Anti-Communist Censorship In The United States

People during the eras of these events were so paranoid they would accuse anyone if they did something weird or something they didn't like. “McCarthy first gained national attention in 1950, when he charged that Communists dominated the State Department.” McCarthy was so paranoid about communism he thought it was also lurking in the government and he started accusing people in the government. “As Communism appeared more and more threatening, the federal government began to search for secret Communists among its employees.” Reeves stated.

Although prosperity filled the 50s, controversy and dissatisfaction surrounded it also. As the picture "Senator McCarthy Extinguishes the Torch of Liberty" conveys, McCarthyism hushed the freedom of speech. (Kennedy, Cohen, and Bailey A127)The man who gave McCarthyism a name, Joseph McCarthy, ruined many lives by accusing tons of Americas of being Communists for about 5 years. The post-cold war paranoia about spies and infiltrates in the American government escalated the allegations to a whole other level, despite the lack of evidence. Many people lost their jobs, went to jail, or became shunned by the public. Senator McCarthy conducted countless numbers of speeches, investigations, and hearings. His actions proved to be so terrifying that very few spoke out against him. Only when taking the claims to the military did the people finally take a stand. Weeks afterward, the Senate condemned McCarthy for “practicing conduct unfit for a member.”

There have been many major events in history that have shaped the way we live today. Two of these events were the “witch hunts” of the Salem Witch Trials and McCarthyism. Many similarities exist between the events such as the fear and anger that made its impression upon the communities, but however, contrast prevails between the two, such as the fuel that started the events and the consequences that were faced. The rich controversy imbedded in these topics serves for a greatly impacted history.

Through the 1940s and 1950s, America was beleaguered with anxieties about the menace of communism arising in Eastern Europe and China. Profiting out of such worries of the nation, young Senator Joseph McCarthy made an open charge that hundreds of "card-carrying" communists had penetrate in the United States government. Although his allegations were found ultimately to be false and the Senate reproached him for improper ways, his ardent shakeup heralded as one of the most tyrannical era in 20th-century American politics. While the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAA) had been made in 1938 as a body to resist communists, McCarthy's charges enhanced the political nervousness of the epoch. The suspicious chase for moles,

He led an effort to purge domestic Communists in the United States. He accused military and political officials of being Communists, working to subvert the U.S. government from within. Consequently, suspected people such as political officials and even famous icons, including Walt Disney and Jackie Robinson, were placed on trial. Others who were unable to clear their name were blacklisted, barring them from taking upon new work opportunities and even restricting certain rights, such as their freedom of speech. Additionally, other moderate political organizations were restricted from criticizing, much less reforming McCarthy’s tactics, given the fear of being viewed as disloyal to the United

During the 1950s there was a rise in the fear of communism called “The Red Scare”. Senator Joseph McCarthy was one of the many people who contributed to people’s fear by making a list of people who he said were communists even though there was no proof in most cases. In an article by Alan Brinkley called “The 1950s Part One: McCarthy and The Red Scare”, it informs, “McCarthy was only one of many who helped create the great fear. The Red Scare was visible in almost every area of American life” (Brinkley). This quote tell us that in the 1950s even though Senator Joseph McCarthy was a huge contributor to The Red Scare. His list of suspected communists made rumors spread and the people on the list get questioned and even go to jail when in some cases they were innocent. It also says in the article by USHistory.org called “McCarthyism: Witch Hunting and Blacklisting in America”, that, “In the 1950s anyone who was considered a communist could be questioned and thrown in jail” (USHistory.org). Which means that his allegations could have easily put people in prison.

No one realized at first that McCarthy accused many on baseless charges, as they were too scared to see straight. As a response to this “Red” (Communist) Scare, the United States House of Representatives commenced the House un-American Activities Committee. As Grolier Online stated, “Under the chairmanship of Texas Democratic representative Martin Dies, Jr., it investigated fascist, Communist, and other so-called extremist or subversive political organizations” (“Grolier Online”). In other words, the HUAC attempted to censor Communist, Nazi, and other “left-wing” parties and prevent them from poisoning the minds of the American public. They viciously attacked such Nazi-supporting parties as the German-American Bund and the Silver Shirt Legion (“Grolier Online”), calling them out publicly and trying to get them shut down or obliterated. The HUAC also tried to investigate the Communist Party’s “infiltration of the government,” supposedly to keep the people safe and promote democracy and capitalism in America (“Grolier Online”). However, things did not go as planned for the HUAC. Over time, its arguably good intentions became skewed and a desire to improve America turned into a horribly misguided witch-hunt, influenced by Communism fear, that ruined the lives and careers of many. Law-abiding citizens were accused of Communism on ridiculous charges, and citizens were promptly sent to prison. Due to this, the HUAC began to change in

