The Constitution was written in order to protect the general rights of all Americans as well as to set guidelines for limiting government control. During the 1950’s, Senator Joseph McCarthy caused a nationwide phenomenon, which led to the government violating many rights of Americans. As McCarthy addressed to the Wheeling Women’s Republican Club in Wheeling, West Virginia, in February of 1950,
While I cannot take the time to name all the men in the State Department who have been named as members of the Communist Party and members of a spy ring I have here in my hand a list of 205 that were known to the Secretary of State as being members of the Communist Party and who nevertheless are still working and shaping the policy of the State Department. (Kallen 20)
With this irrational statement, the Senator amplified the Red Scare to uncontrollable levels. Joseph McCarthy did not start the fear of Communism; he only used it to his advantage. With the Cold War beginning, McCarthy utilized the best tool he could find to gain political power: widespread fear. His statements started a witch-trial of over 2,000 alleged Communist spies in many higher-level positions in American society, causing families and American society to be torn apart, violation of constitutional rights, and an irrational fear of Communism (Kallen 20).
Courts nationwide were faced with trying those accused. Congressional Panels around the United States put forth the question, “Are you now, or have you ever been, a member of the Communist party?” (McCarthyism). Without probable cause, the American government dragged thousands of people to court for crimes they did not commit. To be accused of being a Communist was one of the worst fates one could endure. The accused w...
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... American paranoid of Communist takeover, and when McCarthyism fell apart, it made those Americans paranoid about their own government. This increased the tension during those very apprehensive years in the world’s history.
Works Cited
Herman, Arthur. "Herman Sheds New Light on McCarthy." Interview by Stephen Goode. Insight on the News 07 Feb. 2000: 36. EBSCOhost. Web. 15 May 2014.
Kallen, Stuart A. The 1950s. San Diego, CA: Lucent, 1999. Print.
"Joseph R. McCarthy." History.com. A+E Networks, n.d. Web. 12 May 2014. .
"McCarthyism." U.S. History. Independence Hall Association of Philadelphia, n.d. Web. 12 May 2014. .
Schrecker, Ellen W. "Archival Sources for the Study of McCarthyism."Journal of American History 75.1 (1998): 197-208. EBSCOhost. Web. 12 May 2014.
...y Wheeling speech created nationwide hysteria, and with its impeccable timing just days after the conviction of the State Official Alga Hiss for lying under oath about his association with the communist Soviet as a spy, fueled the fight on communism. (citation) McCarthy war on communism during the “Second Red Scare” did not leave any individual safe from accusations. He attacked government agents, entertainment industry workers, educators, union members, and alienated the left-wing Democrats. McCarthy helped to create the atmosphere of suspicion and panic with his growth in media coverage. McCarthy’s words made for big headlines and the media was quick to cover his stories. This exposure helped facilitate American approval of McCarthy and empowered him to make more accusations on those suspected of subversion. In 1953, McCarthy headed the Government Operations Commit
As a counter product of this McCarthy intensified the Red Scare more and more. His ideals got through to the citizens creating more accusers and accusations. This only of course led to more and more fingers being pointed. The Red Scare was alive and well before McCarthyism but in the creation of McCarthy’s over the top actions he made it worse for the country as a whole, creating more and more fear inside the American
McCarthy conducted “witch hunts” in an effort to seek out and eliminate suspected Communists. Congressional hearings were in effect, not hearings, but trials for crimes that were not really crimes, with congressmen serving as prosecutor, judge, and jury. Unable to deprive a person of their life and liberty, they deprived him of his livelihood. If the person refused to give the names of other Communists, he or she would automatically be considered guilty. Witnesses at the trials were immediately classified as either friendly or unfriendly.
McCarthy was elected senate after becoming a lawyer in his sate of Wisconsin. During the first few years of his term nothing major really happened until 1950. In a speech to the Women’s club of wheeling in West Virginia he stated that he had a list in his hand of about 205 known members of the communist party working for the United States department. President Harry Truman had signed an executive order that said that all communists or fascists could not obtain a United States government job. The FBI played a big role in the investigation of this list McCarthy contained. McCarthy’s friend j. Edgar Hoover, which was a violent ant-communist in the federal government, could not wait to expose the people McCarthy accused of being communists. McCarthy’s list created a nationwide scar among the people of the United States. Everything McCarthy said was a lie and he had no evidence to show that the people he accused were really communist but, because of the start of the Korean War and the arrest of two American soldiers accused of spying on the Soviet Union American citizen...
Sam Robert’s argument is very effective in persuading the reader in believing that McCarthyism has turned Americans against each other. In Sam Robert’s argument he mentions,“McCarthy's accusation against President Harry Truman sent shock waves across the nation,” which shows that McCarthyism has heavily impacted the US and when he says, “ Americans were inclined to believe the worst, even without evidence,” it further cements his claim by showing the reader that because Americans jumped to conclusions without thinking it led to Americans accusing each other. Sam Robert’s argument is effective because of his clear and precise way of using evidence to verify his point.
