The House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC)
Hollywood Ten
Decades ago, in the later part of the 1940’s and 1950’s, Americans were very fearful about the ideas of communism spreading to the United States. Considering this, they launched a system allowing them to investigate alleged disloyalty; they called this the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC). Their initial plan was to step up its efforts to expose and eliminate communist in the American society. In addition to focusing on labor unions, government officials, and militaries’, the HUAC turned its attention to Hollywood in 1947. More than 40 workers in the film industry received subpoenas ordered for them to help uncover communist, but 10 of those people refused to testify in court, giving them the famous nickname of: The Hollywood Ten.
There wasn’t any reason for the film industry to have been made a target for the HUAC; there were no leading connections between communist and screenwriters, actors, producers, or anyone in the movie industry for that matter. However, refusing to testify in court made those specific 10 prominent directors and writers look exceptionally guilty and suspicious. By the next year, in 1948, the Hollywood Ten was convicted and sentenced for an entire year in prison and they each had to pay a one thousand dollar fine. But the question is, were those men even …show more content…
This means that writers can write what they want, produce what they want, and say what they want, if they aren’t breaking any of the laws. HUAC violated this Amendment because they did not consider that the Hollywood Ten were Americans who could express their beliefs on TV just like anyone else. When the ten studious men refused to answer the committee’s unconstitutional questions, and the HUAC decided to throw them in prison because of their uncooperating, the board was guilty again for violating the Bill of Rights. This time it was the breach of the Fifth
Decades ago, in the later part of the 1940’s and 1950’s, Americans were very fearful about the ideas of communism spreading to the United States. Considering this, they launched a system allowing them to investigate alleged disloyalty; they called this the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC). Their initial plan was to step up its efforts to expose and eliminate communist in the American society. In addition to focusing on labor unions, government officials, and militaries’, the HUAC turned its attention to Hollywood in 1947. More than 40 workers in the film industry received subpoenas ordered for them to help uncover communist, but 10 of those people refused to testify in court, giving them the famous nickname of: The Hollywood Ten.
There wasn’t any reason for the film industry to have been made a target for the HUAC; there were no leading connections between communist and screenwriters, actors, producers, or anyone in the movie industry for that matter. However, refusing to testify in court made those specific 10 prominent directors and writers look exceptionally guilty and suspicious. By the next year, in 1948, the Hollywood Ten was convicted and sentenced for an entire year in prison and they each had to pay a one thousand dollar fine. But the question is, were those men even …show more content…
This means that writers can write what they want, produce what they want, and say what they want, if they aren’t breaking any of the laws. HUAC violated this Amendment because they did not consider that the Hollywood Ten were Americans who could express their beliefs on TV just like anyone else. When the ten studious men refused to answer the committee’s unconstitutional questions, and the HUAC decided to throw them in prison because of their uncooperating, the board was guilty again for violating the Bill of Rights. This time it was the breach of the Fifth