Comparing The Red Scare And Communism

Even though McCarthyism is not as gruesome as the Witch trials, it did destroy people’s reputations, they were unable to get a job, and as mentioned before, it made it so people that were accused of being communist were not accepted in

The McCarthy Era in the 1950’s, was a time in American history when Senator Joseph McCarthy began accusing people of being part of the communist party. After WWII, the United States enemy was no longer Japan and Russia, but there allies

The Red Scare was a significant event in The Cold War. It was the fear of the spread of communism and America didn’t want that to happen so they issued organizations and laws to try and prevent the spread of communism (Containment Policy).

The federal government’s action during the Red and Lavender Scares following World War II would promote the hero-heroine relationship with a large portion of the American people. Joseph McCarthy, the figure head of these two scares, crystalized on the anxieties of the public that communism posed a threat to their freedom and democracy when he boldly declared in 1950 that the State Department was infested with communists. He then spearheaded the Internal Security Act (ITA) which would require member of communist organizations to register with the government and eventually made it illegal to even affiliate with any communist organization (Lecture). In addition, McCarthy connected this fear of communism to the gay community by stating that “homosexuality…was the phycological maladjustment that led people toward communism” Johnson 192). As a way to keep homosexuals, communists, or a mix of the two from “threatening” American freedoms, the federal government used acts such as the ITA and Truman era bans on homosexuals working in the government to ease the fears of the American people (Lecture). By using these tactics, the federal government asserted themselves in the lives of Americans, namely those who differentiated from societal norms, and forced them into submission or silence for fear that they would be punished. This act of

Due to Senator McCarthy a word arose which is very synonymous with the Second Red Scare, McCarthyism. McCarthyism by definition is the practice of publicizing accusations of political disloyalty or subversion with insufficient regard to evidence or the use of unfair investigatory or accusatory methods in order to suppress opposition. McCarthyism was also known as the witch hunt of communist during the Second Red Scare.

The Salem Witch Trials and the McCarthy era were dark times in American history. During the Salem Witch Trials in 1692, a group of young Puritan girls in Salem, Massachusetts claimed to be possessed by the Devil and accused several women of witchcraft. Hundreds of people were accused and about 20 of them were put to death. Fear and hysteria mounted as outlandish claims were made by the young Puritan girls at the trials. The McCarthy era was another time of paranoia and hysteria in the U.S., but during the 1950s. The term McCarthyism comes from Joseph McCarthy who was a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin. He spearheaded a drive to defeat the infiltration of Communism in the U.S. He claimed over 200 Communists had infiltrated the U.S. but offered no evidence to prove it. There are important learnings from the Salem Witch Trials and the McCarthy era that are applicable

McCarthyism was important during the 1950s, because many people feared Communism. Consequently people (falsely) accused each other of being a communist and people often lost big parts of their lives, like their job. Nobody trusted each other, so without evidence people started accusing each other.

Mc McCarthyism was the practice of making accusations of subversion or reason without proper regard for evidence Senator Joe Mc carthy and chief counsel Roy Cohn interrogating suspected communists. At a speech in Wheeling, West Virginia, on February 9, 1950, Mc carthy proclaimed that he was aware of 205 card-carrying members of the Communist Party who worked for the United States Department of State.

McCarthyism arose in the 1950s. “It originally intended to criticize the anti-communist views of U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy. People were afraid of Communism influencing America 's companies and the Soviet Union spying on them. It took on a more broad but similar meaning over time and was eventually used to describe an unsubstantiated accusation of someone.” ("McCarthyism")

The United State’s Capitalistic and consumer driven way of life sat in contrast to the Soviet Union’s Communist and government centred economy. So much so, that the fear of Communists living in America began a panic known as the second Red Scare. Americans attempted to weed out Communists, with programs like the loyalty program which required government workers to state if they have ever been a communist; as well as the Congress of Industrial Organization (CIO). “...[The] (CIO) and United Auto Workers froze Communists out of leadership positions...” (Goldfield 805), along with this there were numerous trails and people assured of being a Communist. McCarthyism was another main reason the American public began exiling those assured of Communists; McCarthyism created a fear of these people, which allowed those accused to be black balled in their professions. One such example where the Hollywood Ten, which was a group of movie directors accused of being too soft on Communism.

