Joseph Mccarthyism: The Cause For An Outbreak Of Communism

He pioneered live international radio broadcasts during the early days of World War II. His work set the standards for fair minded reporting. Towards the end of his career, his efforts even brought about the downfall of one of America’s most notorious Senators. Joseph R. McCarthy, the Republican Senator of Wisconsin, began a campaign quest against communistic influence. Most people witnessed it as a diligent search for renegades by an enthusiastic loyalist, and then others perceived it to be a federalist opportunity, by victimizing situations in order to gain political impact by browbeating the public. The circumstances surrounding McCarthy, was overwhelmed with feelings and emotions since television gave very little detail and was treated with kid gloves.

After WW2 on february 9, 1950 Joseph McCarthy gave a speech “Enemies from Within” when communism was the biggest threat to the whole world. Joseph McCarthy was a Republican Senate who got famous after his speech. He claimed that there were people in U.S. government who are a member of communist society and also mentioned in his speech that he have a list 57 people. In the speech Joseph McCarthy is appealing to the Republicans and christians, trying to influence them to take action and fight against communism. He uses people's emotional fear to turn them against each other. In his speech he uses allusion, metaphor, and rhetorical appeals.

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

McCarthyism- McCarthy was a senator famous for the communist hysteria in the 50’s. He blamed 205 State Department workers for having ties with communists. He gained support by playing into American’s fears of the spread of communism. Though some of these people accused of not being loyal were in fact not loyal, most weren’t. His accusations were mainly built on speculation. His smear tactics became known as McCarthyism. Once he questioned the army’s loyalty that was it and he was called out by Eisenhower.

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.”

Since the late 1940s, American cinema has been obsessed with the idea of the atomic bomb and what it stands for; whether that be destruction or absolute power depends on the film. This symbolism would then come to define the 1950s, and later on American cinema as well. This symbolism then must be addressed from the lenses of, both, history and socio-political commentary. Then the question must be posed why specifically these two lenses? The answer to this question, then, lies in the films of the 50s, and beyond. Whether this answer lies in the apocalyptic imagination present in the films or the politics of the time, McCarthyism would influence American culture far beyond the 50s, depends on the historian who is asked. The answer, then,

During the Cold War communist began to emerge. Communist are people who follow or believe in communism. They were such a small group that no one paid much attention to them until after World War 2. When WW II ended communist started causing problems. They already took power in other countries and Americans began to fear they would do the same to the U.S. They wondered if Soviet Spies were in America secretly advertising communism. U.S. citizens even questioned if communist were involved in U.S. government jobs or in schools miseducating students and children. To help calm down these fears Joseph Raymond McCarthy started McCarthyism. (Shmoop.com)

McCarthyism has a lot to do with America 's history, even still today examples of McCarthyism are seen in america . Most victims of mccarthyism are hollywood actors and famous people because they impact american society more than regular people. Famous people such as Helen Keller, Leonard Bernstein , Burl Ives, Pete Seeger, Artie Shaw, Zero Mostel, Charlie Chaplin, Langston Hughes, Orson Welles, and Dolores del Rio were blamed for supposedly being part of the communist party. But that was not all, there was also another 205 average people that were blamed for being a part of the communist party as well. McCarthy’s committee then started investigating the United States Army. His charges kept affecting more and more powerful people.

To talk about McCarthyism we must first look at what was going on in the United States at the time. WW II had just ended a few years prior, and the cold war was in full swing. Following WW II, for the US Government to be able to spend so much of the taxpayers money on the cold war, the Government had to get the US citizens behind them. To do this the US government started a propaganda campaign to scare the public into thinking the communists were bad and very dangerous people. That the communist people, their way of thinking, and their type of government had to be contained. There were several things that happened to help in-force what the government was saying. First Czechoslovakia and China fell to communism.

One thing that can relate to the McCarthy Era is the Salem Witch Trials in 1692. McCarthy started McCarthyism as the group of girls started The Salem Witch Trials. He was like the group of girls, accusing innocent people of false acts. In the crucible many people were hanged, and in the McCarthy era many people lost their jobs, and were basically black mailed. Some of the events that were the same would be the hype in the towns. In Salem people were going crazy over the witch craze they could not take it anymore. In the United States many people were listening to McCarthy as people in Salem were to the girls, McCarthy was accusing people of incorrect acts, and the United States people believed it. In the events that happened in the

Even though McCarthy was a man of noble status, he still possessed a tragic flaw, which stemmed from his fear of losing his reelection. After an unimpressive and uneventful first term in the Senate, McCarthy was willing to take extreme measures to remain in power, so he quickly absorbed himself in false claims against those he suspected to be communists, causing nationwide hysteria and putting him directly in the spotlight. To begin his rise to fame, “On February 9, 1950, McCarthy addressed the Ohio County Women’s Republican Club in Wheeling, West Virginia. In the Wheeling speech, McCarthy played on the Cold War and Red Scare fears (fear of a communist takeover) by asserting that the communist world, particularly the Soviet Union, was in a showdown with the democratic nations led by the United States. McCarthy dramatically held up a list that he claimed contained names of U.S. State Department employees who supposedly were known members of or influenced by the Communist Party” (McCarthy, Joseph R.).

McCarthyism is named after Senator Joseph McCarthy. McCarthyism uses fear to gain power and trust: “Insinuations of disloyalty were enough to convince many America that their government was packed with traitors and spies” (History.com). Joseph McCarthy claimed that many people were Communist spies in the United States government. This was a time in history when people were terrified of Communism and wanted to prevent Communist imperialism: “2,000 government employees lost their jobs as a result of McCarthy’s investigations” (History.com). McCarthyism created a lot of distrust between the government and the nation. The Salem Witch Trials are a similar example of McCarthyism. The Salem Witch Trials was when people could accuse others of being

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.

McCarthyism was a term used to portray the making allegations of treachery without legitimate respect for proof concerning the US residential political state of mind, consisting of a socialism against American men and organizations that were considered as "communists". It was a crucial defining moment in American history that was created somewhere around 1950 and 1956. Amid this time, socialism was a political belief system whose primary point was to accomplish a general public, in which the significant assets and method for creation have a place in this group and not people. This association didn't advantage society since they were against having a coercive government or any kind of lawmakers. Amidst this

His accusations ended up posing a real danger to American values. One important value McCarthy degraded was the right to remain silent, because, as he once stated, “a witness’s refusal to answer whether or not he is a Communist on the ground that his answer would tend to incriminate him is the most positive proof obtainable that the witness is a Communist” (Schrecker 69). The rights of LGBT members were also threatened, since some of the people on McCarthy’s lists got there just for being “sexual deviants” (Cunningham 90). And of course, McCarthy’s techniques threatened free speech, as anyone who expressed radical liberal views in public could be a target. Even with all these problems, McCarthy remained in power for years, by capitalizing on the tense, frenzic atmosphere among the American people. As Charles Potter described it, the debate over what McCarthy was “emotional nonsense”, where “sanity seemed to go into hiding, opinions whirled around the outer edges of human thought” (Cunningham 27). Eventually, it came to a point when “each citizen found he must declare himself… either ‘for’ McCarthy or ‘against’ him” (Cunningham 28). The problem was, at this point, McCarthy was seen as an American hero and protector. As McCarthy said himself stated, “McCarthyism is Americanism with its sleeves rolled" (McCarthy). Therefore, while those in support of him could claim to be “red-blooded patriots”, and anyone who dared to oppose McCarthy ran the risk of being called a “commie lover” (Cunningham 28). As a result of the way McCarthyism was equated with patriotism McCarthy was able to get away with some blatant violations of civil