Communists. He would find evidence that could be exaggerated to make people sound bad. He…
McCarthyism, or the time known as the McCarthy Era, dominated our country from 1950-1954. During this time, there were many hearings in which people suspected of being related in some way to communism were interviewed and forced to give up names of others. If they refused to give up names of others, they were put in prison.…
The topic I chose to write about is the McCarthy witch hunts. The McCarthy witch hunt trials all started because of the fear of Communism in America which was known as the Red Scare. In the late 1940s a U.S senator in Congress, named Joseph McCarthy started to carry out witch-hunts in search of Communist supporters. Joseph McCarthy was a paranoid man, he questioned and accused many people of being communist or spies for the Soviet Union with having little or no evidence, This is known as McCarthyism.…
Former senator Joseph Richard McCarthy of Wisconsin was born to a poor Irish Catholic family in Grand Chute. McCarthy was well trusted by the American public for the simple reason that he was not a Washington insider and knew the struggles of being underprivileged. Unlike many other politicians, he did not waste time practicing social niceties and preferred to behave like the common American. He did not hesitate to present this type of image of himself to the public and as a consequence, he earned much support from Americans who felt underrepresented for a long time. American citizens were able to relate to McCarthy’s story and lifestyle and therefore, they felt that he was fit to represent them. Additionally, Joseph McCarthy had established a courageous and patriotic image of himself through service…
Joseph McCarthy was a U.S. Republican Senator for the U.S. State Department. In 1946 Joseph McCarthy, who was one of the youngest to run for office, was elected to the U.S State Department and was reelected in 1952. When he was reelected he had more power to integrate witness that they said was a blatant violation of their civil rights. Because of this act more than 2,000 government employees lost their job. McCarthy was a chair member of the Senate’s subcommittee. He took on various tasks but one that stood out the most was the investigation of the 205 communist members that he said were “working and shaping policy” in the U.S State Department. This was later known as the “Red Scare”. When McCarthy was reelected in 1952 he became the chairman of the Senate's Committee on Government Operations, where he worked as an anti-communist, investigating and question those who are suspected.…
Joseph McCarthy was a junior senator from Wisconsin who gave a speech in West Virginia in February 1950 in which he made the threat of communism clear to the people, “Today, only six years later, there are 800 million people under the absolute domination of Soviet Russia - an increase of over 400 percent. On our side the figure has shrunk to around 500 million. In other words, in less than six years the odds have changed from 9 to 1 in our favor to 8 to 5 against us” (Document G). The Soviet Union, whose form of government is communism, are extraordinarily dangerous. With the rate they are spreading world domination would not be far. With the 800 million the Soviet Russia has under their hand they can take on big powers such as the US. The…
One of these ideologies was the fight over the Second Red Scare. The Second Red Scare was a fear of the spread of communism that took place in the 1940’s and 50’s. The first Red Scare that occurred was in the early 1900’s. The fear of original Red Scare was back due to many events such sorts of events such as the McCarthy series. Joseph McCarthy was a Republican senator from Wisconsin. He was strongly anti-communism and promoted the Red Scare through his television show. On his show, McCarthy was able to convince millions of viewers about communist infiltration in the United States. These infiltrations were involved in the United States government and also the army. Capitol hill did not take what McCarthy was doing slightly and considered it “bullying tactics” (Carlin 2017). The following election, McCarthy was replaced as the head of the investigating committee which bring an end to his anti - communist influence.…
Hysteria, pandemonium, chaos, words that attempt to describe the state of America during the horrific period known to history as the "Red Scare". A coup of power in American life was recently completed in Senator Joseph McCarthy's rise to national attention as "judge, jury, prosecutor, castigator, and press agent, all in one." (Army-McCarthy Hearings) The Wisconsin Republican Senator was successfully trampling the State Department and other federal agencies, filling each day's headlines with new accusations of Communists inside American society. Perhaps the biggest change in communication, the television, was just now coming into trend. Notably successful in spreading both news and hysteria, it would prove to be crucial during McCarthy's…
McCarthyism was introduced by Senator Joseph McCarthy during the Second Red Scare that in general lasted between 1950 and 1956. During this period, McCarthy accused thousands of Americans of being "communists or communist sympathizers," leading to government and private-industry investigations and hearings. McCarthy's primary targets were "government employees, those in the entertainment industry, educators and union activists" ("McCarthyism").…