Communism is a political theory that sets each aspect of society at an equal standard. This theory was created to provide the poor with an opportunity to rise financially and socially. Having a completely equal economy would mean that the bottom of the barrel and the high society will be crunched together in one. In order for society to reach this state of equilibrium financially, wealth would have to be redistributed so that the upper class can be brought down, while the lower class would be elevated (Yahoo). With that being said, a lot of people were in fear of losing their hard earned money. This was one of the main causes to the Red Scare. The Red Scare is rounding up of several hundred immigrants with communist views by the federal

“McCarthyism was a campaign against alleged communists in the US government and other institutions carried out by Senator Joseph McCarthy in 1950-1954 (authentichistory.com by: Michael Barnes)”. McCarthyism is when people make false accusations about someone or something with out evidence to back it up. During the cold war Joseph McCarthy had made many false accusations about having a large number of communists and soviet spies in our government feeding top-secret information to Russia, which was not true. McCarthyism didn’t just spread false accusations through out the nation it also spread fear and dread for many. I believe that McCarthyism is just like the Salem witch trials in one way would be that

McCarthyism is the practice of making accusations is subversion or treason without proper or fair regard for evidence. The man who this method is named after and originally used by is Wisconsin senator, Joseph McCarthy. From 1950 to 1956 it was thought that McCarthy had a list of 205 government employees who were allegedly communists, this was made the people turn on each other, even McCarthy falsely accused innocent people. McCarthyism worked so well because americans were so scared by communism, they truly believed that communist were evil and were out to get their freedom. The official start of McCarthyism was on February 9th, 1950 when Mccarthy gave his Wheeling speech. McCarthy wanted to capitalize off of the propaganda and paranoia of

The first Character that needs to be mentioned, Brick, is the quietest and most reserved character in the play. Brick is a former football player and a famous announcer. (Williams 149). Brick is in a constant battle with himself throughout the whole story. This being because he has started drinking at all times so that he can hear a click in his head and become peaceful. The reason that he drinks is because he feels he is responsible for his friends Skipper’s death. Brick’s drinking is important to the play because it shows his disinterest in almost everything that occurs during the book. For example, while the will of Big Daddy’s is being discussed, Brick is outside on the balcony having a drink. Gooper says to Maggie during this scene “Why don’t you go out there and drink with Brick?” (Williams 149). This also is important because it shows that they characters in the play realize that Brick has no interest in anything besides his drink. Brick is an interesting character because he is the only one who does not thrive for Big Daddy’s love, yet he is the only one who receives it. Brick can also be described as a character who is disgusted. He is disgusted with many events in this play.”Cat on a Hot Tin Roof was heralded by some as the play in which homosexuality was at last to be presented without evasion” (Bentley). This quote by critic Eric Bentley stands true because the idea of homesexuality in the play is another reason Brick is disgusted. He is disgusted with the world for the most part because nobody understand that his and Skipper’s relationship was not a homosexual one.He states “Why can’t exceptional friendship, real, real, deep, deep friendship! between two men be respected as something clean and decent” (Williams 117). This could be a reason that he is also sort of disgusted with women. Critic Jere Huzzard says “Clearly both father and son had enjoyed a physical competency

During the 1950’s and 1960’s, the United States’ oversaw the persecution of gays and lesbians politically, professionally, and socially. During the Lavender Scare, McCarthy “fabricated connections between homosexuality and communism,” deeming homosexuality a security risk that required the government’s attention and prevention (Johnson 31). His rhetoric led to a crackdown on homosexuals in government, particularly in the