Victims Of Mccarthyism During The Cold War

McCarthyism arose in the 1950s. “It originally intended to criticize the anti-communist views of U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy. People were afraid of Communism influencing America 's companies and the Soviet Union spying on them. It took on a more broad but similar meaning over time and was eventually used to describe an unsubstantiated accusation of someone.” ("McCarthyism")

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 a campaign against alleged communists in the US government and other institutions carried out by Senator Joseph McCarthy in 1950-1954 (authentichistory.com by: Michael Barnes)”. McCarthyism is when people make false accusations about someone or something with out evidence to back it up. During the cold war Joseph McCarthy had made many false accusations about having a large number of communists and soviet spies in our government feeding top-secret information to Russia, which was not true. McCarthyism didn’t just spread false accusations through out the nation it also spread fear and dread for many. I believe that McCarthyism is just like the Salem witch trials in one way would be that

The horrors of history are passed on from generation to generation in hopes that they will never happen again. People look back on these times and are surprised at how terrible the times were. Yet, in the 1950s, history repeated itself. During this time Joseph McCarthy, a United States senator from Wisconsin, began accusing people of being Communists or Communist sympathizers, which is like the Salem witch trials in the late 1690s when innocent people were accused of practicing

McCarthyism is defined as the blatant campaign against supposed communist throughout the US government during the 1950’s by Senator Joseph Mccarthy. The people that were accused of being communist lost their jobs or were blacklisted. McCarthyism is demonstrated in the movies: The Crucible and Good Night, and Good Luck. Although the movies both demonstrate McCarthyism, they display it in completely different ways. In both of films, there are people being deceived. The people of the communities would not speak up about the lies and problems that they are experiencing because they feared for their own lives.

McCarthyism, you could say is one of those things that shaped the way society acts. Not just in the Crucible did the people in society follow the “crowd”, but also in the Scarlet Letter. Everyone gathered at that prison door, including women and children, all to see this huge spectacle about Hester the adulterer, even if they didn’t know what was going on or who Hester even was, but they gathered and they judged. Account for the Sacco & Vanzetti Case in 1921, because they were Italian immigrants and known for being radicals the were convicted and executed, even though there was no evidence of them committing the crime. This all took place during what is known as the Red Scare, a time of fear.

Senator Joseph R. McCarthy was born on November 14, 1908 in Appleton, Wisconsin. He became the Senate of the United States in 1946. In 1952 after being reelected he became chair of the Senate's subcommittee on investigations which was him questioning various government form. Further on in his career he discovered that 205 Communists had infiltrated the United States Department, that then lead to the “Red Scare”. The discovery of Red Scare happened on February 9, 1950. Red Scare was a nationwide witch hunt for communist out of fear which was then called “McCarthyism”. During the McCarthyism time period many american were being questioned and accused of being communist without any actual evidence. Many of these American that were being accused

McCarthyism is a system created by Joseph McCarthy. Joseph McCarthy was a senator who hadn't done anything impressive during his first term so at reelection he had to find a way to stay in office. During this time America was terrified of Communism. Communism is a theory or system based on the holding of all property and actual ownership being ascribed to the community as a whole or to the state. It was spreading to other countries and American’s feared that their rights would be violated. McCarthy took advantage of this and came forward with a list of 205 names of people who were supposedly known members of the American Communist Party. This caused a huge stir throughout the nation. McCarthy saw this effect as a positive and in his favor he continued accusing innocent citizens of spreading communism. This resulted in peoples arrest and many different law suits. McCarthy’s reign came to an end when he began accusing the military of communistic ideas. This is when people realized that McCarthy’s movement needed to stop. Today McCarthyism is defined as the practice of making accusations of disloyalty in instances unsupported by proof or based on slight, doubtful, or irrelevant

McCarthy is a name that will live forever in the annals of American history as a dark mark on American freedoms and everything the country stands for. Senator Joseph McCarthy from Wisconsin was essentially a nobody during the majority of his time in government, but in the early 50’s McCarthy saw a chance to force himself into the limelight. Everybody hears about Totalitarian regimes arresting political dissidents such as North Korea and Nazi Germany, but many do not know that the USA also jailed political dissidents during the late 40’s to early 50’s. After World War 2 the United States and the Soviet Union had disposed of their common enemy and immediately had cold relations due to their different ideologies. The development of nuclear weapons

During WWII, McCarthyism turned many Americans against each other by instigating fear and derangement among individuals because they believed that they were Communist or knew about someone who was. In the article, “A Decade of Fear” written by Sam Robert, explains how McCarthyism turned Americans against each other by installing paranoia with Soviet threats and commission. Robert depicts, “As if air raid wasn’t enough to worry about, anybody, it seemed, could be a spy seeking to undermine American Values by infiltrating civic institutions and the government from local school boards to the White House itself.” (paragraph 8) Additionally, Roberts states, “Critics said McCarthy was stoking fear and smearing anyone in his path” In other words,

     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

Sam Roberts article, “A Decade of Fear” explains how McCarthyism turned Americans against each other because thousands of Americans were accused of being communists or supporting communists. Some leading targets that were very suspicious were educators and people working for the government. Individuals lost their jobs and were often sent to imprisonment. Sam Roberts stated, “ ..thousands of alleged Communists in the U.S. were arrested and deported during what became known as the Red Scare.” The Red Scare become the scandal during the first World War but by the end of World War II, the Soviet Union controlled most of Eastern Europe and installed Communist puppet regimes in countries like Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and East Germany.

How would you like if somebody came into you’re house and changed all the rules? During the McCarthy era (1940-1950), tens of thousands of Americans were accused of being communists and became the subject of long investigation. Most targets of the accusations were government employees, people working in the entertainment industry, educators, and union supporters (53a. McCarthyism). Many people lost employment of their job and destruction of their careers; some even were held in prison for years. According to many Americans the McCarthy era was one of the most depressing eras because of false accusations.

McCarthyism, also known as the second red scare, was primarily common in the 50s, and it was called as such because of the main influencer and creator of McCarthyism was senator Joseph McCarthy. Joseph McCarthy was a senator who conducted different hearings, or more practically ‘search parties’ to hunt down communists in the american peoples. He was responsible for the conviction of many people because of their ‘unloyalty’ to America. Anyone who was found to be unloyal was immediately accused of affiliation with communists. He was able to do such things because of the executive order passed by president Truman to screen all workers across the country for ‘loyalty’. Everyone was afraid of the spread of communism, and they all fought to get rid of any infectious communists.

McCarthyism is a term that refers to making an accusation without proper evidence to back it up. It is named after and was used by Joseph McCarthy, who accused several hundred people in the United States government of secretly being communist. McCarthyism easily appealed to and influenced the United States due to the terror and uneasiness surrounding communism as the Cold War intensified, causing the second Red Scare to emerge.