Between the early 1940s and the late 1950s, the United States of America was threatened by the rapid growth of communism in the USSR. Many Americans came to believe that Communist supporters had infiltrated the American borders and were beginning to take over. Among those believers was the Senator of Wisconsin, Joseph McCarthy. McCarthy gave a speech on communism in front of the Republican women’s group on February 7, 1950, in Wheeling, West Virginia. In this speech, McCarthy addressed that he had a government document listing over two hundred communists who were currently serving in the U.S. Government and military. This serious accusation thus launched the Red Scare in the United States. Arthur Miller alludes to this historical event in his…
McCarthyism was the fear of communism which spread across America in the 1950's. The hysteria of the American citizens was due to the threat that communism would spread across the globe. This is when the paranoia began to start. During this period the FBI accused many people of communism, meaning that the accused suffered from job loss, and many of their lives, as they knew them, were destroyed. The movement took the name from the anti-communist leader Joseph McCarthy. Hence, McCarthyism.…
Joseph McCarthy was the Senator of Wisconsin and as his term was ending, he knew his first term did not appeal to the people and he began to look for ways to secure his seat as the Senator for another term. During this time the people were already terrified of communism due to “the Soviet Union exploded its first atomic bomb. Later that year, Communist forces declared victory in the Chinese Civil War and established the People’s Republic of China. In 1950, North Korea’s Soviet-backed army invaded its pro-Western neighbors to the South; in response, the United States entered the conflict on the side of South Korea.” McCarthy then claimed he knew of 205 people in the State Department who were communists. The people became terrified and demanded that the list of those must be intensely interviewed to determine if they were in fact communists. The people on the list were not communists, but for two years he investigated them and it became known as McCarthyism. He also accused many public citizens such as newspaper writers who went against his views. Then in October of 1953, McCarthy began to go downhill. He accused the military to be communists. President Dwight D. Eisenhower decided that was enough and it was time for him to step in. “Through the televised investigations into the United States Army and the reporters’ attack, the nation grew to realize that McCarthy was “evil and unmatched in malice.”” In…
McCarthyism not only destroyed the lives and careers of many Americans but also the innocent image of the country. Senator Joe McCarthy from Wisconsin was the same as any man. But when he cried Communism the world seemed to listen.<br><br>Following the Cold War between Russia and the United States there came many hardships, such as unemployment and high inflation. These hardships produced a restless society. The society then looked for something or someone to blame (Fried, 39). They found someone to blame. Communists. Throughout the country there was a witch hunt known as the Red Scare. A basic idea was formed: Communism was evil. Anyone who participated in such evil was considered illegitimate and were to be excluded from such things as sharing ideas, and jobs (Reeves, 136). This fear of Communism or anti-Communism as it was called could be described as a type of "virus." When all was calm in America the virus would fade, but the moment a crisis struck, the virus came back stronger than ever (Feuerlicht, 35). Communism was a threat not only for countries overseas but a threat for America and its people. It was a threat on the American way of life, a bruise on the phrase "the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." (Feuerlicht, 45) And McCarthy helped spread this fear.<br><br>McCarthy and his ways challenged the Bill of Rights. "When free speech or due process are denied to any individual everyone's rights are jeopardized. Today's oppressors may become tomorrow's accursed group." (Feuerlicht, 154) And nothing is guaranteed more than the destruction of America when the freedoms promised by the Bill of Rights are denied (Feuerlicht, 154). McCarthy installed a fear in the people. But people feared tremendously the loss of their jobs. They feared that their political afflictions would reflect on their job status (Reeves, 99). By trying to keep America from becoming a Communist nation, McCarthy and his followers turned the country into an anti - Communist…
The Communist Red Scare was defined as “the fear that communist both outside and inside American were working to destroy American life.” Page 868 of ("Printice Hall United States History." Pearson EText. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 May 2017.) The Red Scare was first mentioned in the 1919’s through the 1920’s but it didn’t go deeper wider, or lasted longer than the later 1940’s Red…
A Red Scare is a period in time where there is a fear of communism. Throughout most of the 20th century, we, as a general public, have worried about communism within our continental borders (5 paraphrase). In November of 1917, the first Red Scare followed the Bolshevik Revolution in the Soviet Union, now know as communist country, Russia, and didn't end until 1920 (5 paraphrase). During this time, the communist party was almost irraticated because of the fear instilled in the members of the party due to the accusations flying from every direction (4 paraphrase). Needless to say, the hysteria over the existence of Communists in the United States must have started somewhere, and eventually spiraled out of control.…