Mccarthyism And Today 's Issues Concerning The Surveillance Of Muslim Americans

“Whatever hysteria exists is inflamed by mystery, suspicion and secrecy. Hard and exact facts will cool it.” -Elia Kazan. Elia Kazan, a famous actor and director in the 1950’s, was accused of being a communist during The Red Scare.

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.”

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,

The fear of communism in America held a significant presence during and after World War II. The establishment of The House of Un-American Activities Committees in the late 1940’s was a result of this fear. The committee investigated communist influence in Hollywood and accused ten writers and directors of communism and were then subjected to a year in jail and were blacklisted. Then in the early 1950’s, Senator of Wisconsin, Joseph McCarthy established a public view of McCarthyism. McCarthy claimed he knew of many government employees working for the Communist Party. Joseph McCarthy’s speech “Enemies Within” launched anticommunism hearings in the Senate sub-committee. McCarthy accused many of communist activity and all he accused would be convicted unless they gave names of other “communists”. He even accused decorated World War II hero’s, which would eventually be the downfall of his McCarthyism point of view. The United Sates also had a constant fear of nuclear bombs, which was a powerful weapon that became popular amongst many world powers; especially the Soviets after they exploded their first atomic bomb in 1949. Communism in America was a taboo

This was a standing committee in the House of Representatives. One area they investigated was Hollywood because a lot of interactions and meeting too place there. They accused some Hollywood executives, screenwriters, and directors of being pro-communist which also caused many characters to base their comic on the red

In reference to the research question “To what extent did the Red Scare create a pseudo “reign of terror” in the United States, ” authors Wendy Wall and Alexander Stafford provide adequate information about the affects of the red scare on society. Wall goes into a detailed description the Federal Loyalty-Security Program and the House Un-American Activities Committees. Both of these programs set up by the government were a form of oppression to the American citizens, inquiring personal information that should have not been public information. The Federal Loyalty-Security Program put regulations on employment agencies and required employers to take loyalty oaths. This can be seen as a violation of the constitution, as it oppresses one’s personal points of view and violates their right to freedom of speech. The House Un-American Activities Committees (HUAC) questioned workers of film in Hollywood and blacklisted those who were seen as untrustworthy. Those blacklisted thus had a difficult time finding employment.

Republican Wisconsin senator, Joseph R. McCarthy, was originally a quiet senator who was fairly unknown and had done nothing extraordinary previous to 1950. The senator changed all that when he delivered a speech in February 1950, in which he leveled allegations that the State Department employed numerous Communists. He claimed to possess a list of these Communist employees, although that list was never produced (Tindall, George Brown, and David Emory Shi). Senator McCarthy’s attempt to gain publicity with his outlandish accusations worked. Since the first Red Scare years before the fifties, many Americans continued to be terrified of Communists and their potential ability to corrupt and overrun America. Senator McCarthy played on these fears, and he continued to claim communism had infiltrated every aspect of America; politics, culture and all of American society. Because of the similarity of events from the first Red Scare, this time period of the early fifties in America is often called the second Red Scare. The second Red Scare in America’s history actually began in the late forties, previous to McCarthy’s emergence in 1950, and it continued on throughout the fifties lasting at least a dozen years (Storrs, Landon R. Y.) McCarthy’s short era during the second Red Scare actually lasted only four years, but because of his outspoken and arrogant persona, as well as his ability to inflict fear and persecution on innocent people, this entire span of time went down in the

The “Red Scare”, the fear of communism rising and becoming widespread. This further propelled the McCarthy’s agenda and caused him to become more widely accepted and believed. The House Un-American Activities Committee, which investigated the “disloyalty” of people and organizations. This committee stepped all over Americans rights, as shown in a political cartoon drawn by Herb Block. They were able to do this as the majority of Americans supported it, because of the fear of at-communism taking over.

