The Mccarthyism Era

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

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)

During the 1950’s, Communism was a major fear that Democratic nations such as America were afraid of because of its radical ideas. The actions taken due to the Red Scare and the rise of McCarthyism were necessary and completely justified to protect America’s freedom and government from Communist power. With an increase of Communistic nations invading other countries and forcing their ideas upon them there was an uproar of fear in the United States. The Domino Theory was a legitimate fear of if one nation falling to communism, every nation around it would fall as well. Focusing their attention to VIetnam especially, America increased military control in these regions. Multiple Legislative actions taken by the United States such as the creation of the HAUC and the Espionage and Sedition acts were necessary to stop threats to America’s freedom. The heated tensions between the Soviet Union and the United States during the Cold War contributed to the fear of an attack from the East. Senator McCarthy’s convincing accusations lead to many accurate accusations as well as the rise of McCarthyism. Valid points were brought up about president Roosevelt’s New Deal policies of having capitalistic characteristics. While some actions did take away the civil liberties of some Americans, and were not always accurate, they were necessary to protect American Democracy, as well as the safety of the citizens.

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.

During the Cold War, the United States was deeply enthralled in fears of a Communist takeover. The Cold War, a nuclear war between the Soviet Union and the United States, lasted from 1945 to 1990. As the Cold War progressed spies and individuals of the communist party were uncovered and put on trial. Joseph McCarthy, a Wisconsin senator, took advantage of the United States fear of communists by making up false evidence and accusations against innocent people. Americans feared that there were roots of Communism throughout communities in the United States, and more specifically, in the government. In February of 1950, McCarthy made a radical statement announcing he possessed a list of 205 government officials that were involved in the communist party. This sparked the beginning of the McCarthy era. Because this list was made up, McCarthy had to keep his lie going to maintain spotlight attention from the media and its millions of viewers. His false accusations led to tension and outbreak among numerous communities in the United States. McCarthy generated the Red Scare and the Hollywood Blacklist, these two events ruined thousands of innocent peoples lives. Joseph McCarthy was driven by the need for power and, briefly, accomplished his goal through the use of fear and accusatory tactics.

1) After the Cold War Communism was the only thing America was afraid of. From 1950s to 1980s there was a theory called domino theory used by US during Cold War. The Domino Theory which means if any country comes under the influence of communism then the closest countries would follow in a domino effect.

The Red Scare is referred to as America’s fear of communism. Taking a second to look back on History, American suspicion of communism first began in the 1920’s during World War One. Thirty years later, the paranoia over communism was stirred up by the influences of war against the Soviet Union, Un-American Activities committee and McCarthyism. This changed America’s perception of society and politics.

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.

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

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

The fear of communism impacted the United States before and after WWII through the first and second Red Scare, McCarthyism, and paranoia.

The fear was that communism lived within the nation. McCarthy used this to his advantage and alienated many people and struck them out for being communist. One of these people was Arthur Miller a playwright for Hollywood. Miller was put on a blacklist that basically took him right out of work because of him being accused of communist but still wasn’t proven one. He wrote The Crucible to show what people can do when given

In 1950, fewer than fifty thousand Americans out of a total one hundred fifty million were members of the communist party. This was the information Senator Joseph McCarthy used to receive permission to proceed in exploitive communist hunts. McCarthy was dishonest in these hunts, leading to damage far beyond repair to the United States and its citizens. Joseph McCarthy mislead the United States by instilling unnecessary fear in the United States citizens, creating unnecessary tension between the United States and Soviet Union, and compromised the safety of Americans.

The Roman epic film genre was extremely popular in the 50s and 60s for its spectacle and relevance to the contemporary social and political atmosphere. During this time period, WWII created a growing uneasiness and hatred for “evil” dictatorships; simultaneously, Christianity was becoming more important to establish the superiority of the United States. Then, at the forefront of American politics was the Civil Rights movement and McCarthyism, which prompted Americans to live up to the Christian religion they adopted. Generally, Christians and Christianity in the Roman epic films of the 50s and 60s were utilized to characterize protagonists opposing tyrannical Roman antagonists; the role of Christians and the polarity in the films becomes less explicit to fit historical accuracy and changing contemporary politics. This essay will analyze the general role of Christians and their gradually subdued explicit presence through time in the movies, Quo Vadis (Zimbalist 1951), Ben-Hur (Zimbalist 1959), Spartacus (Douglas 1960), and The Fall of the Roman Empire (Bronston 1964).

This fear led to the McCarthy Era where something similar to a witch hunt for communists in America takes place. The few Americans that did not completely support the anti-Communist movement in America, were scared into changing their thoughts. The