The Role Of Mccarthyism In The 1950's

During the years between 1920 and 1960, America saw change in many aspects of life. The United States was a part of two major wars and a crash of the banking system that crippled the economy greater than ever seen in this country’s history. Also the country had new insecurities to tackle such as immigration and poor treatment of workers. These events led to the change of America lives socially, economically, and politically. The people of America changed their ideas of what the country’s place in the world should be. The issues challenging America led the country to change from isolation to war, depression to prosperity, and social change. The threats to American way of life, foreign and domestic, were the changing forces to the

Post World War II America was a society full of anxiety. In the late 1950s Americans were deeply troubled by so many social shifts. Major changes were occurring both internally and externally. They were in the midst of the Cold War, and were vastly approaching the atomic age. There was a communist scare and fear of Russian expansion. Joseph McCarthy was hunting down major celebrities for their communist involvement and the 'Red Influence' seemed to be everywhere. The move toward suburbia and the growth of multinational corporations were flourishing. People seemed to be pulled in every direction. Another change that would have a major impact on society for years to come was the

In 1960, while campaigning for John F. Kennedy’s presidency, Frank Sinatra hired Albert Maltz to write the screenplay for the adaptation of The Execution of Private Slovik (Kaplan). Unofficially, Joe Kennedy, John’s father, told Sinatra that he needed to fire Maltz, as he was one of the Hollywood 10, a group of directors and screenwriters who refused to testify before the House Committee on Un-American Activities hearings in the 1940s. Joe worried that having a prominent member of his son’s campaign associated with Communism could kill John’s presidential dreams. In the interest of Kennedy’s campaign, Sinatra was forced to fire his friend. At the time, Sinatra was arguably the most powerful

     FOR ALMOST fifty years, the words "McCarthy" and "McCarthyism" have stood for a shameful period in American political history. During this period, thousands of people lost their jobs and hundreds were sent to prison. The U.S. government executed Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, two Communist Party (CP) members, as Russian spies. All of these people were victims of McCarthyism, the witch-hunt during the 1940s and 1950s against Communists and other leftists, trade unionists and civil rights activists, intellectuals and artists. Named for the witch-hunt's most zealous prosecutor, Sen. Joseph McCarthy (R-Wis.), McCarthyism was the most

People like to start things with other people to either hurt them or get them in trouble. These are what some people call rumors. Rumors are spread from anyone to someone else. Some rumors were mentioned during the McCarthyism/Red Scare articles. Some of these may be true and some may not, But the only way to find out is how the result turns out.

Taking a turning point a TV program disclosed McCarthy’s invalid oppression, he began to lose his confidence and supports from about the middle 1950’s. After he resigned as the senator of US congress, the philosophy of McCarthyism maintain today’s right-wing nationalists to condemn terrorists (Murray, 2005).

The success of McCarthyism can also be attributed to it resonating with American values of anti-radicalism and a wariness of the alien. Griffith argues that McCarthyism was grounded in a political culture rooted in American history which fears the unfamiliar and ‘un-American’. These roots can be traced back throughout American history, for example the anti-immigration efforts of the late 19th century such as the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act. McCarthyism represented the fear that the United States would once again be ‘overwhelmed’ by aliens who would dilute the America way of life. Preston argues that the Internal Security Act of 1950 was in fact a continuation of the hostile treatment of radicals by the federal government, which traditionally

What started with great potential as a revisionist look at the impacts of McCarthy’s red scare on the politics in the United States ended with a rudimentary analysis of the repercussions of a fabricated fear of communism. The article “McCarthyism: Political Repression and the Fear of Communism” denied overarching themes of the time period and focused on narrow attempts to place economic sanctions, infractions of civil rights, and national security as the reasons and outcomes of the fear of communism. While these themes are all supported with evidence, a neglect of analysis on the bigger picture leave the reader wondering if Ellen Schrecker, author of the article, is still living with the belief that over-critiquing US politics can land you in jail, tainted for life like a bruised apple. Preoccupied with the how’s of cold war repression the overarching why’s are barely brushed over let alone thoroughly discussed. Schrecker's use of novice arguments as well as a lack of thorough analysis on points made proves a weak attempt to situate the impacts of political repression and communism in the United States and its actions abroad.

