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McCarthyism and its impact on society
Essay on the rise of mccarthyism
Essay on the rise of mccarthyism
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Thousands of people were arrested and taken away from families in the 1960s. This was all because of something most of them did not do. Joseph McCarthy accused people of being communists without using solid evidence to prove it. In result of this, many people lost jobs, friends, some even had their whole life ruined because of it. If a parent got accused, their child lost friends, parents telling their children to stay away from them. This was the norm in the 1950s-everyone was afraid of the “reds”, or communists. The cold war had a large affect on this, because it is when America became afraid of communists or Russians. McCarthyism affected everyone in America Most citizens were afraid of the reds, some were former or current reds, some were accused and persecuted for being an assumed red. It’s clear that McCarthyism played a big role in the development of America.
McCarthyism became a household term, not only associated with the red scare. It is now a term used for any accusation without any evidence. This time period was not the first time people were accused of being a communist, however it did become a very big deal in the U.S. and happened most during that time. The idea of McCarthyism was developed even before McCarthy, he just made the idea popular. It’s origins are from many things. Every time the U.S. skirmishes with Russia, the idea increased. Also, according to "The Cold War Home Front: McCarthyism.", Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal was supposedly linked to communism. The idea came from a lot of places, McCarthy being the main one.
McCarthy was not exactly the picture-perfect senator. In fact, most considered him “one of the least qualified, most corrupt politicians of his time” McCarthyism was first used by him as a...
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...d show how media has an effect on people. One would think that America would learn from their mistake, however, McCarthyism still exists in this country today with terrorism. Hopefully, this will be our last time period with this unconstitutional act.
Works Cited
"The Cold War Home Front: McCarthyism." The Cold War Home Front: McCarthyism. Web. 19 Feb. 2014.
"Joseph R. McCarthy." History.com. A&E Television Networks. Web. 18 Feb. 2014.
"McCarthyism, Red Scare, and Domestic Subversion." Discover the Networks. Web. 19 Feb. 2014.
"McCarthyism." Ushistory.org. Independence Hall Association. Web. 19 Feb. 2014.
Miller, Arthur. The Crucible. New York, NY: Penguin, 1996. Print.
"Red Scare." History.com. A&E Television Networks. Web. 18 Feb. 2014.
Schrecker, Ellen. The Age of McCarthyism: A Brief History with Documents. Boston: Bedford of St. Martin's, 1994. Print.
Almost instantly after the end of World War Two, the tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union began to tear away at the thin bond formed by the two counties' alliance in the war. McCarthy and many other republican politicians believed that the democratic party, along with President Harry S. Truman, were not harsh enough on the communist party and they strongly opposed Roosevelt's New Deal. When the Republicans took control of the presidency in 1952, "McCarthyism," as it is now known. This new movement, McCarthyism, accused some Americans of being communist’s sympathizers and people that were suspected o...
By the time Joseph McCarthy gave his Lincoln day speech the Red Scare in America was on full blast. Just a year prior to the speech the Soviets had successfully tested a nuclear bomb and China fell to the communists. There were problems both internationally with the Soviet incursion into Eastern Europe and domestically with Soviet spies in the United States. On February 9th 1950 this Senator from Wisconsin took advantage of the opportunity at his speech to the Republicans Women’s Club of Wheeling, West Virginia.
Francis, Samuel, Smear Campaign, review, Reds: McCarthyism in Twentieth-Century America, retrieved from a href="http://www.chroniclesmagazine.org/Chronicles/May2004/0504Francis.html">http://www.chroniclesmagazine.org/Chronicles/May2004/0504Francis.html/a>.
...y Wheeling speech created nationwide hysteria, and with its impeccable timing just days after the conviction of the State Official Alga Hiss for lying under oath about his association with the communist Soviet as a spy, fueled the fight on communism. (citation) McCarthy war on communism during the “Second Red Scare” did not leave any individual safe from accusations. He attacked government agents, entertainment industry workers, educators, union members, and alienated the left-wing Democrats. McCarthy helped to create the atmosphere of suspicion and panic with his growth in media coverage. McCarthy’s words made for big headlines and the media was quick to cover his stories. This exposure helped facilitate American approval of McCarthy and empowered him to make more accusations on those suspected of subversion. In 1953, McCarthy headed the Government Operations Commit
Although the Red Scare made McCarthy who he was he did not make it any better. Document 6 shows us a cartoon of 2 men driving in a car saying “It’s okay--- we’re hunting communists” This cartoon shows us the fact that people who thought they were doing the right thing ,such as McCarthy, were running their own people over in the process and still thinking that everything they were doing was justified because they were so scared. People running over others just made those people get up and wonder why they weren’t doing as much or why they weren’t as scared as those guys were, so naturally they tried harder. McCarthy was intensified by the Red Scare but his actions only made it worse. He was a state senator. A government official working for the good of our country. Citizens tend to have respect for people of his position and they also tend to listen. Document 4 states “While McCarthy is the worst sort of demagogue, many people listen when he yells, screams and sputters, because they are afraid.” This statement says it all. He may be wrong in his doings but people still look to him out of fear because he is a leader, a respected man, and also an excuse. Document 4 says “In addition to the persecution of many innocent people by this man, the greater danger lies, as you point out, in that those who should be eliminated from public life as being unfit or subversive, can now defend themselves by stating that it is merely
"Reasonable doubt" was all that was necessary to accuse and sometimes convict someone of un-American activities in the late 1940's, early 1950's. This period of time was known as McCarthyism--a time of extreme anticommunism, led by Senator Joseph McCarthy (McCarthyism). The United States pledged to contain the spread of communism globally, as well as locally, and did what it could to keep this promise. Americans began to fear that communism was leaking into the media, government, arts, schools, and other areas. This was called the "Red Scare" (Brinkley).
