Senator Joseph Mccarthy's Contribution To Communism

Communism was a huge deal back then people feared it because it was an organization by the government that could take you down. Another aspect of McCarthyism was Instead of being executed they were being blacklisted which is a list of people, organizations, etc., that are disapproved of or that are to be punished or avoided according to Merriam Webster Dictionary. Another purpose of McCarthyism was to gain power meaning if you have the power to destroy someone’s life then people would see that you have that authority and they would be scared to stand up to

That fear caused the Communist witch hunt, where innocent people were accused of being communist, and everyone was frightened. political cartoonists saw how the witch hunt was affecting American society. (Doc. 2) The witch hunt was so notorious, that even politicians was being accused of being communists. If someone supported communism, it was impossible for that person to get a job in the government. (Doc.1) Another case that happened in the government during the Cold War, was when McCarthy sent a letter to the president Truman, accusing 57 people of being communist in the government, and saying that if the president did not remove these people from the government, he would also be considered a communist. The United States created The Marshall Plan which the goal was to rebuild Western European economies, United States needed to help them, because if America did not help, Russia would and communism would spread easily. The speech that Marshall delivered at the Harvard University talked about communism in a discreet way: “Our policy is directed not against any country or doctrine, but against hunger, poverty, desperation, and chaos.” The Cuban missile crisis was another episode that scared Americans. Cuba is just 90 miles away from the coast of Florida, and fearing the missiles and the communism ideas that were in Cuba, the United States made a blockade around Cuba and tried to kill the Cuban President.

During the late 1940s and the early 1950s, the thought of communism instilled fear within many Americans because it was portrayed in such a way that confined diversity and corroded political culture. This fear of communism was nicknamed the “Red Scare” and was fed by Joseph McCarthy’s accusations of hidden communist in the country. The Manchurian Candidate was a black-and-white American film released in 1962 that depicted the Cold War and the effects that paranoia had on the nation. It was released at the peak of the Cuban Missile Crisis and the spread of communism. This film was about Raymond Shaw, the son of a right-wing political family, who was brainwashed to act as an assassin for his mother in a communist conspiracy theory. Major Bennet (Ben) Marco was another main character that played an important role in discovering the truth of Shaw’s brainwashing. Raymond Shaw faced the conflict of acting upon his free will while still being subconsciously manipulated by someone else. Throughout the film, Shaw was shown committing actions that he does not recall whatsoever later due to his programming which was triggered by the Queen of Diamonds playing card. Through the use of film techniques, The Manchurian Candidate creates a scenario which resembles the manifestation of America’s “Red Scare” paranoia in that the film portrays Raymond Shaw as an individual who lacks human agency due to his brainwashing because of a communist conspiracy.

The fear of a Communist threat found its roots in the years after World War II. The idea that Soviet spies were stealing American secrets was later propagated by the Rosenberg trial. While Julius Rosenberg was indeed a spy, his wife Ethel was only charged as a pawn to coerce her husband. Her execution was one of many examples of the suffering of people who were arraigned for even the slightest affiliation with the Communist party. The fear of Communism would lead to legal action in the name of national security. It is, of course, fallacious to link every person with Communist views to the Soviet Union. However, the anti-Communist movement was often riddled with fallacies, as can be seen in J. Edgar Hoover’s testimony before the HUAC in 1947.

One of the main people who were in attack against communism was Senator Joseph McCarthy. Joseph McCarthy was determined to remove any thought of communists being a part of the United States. He used gossip to get information from many people that were in a stance of holding a political office. He often had little evidence when he accused thought to be communist people that could have been working for the Soviet Union just as the invalid statistics that Donald Trump states. He ruined many people's careers and lives before other leaders in the Congress put an end to his ways.

If you were accused of associating with Communism in any way, you would automatically be a "threat" to America. These accusations caused innocent people to lose their jobs, friends, even put in jail, but most importantly their reputation would be tarnished - no matter how great it could have been before they were accused. Even if you were adamant that you were not a communist and there was no evidence, you would always be looked at differently. For example, Leonard Bernstein, a famous composer, fell under the FBI's watchful eyes for more than 30 years. He was targeted as a communist during the whole McCarthy era, even though he swore on an affidavit that "I am not now or at any time have ever been a member of the Communist Party." The FBI was never able to officially verify that he was a member of the Communist Party, but they continued to monitor his activities. This shows just how hesitant everyone was to believe an innocent one because of the mob hysteria having such an impact during that

McCarthyism occurred along side with the increase of the popular fear of communist espionage consequent.

McCarthyism and those who practiced it were riddled with logical fallacies. Because of the errors made by this and their effectiveness on swaying the popular opinion of America, the freedom of speech and expression of many were suppressed and subverted. Long after McCarthy’s time in the forefront of politics, American citizens were still paying for the repercussions of the Communist scare, as in the case of Julius Scales. Scales never met McCarthy, nor was he questioned by the HUAC, but he was still a victim to the fallacies in reasoning that dictated the American court system at the time. It was a time where patriotism and fear overpowered logic that McCarthyism existed to its full potential in America, taking away one of the most fundamental

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.

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.

In the United States, the 1950s was a time riddled with heightened political repression due to the fear of communism. This fear was instilled in the people by the American government, who saw the growing fondness of communism around the world as a threat to the American way of life. With Senator Joseph McCarthy as the head of the communist witch hunt, this period in time is often referred to as the McCarthy Era. The McCarthy Era is marked by unjust accusations of disloyalty to the United States without consideration for appropriate evidence. During this time, thousands of American citizens were accused of communism and communist sympathy. Of these thousands, a particular case stands out amongst the others. This was the case of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, the first Americans ever executed for espionage against the United States. Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were a married couple who were accused by the United States government of conspiracy against America by running the operation of a Soviet spy ring that was leaking information about the atomic bomb back to the Soviet Union. Although Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were both eventually convicted as spies, there was little hard evidence ever presented at their trial. However, many co-conspirators testified for the trials, which would eventually lead to their conviction. The Rosenberg’s may have been spies for Soviet Russia, but they were American citizens nonetheless who deserved a just trial. The Rosenberg’s did not have any

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 late 1940s and 1950s saw the rise of political and cultural hysteria among Americans following fears of an impending Soviet threat on American soil. The effect was that Americans thought soviet communists were working behind the scenes to ensure the downfall or harm of the United States (Lovett). As a result, there was regular charging among each other that one was either a communist or a sympathizer of communists, thereby continuing this trend of fear. Under this threat then, several American politicians withdrew their political ideas, values and lived communist-free lives (Schrecker). It was during this rise that McCarthyism was at its peak. This was a movement that would use communism

The Red Scare and McCarthyism had begun Paranoia, disloyalty, people losing jobs. The Red Scare and McCarthyism both made everything else worse. Communism is a political theory derived from Karl Marx, advocating class war and leading to a society in which all property is publicly owned and each person works and is paid according to their abilities and needs. At the end of the month when they get their paychecks they both end up with the same amount of money it is not fair, right? but that is more or less what McCarthyism is. During the 1950s, there was a great amount of paranoia and the government technically speaking did not confide in anyone else and falsely accused other people (Essay). The government was so paranoid that they had

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?