"(Cook p77). Fear was the greatest underlying cause of the McCarthy movement; fear of communism, fear of the loss of freedom, fear of being accused or fear of what would happen if someone challenged the movement. Works Cited Rogin, Paul. The 'Standard'. The Intellectuals and McCarthy: the Radical.
McCarthy accused the secretary of the army of concealing foreign espionage activities. The secretary discriminated by saying that members of McCarthy’s subcommittee staff had threatened army officials in order to obtain a certain treatment for an associate of the subcommittee that have been drafted recently. He accused some of the most well-known entertainers of the era, demanding the “naming of names”. Careers and lives were ruined by accusations, based on weak evidence.
After WWII, the potential spreading of Communism was putting fear in every American’s heart; this became known as the second Red Scare. Americans even started to become suspicious of their own fellow Americans and many accusations started to occur. McCarthy did not start the Red Scare because it was already progressing before all of his actions.
Senator mccarthy used this list to instill hysteria in the american people. Those people were then exiled or persecuted, even though senator mccarthy lacked evidence to try this falsely accused people. A quote from the time period of mccarthyism was “I profoundly believe that in the struggle against communist and their organizations… we cannot and should not resort to the methods and forms employed by the communist party”( Kravchenko). This quote clearly explains how there was hysteria in america during the cold war. Mccarthyism is a modern day witch hunt because of the mass hysteria that spread through the united states, and the people that were blacklisted and exiled for being falsely accused of being communist.
In the era of both Red Scares, from the 40s to the 60s, anti-communism ideals were running rampant; during this time, many government actions and actions from the people either enhanced or degraded the fear of communism, and it is truly expressed by Richard M. Freeland, M. J. Heale, and Landon R. Y. Storrs describing this period of U.S. history. They take a stand about what caused it and what contributed, with Heale seeking more of a government approach, Freeland with a broader aspect focusing on how the world brought about this change in the United States, and Storrs being more akin to civilian actions which ultimately affected the entirety of the United States and the issues with the New Deal era. Whereas all of these issues that the authors
During the Cold War (1947-1991) a mass hysteria over Communist spies became a big issue. Many people felt unsafe and started accusing their neighbors of conspiring with communists. This started McCarthyism, “The practice of making unfair allegations or using unfair investigative techniques, especially in order to restrict dissent or political criticism.” Over the time of 1947 to 1956 many people’s own words were used against them, and any suspicion was considered evidence. During this time anyone even considered to follow communism lost their job and all credibility, were subpoenaed by the House Un-American Activities Committee ( HUAC ), and were imprisoned. The whole situation of the Red
The United States was in a state of scare when they feared that communist agents would come and try to destroy our government system. An example of this scare was the Cold war. During the cold war the U.S. supported the anti-communist group while the Soviet Union favored the communist party. Many people who still supported the communist party still lived in the U.S. When the U.S. joined the Cold war, trying to rid the communist party from Europe and Asia, the U.S. were afraid that the people living in the United States that still supported communism were spies that would give intel back to the Soviet Union to try to destroy their government. If anybody was a suspected communist, if somebody just didn’t like somebody, or if they were even greedy they could accuse the person of communism and the person would be thrown in the penitentiary, thus, starting the second red scare.
The poor choices McCarthy chose to make of lying led to the uproar of the people. The spreading of lies through McCarthyism led to the event created from terror, the Red Scare. The constant fear or paranoia from the scare led to the government being involved. Once the government became involved basic freedoms were taken from the fearful citizens. All actions have an effect and all effects have a root cause. In the case of the uproar of fearing communism, the root cause was Joseph McCarthy and his constant use of McCarthyism. All events led to the next, and as the events trickled down, America was left in a domino effect of constant controversy throughout the late 40’s and early 50’s. All in all, politicians have a selfish tendency to use others weaknesses, like paranoia and fear, to their advantage by manipulating the weak to conform to their illicit ideas drastically changing the world to benefit
The red scare was a fear of the spreading of communism that began in the 1920s. “America’s capitalist ideal of conformity became the norm and anything looking to oppose this would be considered antisocial, dangerous, or even treasonous”(Sauers 1). This was what became the belief of most Americans who conformed to the typical views. A man named Joseph McCarthy used this belief of the people to convict “communists”. He told lies and tricked many people to back him in accusing these people. Many people lost their jobs and many people’s lives were ruined. I believe that all the people who conformed to the red scare accusations, led directly to the loss of freedom for many individuals in our
Communism was spreading rapidly around the world, which led the fear of America converting to this corrupt way escalate rapidly. Even if one government office holder fell to communism, his/her political ideas could spread