Joseph Mccarthy Research Paper

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

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

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.”

In the 1950’s, Senator Joseph McCarthy turned Americans against each other by installing fear in the people regarding toward Communism. During this time, in fact, people were getting blacklisted even if they weren't communist. In an incident at the Republican Women’s Club of Wheeling, McCarthy delivered a speech. The situation involving the Senator escalated when he stated that the State Department is infested with Communist. In this point in time, due to the false allegations, people went on a decade long period of witch hunts. Sam Roberts, the author of “A Decade of Fear” stated that in fact, “...thousands of alleged Communists in the U.S. were arrested and deported during what became known as the Red Scare.”

Hundreds of years later, the United States entered the time of the “Red Scare”. In this time, Americans were still very apprehensive of Communists. On April 22, 1954, Army hearings began. Senator Joseph McCarthy accused the United States Army of being too “soft” on communism. This really began in 1950, however, when McCarthy claimed that there were over 200 known communists in the Department of State (“Army-McCarthy” History.com). As Abigail did with the Witch trials, McCarthy began accusing innocents of crime to benefit his own personal agenda.

McCarthyism is very similar to what happened during the Salem Witch Trials. The Witch Trials were during a time in early American history when people were very superstitious and religious. During the Salem Witch Trials many people were accused for no reason. Some things they were convicted for were being an old woman, not knowing the ten commandments, and for being disabled. This went on for more than one hundred years across Europe before moving on to the Americas. Many people convicted were put away or killed on false charges known as fallacies.

Beginning in the early 1950s, Senator Joseph McCarthy released a monumental rampage across the United States. For fear of governmental infiltration by Communists, an outbreak of accusations swept the nation as a result of the Wisconsin senator, and helped create what is known as the second Red Scare (“McCarthyism”)

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,

Over the course of this investigation I will look into the ‘Red Hunts’, the communist paranoia and at times unwarranted persecution that occurred in American and other Western allied countries during the Cold War, from the early 1950’s to the late 1960’s. I will investigate the way in which the escalation of the Cold War led to communist paranoia in Western countries and how this ‘Red Scare’ was spread through propaganda and magnified by the intense fear of military and nuclear conflict during the Cold War. The red hunts must be viewed in context - as a symptom of communist paranoia that influenced most of the western world during the Cold War. I will then examine the many ways in which the red hunts can be illustrated - movements such as McCarthyism, blacklisting, the House Un-American Activities Committee, the trial of the ‘Hollywood Ten’ and the communist witch hunts which occurred as a symptom of this communist paranoia in America. I will look at the effects of these events on groups and individuals in American society, and finally the carry on effect of this communist paranoia into New Zealand and the way in which this influenced our society, as well as the lasting impact this has on our society now.

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

Many people often question what McCarthyism is and what it stands for but today there will be light shed on the subject and they can figure out how real it was. In the first place, The definition of McCarthyism is, “The practice of making accusations of disloyalty, especially of pro-Communist activity, in many instances unsupported by proof or based on slight, doubtful, or irrelevant evidence”(McCarthyism). The practices of McCarthyism were very unjust and many people were wrongfully accused of

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.

McCarthy’s Secret to Fame The 1950’s were known as the years of shock. World War II had ended in 1945 and Europe was in disarray. Communism was spreading through broken countries in Europe and Capitalism and Communism were beginning to clash. The USSR established a blockade around the Ally portion of Berlin, Russia tested their own atomic bomb, Rosenbergs were convicted and executed for treason of passing atomic bomb secrets on to Russia and China became communists.

The purpose of this investigation is to examine the question “To what extent did Joseph McCarthy and his anti- communist tactics have an impact on United States society?” I will cover how things in the society has changed. McCarthyism also affected domestic and foreign policies, but I am going to focus on American society. I will focus mainly the years around the McCarthy era which is 1950 through 1954. To help examine my topic, I will be using two books. The books are “Defining moments: McCarthyism and the Communist Threat” and “Joe McCarthy and McCarthyism: The hate that haunts America” The two sources will be valuable because they give a deep understanding of what happened during the years 1950 through 1954. This books is one of Omnigraphics “Defining Moments” books. Kevin Hillstrom, the author, has written many other books, including books about history. This also shows this source is valuable because Omnigraphics has a lot of other Defining Moment books that are about history.

Everywhere you went, every little step you took, one sign and an accusation is made. The impact of McCarthy caused people to accuse others of being communists without sufficient evidence and to some, it was like playing a little game. No one knew who to trust or who to follow. It formed turmoil and bad relationships between people in society. Furthermore, many of the innocents accused lost their jobs, were shunned from society, and were questioned or investigated.