As World War Two came to a close, a new American culture was developing all across the United States. Families were moving away from crowded cities into spacious suburban towns to help create a better life for them during and after the baby boom of the post-war era. Teenagers were starting to become independent by listing to their own music and not wearing the same style of clothing as their parents. Aside from the progress of society that was made during this time period, many people still did not discuss controversial issues such as divorce and sexual relations between young people. While many historians regard the 1950s as a time of true conservatism at its finest, it could really be considered a time of true progression in the

The United States had appeared to be dominated by consensus and conformity in the 1950s. As the commotions of the first half of the century ended, people were relieved but faced oncoming internal issues. The Great Depression and the two Great Wars caused people to seek tranquility and harmony. The fifties were the decade of change led by president Eisenhower. During this time the nation was in an up rise in many ways. The economy was booming as the Gross National Product more than doubled from the past decade. Thus there was a rise in consumer spending which had a domino effect on the economy. Though it was unexpected, many issues arrived such as the fear of communism and the suspicion of communists hiding in the government. At this period

After WWll leaders realize that they were not too fond of the past because the United States was trying to move away from being isolationist and make the change to interventionism. They looked for new ways to keep the U.S safe and to protect their interest in the world because they were threatened by Stalin. Leaders soon realize that there were going to be people who disagreed with the new rules/policies such as HUAC, Bert the Turtle which were atomic bomb drills, and Joseph McCarthys idea called McCarthyism. All because of these people who disagreed they had to act fast to keep the U.S and its people safe. When Franklin Roosevelt died in April of 1945 the U.S was at a very non stable point in time. The U.S was still at War and one of our most important allies which was the Soviet Union was beginning to break off after WWII from the u.s. due to the Soviets wanted to keep Eastern Europe. This sent us into a great conflict known as the cold war with the Soviets because they didn 't have much in common. The U.S was a capitalist democracy in the Soviet Union was a dictatorship and were communist, the leader of the dictatorship was Joseph Stalin.

During the post WWII period in America, the face of the nation changed greatly under the presidency of Truman and Eisenhower. America underwent another era of good feelings as they thought themselves undefeatable and superior over the rest of the world. Communism was the American enemy and American sought to rid the world of it. Because of the extreme paranoia caused by Communism, conformity became an ideal way to distinguish American Culture from the rest. Conformity became a part of every American Life to a large extent. It became evident through the medium of culture, society and politics throughout the era of the 50s.

With the overwhelming amount of Levittown houses, the obsession to obtain the perfect American “ideal family” as seen on TV and the unspoken agreement to fear any and all foreign ideas and values, the 1950s were revealed to be a decade of prosperity, conformity and consensus. Just ten years later the atmosphere in America was shockingly different; the 1960s were a decade of turbulence, protest and disillusionment due to the ongoing struggle for civil rights, arising feminism, and the Vietnam War.

Throughout recent history, the fifties proved to be the most interesting to me because not only was it a time of great economic expansion; but it was also known as a period where current citizens and leaders of the United States frowned upon. The “Golden Age” proved to be one of the most outbreaking movements of the industrial age. This period in American history gave citizens of the United States access to a better standard of living, transformed American agriculture, and brought the rise of the suburban nation. Remarkably, the employment rate for women had skyrocketed during the year of 1955 proving that

The 1950’s and early 1960’s was a time of consensus in the US. By the middle of the 60’s the US experienced a series of shocks which undermined consensus. The assassination of President Kennedy in Dallas in 1963. The differences in the civil rights movement. The escalation of the Vietnam War. All of these factors undermined American confidence to change the world and improve the country. By the late 60’s, US society was polarised: divided between different viewpoints: Youth culture; counter-culture, and multiculturism.