It has been more than seventy years since the release of George Orwell’s 1984, a novel that imparts a lesson on the consequences of government overreach. However, today that novel reads like an exposé of government surveillance. Privacy and national security are two ideas competing for value on a balance; if one is more highly valued, the other carries less weight. Government desire to bolster national security by spying on its own citizens-- even the law abiding ones-- is what leads to the inverse relationship between civil liberties and security. In times of a perceived threat to the nation, national security becomes highly prized and people lose privacy. One case is terrorist attacks. 9/11 caused an understandable kneejerk reaction in Americans to bolster protection. Some of the the measures taken were observable, like greater security at airports, but others attempted to increase national security in a more intrusive way. Privacy should be more highly valued than national security, and America has reached a point where that is no longer true.

On February 9, 1950, Joe McCarthy began interrogating suspected Communists in the United States. McCarthy stated, “I hold in my hand a list of people named by the secretary of state as members of the communist party still serving in Government ”(McCarthy). What McCarthy was trying to accomplish in doing this, was to emit fear into the eyes of the people so that they would be more impressionable, and by showing them the “list” of people who were rumored to be communists, he ensured their fear and made his point. For a few years, this method worked only in limited ways, although many people were deported back to Russia, and as stated in the article, “McCarthy and the Red scare”, President

Fearing the unknown is a common aspect of human nature. Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were an average married couple living in New York City during the Cold War. They were members of the Communist Party when anti-Communist feelings in the United States were at their peak. Little did they know that as they continued with their daily lives, a series of investigations were being conducted that would soon land them in the electric chair. Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were accused and convicted of passing along confidential atomic bomb information to Soviet Union spies. After a long battle, they were executed in the electric chair at Sing Sing Prison in 1953. The couple never admitted guilt to the charges, and their conviction and execution caused their two young boys to grow up without parents. The Rosenberg trial is still considered one of the most controversial events in United States history. Few other trials have instigated as much debate, aroused such passion or generated as many books and articles. Thus the question arises: in what ways and to what extent did the hysteria of the Cold War lead to the trial and execution of the Rosenbergs?

Being a Communist was not a crime so most of the people convicted served sentences for perjury or contempt of Congress. Another tool used to punish citizens suspected of communist affiliations was a practice called the Blacklist. Having one’s name on the Hollywood Blacklist guaranteed that person would be unable to find work in the motion picture industry. Hollywood screenwriter Michael Wilson was called before the HUAC in 1951. When he refused to testify, his name was added to the Hollywood Blacklist. Writing under a pseudonym, Wilson continued to write but after 1951 never received credit, during his lifetime , for his screenplays including two Oscar Winning movies, Bridge on the River Kwai and Friendly Persuasion. (King 2016)

McCarthyism helped create the Second Red Scare red scare by making unsupported claims that there were communist employees in the state. In document 3 it states, “ first he had said there were 205 disloyal employees in State, then 57, before settling on 80. By demanding a quorum to listen to him, he forced a dragooning of members back to their seats for a night session for the first time in almost five years.” This evidence shows that Joseph McCarthy falsely accused members of the state of being communist. This caused many Americans to panic, because they feared that people in their government supported communist ideals due to McCarthy’s accusations. In the political cartoon shown in document 6 it viewers to understand Aamerican opinion of the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC)HUAC hearings.

The individuals, who were persecuted during what is now referred to as the “McCarthy Era,” had their once prominent careers destroyed. They lost their friends and family, and all based on untrue rumors which were spread about them, such as planning to start a revolution and attempt to overthrow the Government of the United States. At no time did the Communist Party have the manpower or financial resources to do anything more than a small demonstration and no party member from Hollywood gave serious thought to even that idea.

After World War II, within the year of 1947 began America’s Communism paranoia: McCarthyism. It started when President Truman was criticized about congress “not being tough enough in containing communism”, therefore wanting more information about the executive-branch employees. Congress then commenced a deep inspection of Hollywood. Congress accused actors/actresses, filmmakers, directors, and so on, thus holding Hollywood communist hearings which were held by the House Un-American Activities Committee. The group of screenwriters and directors known as the “Hollywood Ten” originated from the audit in which they publicly protested for the right of freedom of speech, right of assembly, and freedom of association. The result was the Hollywood’s