Mccarthyism In The Political Environment Of The 1950s

Another one of the major things that happened in the 1950s was the Red Scare. What that means is that people were scared that communists would rise against them. Many of the people were very affected and according to The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History:“Hundreds of screenwriters, actors, and directors were blacklisted because of their alleged political beliefs, while teachers, steelworkers, sailors, lawyers, and social workers lost their jobs for similar reasons.More than thirty-nine states required teachers and other public employees to take loyalty oaths” (Anti-Communism).

McCarthyism- McCarthy was a senator famous for the communist hysteria in the 50’s. He blamed 205 State Department workers for having ties with communists. He gained support by playing into American’s fears of the spread of communism. Though some of these people accused of not being loyal were in fact not loyal, most weren’t. His accusations were mainly built on speculation. His smear tactics became known as McCarthyism. Once he questioned the army’s loyalty that was it and he was called out by Eisenhower.

McCarthyism is the practice of making accusations of subversion or treason without proper regard for evidence. McCarthyism was used to make unfair allegations and using unfair investigative techniques in order to restrict dissent or political criticism. McCarthyism was developed by Joseph McCarthy, the whole purpose of why he did it was to scare Americans in order to make them not want to be a communist. McCarthyism led to several people being accused of being part of the communist party all by people blaming them when they had no hard facts that they were even a part of communism.

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)

Beginning in the early 1950s, Senator Joseph McCarthy released a monumental rampage across the United States. For fear of governmental infiltration by Communists, an outbreak of accusations swept the nation as a result of the Wisconsin senator, and helped create what is known as the second Red Scare (“McCarthyism”)

Historians tend to portray the 1950s as a decade of prosperity, conformity, and consensus, and the 1960s as a decade of turbulence, protest, and disillusionment. These stereotypes are largely true, though, as with everything in life, there are exceptions to this perspective. Therefore, the historians’ portrayal of the 1950s and 1960s is accurate for the majority of Americans, though some groups were clearly exceptions.

Joe McCarthy enjoyed a short reign in the spotlight of American politics in the early 1950s. His tactics, the baseless accusations of Communist ties, would come to be called McCarthyism and they set the tone of the American crusade against the ‘threat’ of Communism for years to come. The era in which the heavily anti-Communist McCarthyism reigned in America was one marked by fear, suspicion, and tightly geld ideals. Many found themselves under fire from the political witch hunts and more than one life was destroyed by the accusations brought upon it. The illegalization of the Communist movement and the misfortune that a Communist branding would cause were all unfortunate products of a fallacy filled mindset what stripped Americans of their

The 1950s were defined by security, social advancement, and social change, in the home and racial fronts. Speakers such as Joseph McCarthy drew out the remains of the Red Scare, and controversy influenced the public over the American dream and how the Cold War had changed it. The 1950s were an era of social conformity, proven by the suburban middle-class lifestyle and threat of wartime possibilities.

Republican Wisconsin senator, Joseph R. McCarthy, was originally a quiet senator who was fairly unknown and had done nothing extraordinary previous to 1950. The senator changed all that when he delivered a speech in February 1950, in which he leveled allegations that the State Department employed numerous Communists. He claimed to possess a list of these Communist employees, although that list was never produced (Tindall, George Brown, and David Emory Shi). Senator McCarthy’s attempt to gain publicity with his outlandish accusations worked. Since the first Red Scare years before the fifties, many Americans continued to be terrified of Communists and their potential ability to corrupt and overrun America. Senator McCarthy played on these fears, and he continued to claim communism had infiltrated every aspect of America; politics, culture and all of American society. Because of the similarity of events from the first Red Scare, this time period of the early fifties in America is often called the second Red Scare. The second Red Scare in America’s history actually began in the late forties, previous to McCarthy’s emergence in 1950, and it continued on throughout the fifties lasting at least a dozen years (Storrs, Landon R. Y.) McCarthy’s short era during the second Red Scare actually lasted only four years, but because of his outspoken and arrogant persona, as well as his ability to inflict fear and persecution on innocent people, this entire span of time went down in the

McCarthyism basically is the practice unfair accusations that are made against a person or group of people. During the cold In the time of the Cold War Americans were paranoid and vulnerable, as they never knew when the Soviet Union, or any other communist-totalitarian state would attack. “McCarthyism” gave Americans a sort of “hope” to get fight against communism in their own country. Joseph McCarthy, a U.S. Senator, became the face of the national fear of communist infiltration. Officials could not stop McCarthy from destroying people’s by accusing them of being a communist as then they themselves would be accused.

The Age of McCarthyism marks a sinister period of time consisting of convoluted accusations and fabrication of a sensitive topic regarding communist infiltration within America. Joe McCarthy’s unfounded allegations naming supposed ‘communist subversives’ instilled fear and anxiety among Americans. This was exacerbated by the anxiety associated with the concerns of an escalating Cold War. McCarthy was motivated by his political ambition and thus used the anti-communist crusade as a scapegoat, to benefit his political career. It became increasingly apparent that the accusations were made against innocent individuals. Despite resorting to sensationalism and eventually lies to exploit American fears of a growing undercurrent of Socialist

McCarthyism is a campaign against those who said they were communist in the US government and other institutions carried out under Senator Joseph McCarthy during the time frame of 1950-1954. The people that were accused were blacklisted and they lost their jobs, some said that they knew they didn't belong in the Communist Party. McCarthyism started because Americans were worried about the spread of Communism and afraid that the Russians were going to use the atomic bomb to bomb the United States. The bomb talk lead to hysteria in America which lead to the cold war.(1945-1960)

Throughout the 1950s, society was going through a period of post was confusion. After the end of World War, I, the first major Anti-Communist movement began in the United States, this was widely known as The Red Scare. The Red Scare was the growing fear of Communism in America. Being a Communist became illegal in the U.S. due to the fact that the Communist party was a radical movement that promoted rebellion and violence. The fear created by the development of the Soviet Union after World War I, and the rise to power of the Soviet Union after World War II caused widespread fear among many. Americans were encouraged to keep an eye on their friends and neighbors to ensure that they were not Communists or Soviet spies passing secrets to the Communists.

During the era of McCarthyism, the country was divided by McCarthy’s accusations, threats, and intimidating tactics. Many Americans were accused of being Communist, both by their government, friends, neighbors and co-workers who had lost their jobs because of being accused of being Communists. McCarthyism had an enormous effect on the emotional aspect of the country. Non-Communists had to endure the trauma of being accused by their own country. McCarthy’s tactics were dishonorable, as was stated in the video, “McCarthyism,” McCarthy exploited the “Red Scare” for political gain; he claimed to have a list of people that were affiliated with Communism. He threatened the president, used severe intimidation, and threatened prison, when trying to

During the Cold War, the biggest fear many Americans had was being accused of being a communist. In the 1950’s, Joseph McCarthy broadcasted a list of names who were known communists that invaded America government. This lead to the start of a group, House Committee on Un-American activities, who’s duty was to investigate anyone who may be suspicious of un-American activities.