What is McCarthyism? It is the public onslaught of an individual or an individual’s character by means of baseless and uncorroborated charges, basically the repudiation of a person’s reputation. Joe McCarthy was the Wisconsin senator that evoked this era of fear and paranoia by inflaming the current fear of world domination by the Communist party that enveloped the Nation. He did this by announcing that he had discovered “57 cases of individuals who would appear to be either card carrying members or certainly loyal to the Communist Party, but who nevertheless are still helping to shape our foreign policy.” (McCarthy, 1950, p. 2), later the amount of implicated individuals rose to 205. These accusations launched McCarthy into the national spotlight where he then began his smear campaign against many well-known Americans, which was commonly referred to as “witch-hunts”. Because of McCarthy’s actions, up to 12, people lots their jobs hundreds were incarcerated. He then turned his sights to book banning because he claimed there were 30,000 books written by all shades of Communists. After his lists were made public all were removed from the Overseas Library Program. But he was not finished yet, he then assailed members of the entertainment business. He had writers and actors brought to trial. Many of these people were blacklisted and worse, all without a single shred of evidence. When people spoke out against McCarthy they were thrown onto the communist train, until enough people came forward to rebuke McCarthy’s unprecedented tactics. At this point he fell from political power into dishonor on December 2, 1954. This ended the McCarthy era, but not the atmosphere of paranoia that lingers in the nation today.
From 1949 to 1954, the citizens of the United States were overcome with terror of the possibility of being accused of Communism. Joseph McCarthy was an anti-communist zealot obsessed with rooting out perceived Communist spies and activities in the United States. Common opinion showed that McCarthy was a bully and a liar. The Senate condemned him for it because at the time, there was no evidence to support him. However, in recent years, evidence has come out that confirms the basis of what McCarthy said. There were Communists infiltrating America, and it seemed McCarthy was the only one who actively trying to find it. McCarthy governed the U.S. people with fear for three year, was censored, and now is being proven correct, despite people trying to hide the truth.
Many Are the Crimes: McCarthyism in America, New York: Little, 1995. Brown and Company, 1998.
The attitude of the citizens of the United States was a tremendous influence on the development of McCarthyism. The people living in the post World War II United States felt fear and anger because communism was related with Germany, Italy, and Russia who had all at one point been enemies of the United States during the war. If the enemies were communists then, communists were enemies and any communists or even communist sympathizers were a threat to the American way of life. "From the Bolshevik Revolution on, radicals were seen as foreign agents or as those ...
While history shows that most of the allegations that Senator McCarthy leveled where without merit appeared to have little effect on the campaigning "cause" of protecting Americans from "the queers and commie liberals that were attempting to take over the United States and the world". Davidson, 2002, pg. 78. 809) While the senator secured temporary power by playing off of public fears; this would be short lived as the list of the accused grew longer and the evidence did not exist. The senator and his witch hunt however were responsible for the implementation of several "loyalty" acts that were implemented to ensure that public and civil servants were "loyal" to America.... ... middle of paper ... ...
The hostile interrogation of numerous innocent people occurs during both time periods. During the McCarthy trials, the inquisitors attempt to use slippery tactics to implicate...
The McCarthy era is very similar to the Salem Witch trials. They are both similar, because they both dealt with hysteria. Hysteria is an uncontrollable fear or outburst of emotion. Both things had to do with people accusing each other of people being communist, and people being witches.
The late 1940s and early 1950s were years full of fear and oppression, caused by a political phenomenon called McCarthyism. This term was coined after Senator Joseph McCarthy came to public attention by claiming he was aware of many different communists in the government. These accusations often cost people their jobs and reputations. The causes and reasons for the prominence of McCarthyism are widely debated among historians. Some earlier scholars and social scientists have attributed the wide-spread acceptance of McCarthyism to immigrant families seeking to create an American identity and prosper. Other historians think
McCarthy scared America into thinking if he is President America is going to become a communist country. Well McCarthey became President. Crimes started happening such as kidnappings all around the country and more deportation than ever before the rate of missing people went sky rocketing. This was not the first scare of communist terror in America. Back in 1919 the greatest mass hysteria in the US has been generated by fear of Communism. Any sort of collective effort by people not in power. It was the first thing that has ever happened with America be scared of communism in the US government. The same thing happened with kidnapping. There was also not as much deportation but there was still a few. In this part of time chaos was spreading but luckily it turned out to be