How Did Mccarthyism Contribute To The Rise Of The Red Scare

The near crippling panic following the Cold War between the U.S. and the Soviet Union (Modern day Russia), is known as the “Red Scare”. The “Red Scare” was solely based on a government official, Joseph R. McCarthy, accusing members of the opposing force, left-wing liberals, of being communist spies from the Soviet Union. These unsupported accusations made against someone or a group is also known as McCarthyism. These accusations against other members of the government sparked a wildfire of fear among civilian life within the US. This ever growing fear of communism invading the american way of life was implanting paranoia within the nation’s people on a private and public level. The “Red Scare” was a series of events initiated by Joseph R.

The first red scare was initiated the same way as the most recent red scare in 1950s. After both world wars, the spread of communism was on the rise. The “Red Scare” of the 1950s was sparked primarily due to Joseph R. McCarthy. McCarthy pushed unsupported accusations against other members in the state department after claiming he had a list of known communists within the foundation of our government (Joseph McCarthy). These unsupported accusations are also known as “McCarthyism”. “McCarthyism is a mid-20th century political attitude characterized chiefly by opposition to elements held to be subversive. (McCarthyism). These accusations against other members of the state set in an underlying fear in the mass populous of the american people. This fear was instilling a feeling of distrust against the US government and one another among the american

In a public sense of affliction, business’ and other establishments were being boycotted under the assumption that possible communists were in charge of said establishments. This fear even pushed some americans to the absolute extremes, such as rioting, looting, and in some cases murder. When delving into a more personal level, “Government officials and people within the commonwealth of america were even being pushed to blame one another to save themselves from destructive criticism.” (Clark). Civilians were hounded by law enforcement, alienated from friends and family, and lost their jobs due to McCarthyism at it's finest (Red Scare). In the late 1930s a group by the name of “House Un-American Activities Committee” (HUAC) was formed (Red Scare). HUAC had found itself with “work” on its hands. HUAC questioned many writers and actors that were affiliated with the left-wing film industry (Reds In Hollywood). A good example of the “work” HUAC had conducted were hearings against “The Hollywood Ten”. The Hollywood Ten was a small congregation of actors and writers that had claimed that the hearings involving themselves and right-wing conservatives were unfair to them (Reds In Hollywood). It is now known that the hearings were in fact, not fair, “In judicial affairs, for example, support for free speech and other civil liberties eroded significantly.” stated