at Time magazine and a former Communist, accused Alger Hiss of having been a member of an underground organization of the United States Communist Party. Chambers repeatedly changed his story when asked to testify to this in court. Hiss was convicted on several counts of perjury but was never able to be convicted of espionage. Nevertheless, paranoia spread across America. (Alger Hiss Par 2,3)