At the end of the 1940’s and the beginning of the 1950’s, the United States were in the midst of the Second Red Scare and a fear that Communism might over throw the American way of life. Cold War tensions were at an all time high, which only fueled the widespread fears of Communist subversion. It was here that Senator Joseph McCarthy became a public face when he began making claims that the U.S. Government, as well as many other areas of the country, including the entertainment industry, had been invaded by Soviet and Communist spies, looking to destroy America from within. Hearings before the House Un-American Activities Committee, Hollywood Blacklisting, and anti-communist activity from the FBI soon followed. McCarthy was under intense analysis

Blacklisted writers, such as Walter Bernstein, Abraham Polonsky, and Lester Cole had a very difficult time finding work and trying to survive during the period of the blacklist. Suspected Communist sympathizers went through a horrifying experience during the HUAC hearings, as they were constantly and consistently harassed by the FBI and other agencies and people who tried to force already known Communists to “name names” of other various questionable individuals. The ideas and works of these writers, because of their leftist views, were a cause for alarm in Congress, and a reason for dire concern among the rest of society.

Continuing his claims of suspected communists, various innocent people were questioned, and some cases ended up proving nothing because of how the information received showed little evidence of the suspects being a communist. Despite some of the cases having repeated or weak information, the Senate still called for a full investigation, making suspects tell names of others who are communists. It is stated in the article, “Those who repented and named names of suspected communists were allowed to return to business as usual. Those who refused to address the committee were cited for contempt” (McCarthyism 3). People who were suspected conformed so that they would not be held for contempt. People accused others in order to avoid the punishment for contempt, fearing how the punishment would affect their life. McCarthy’s accusations also had an effect on those who were on the lower rank as well, it reads, “Uncooperative artists were blacklisted from jobs in the entertainment industry. Years passed until many had their reputations restored” (McCarthyism 3). People conformed in fear of consequences that would practically destroy their life. Being blacklisted meant being unable to find jobs and having a ruined reputation, so civilians conformed to the law to keep their jobs and not have their lives destroyed. Conformity is achieved by fear of consequences throughout McCarthyism,

The McCarthy era, which generally spanned from 1947 to 1957, brought to the forefront of American politics the question of civil rights. At issue were controversies about both First Amendment rights to assembly and free speech and Fifth Amendment rights to due process and freedom from self-incrimination. Anti-Communist actions often involved restrictions on these rights, and heading the anti-Communist movement was the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC). This committee, which consisted of government officials from Congress, was formed to investigate the threat of Communism in America. In doing so, the committee brought in witnesses, usually individuals thought to have, or to have had, Communist

This is where McCarthy starts the real setup for his bombshell. He is quoted, "When a great democracy is destroyed, it will not be because of enemies from without, but rather because of enemies from within." (Chafe 50). He then says that these traitors are not the minority of this country but are of the wealthiest of this country, and have the finest jobs in the Government. So he is telling these people that it is not them, but those rich people in the government who are selling out this country. This is where he drops the bomb. McCarthy insinuates that one of the most important government agencies, the State Department "is infested with Communists" (Chafe 50). He then says that he had a list of 57 people he believed to be "either card carrying members or certainly loyal to the Communist Party" (Chafe 50). The truth is there was no list, no names, it was just

Also during this time from the late 1940s to the late 1950s began McCarthyism and the scare of Communism being the United States. Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin would be pushed into the public spotlight by the issue of anti-Communism. It was discovered later that the FBI had helped give McCarthy the information to help him start his campaign against Communism. For several years, McCarthy operated to seek out and destroy the lives of people whom he or others had declared as being a Communist. Lytle mentions that McCarthy charged that Communists had penetrated the United States by becoming involved in churches, the army, the CIA, and the hydrogen bomb program. Even after McCarthy’s eventual political death, McCarthyism still went on and took longer to fade away. McCarthyism was the lasting legacy of McCarthy that put the nation in a frenzy. It was characterized by false accusations of neighbors, family members, and friends and being part of the Communist party. These accusations meant that these peoples’ lives were over. They had no more authority, respect, or even career opportunities after being accused, albeit falsely.

The HUAC (House Un-American Activities Committee) started small in the 30’s and became a much more permanent as well as prominent after the war. Thanks to McCarthy again they gained reason to investigate many, as the name suggests, un-American activities in order to root out the Soviet collaborators. They also

A moral panic is a phenomenon that is examined and understood in an unbiased fashion. This type of panic locates a “folk devil,” is shared, remains out of synch with the seriousness it evokes, and varies in intensity over time (Goode and Ben-Yehuda, 41). On the other hand, a media panic is a moral panic about the effects of a communications medium of technology (Class lecture: January 27, 2016). Overall, a moral panic is based upon the reaction of society from an event while a media panic is the reaction of society from a type of technology. This paper looks to examine the similarities and differences between surveillance in the government today and surveillance in the government during the Cold War. It will address the effects these events have or had on society while examining specific media panics that played a role in society’s reactions to these historical events. By providing evidence to prove how these panics affect society, I will examine why these moral and media panics exist and the impact they have had on society as a whole.