America in the 1950’s was a time where neighbor was told to watch neighbor in fear of a spy from Soviet Russia. After the second World War, many had believed that the atheistic communists had infiltrated the United States government on a mission to shape its policies. Politicians became disgraced after accusations of being a Communist member or sympathizer. In his “Speech Delivered in Wheeling West Virginia, February 9, 1950”, Republican senator from Wisconsin, Joseph McCarthy, exemplified McCarthyism and the Red Scare by presenting a list of more than two hundred State Department employees that had been a Communist. Going into the Cold War between the Soviet Union and The United States had been a heated time for politicians named a communist; a near equivalent to being called a witch in Salem, Virginia.
In the 1940 's and 1950 's, an anti-Communist movement swept the United States of America. Fueled by the anti-Communist actions of Congress, particularly a Senator from Wisconsin by the name of Joseph McCarthy, the movement escalated and many people lost their jobs as a result of various blacklists. Congressional hearings, both in front of HUAC and McCarthy Senate committee were a study in organized persecution. The actions taken during the "Red Scare" were eventually given the general name McCarthyism. McCarthyism is the practice of making accusations of subversion or treason without proper regard for evidence.
1The McCarthy Era was a period of the Cold War when fear of communism in America was at an all-time high. These tensions were exacerbated by the man this era is named for, Senator Joseph McCarthy. Senator McCarthy was known for throwing around unsubstantiated claims related to communists in the government and this only intensified the fear of communism for ordinary Americans. This panic led to Americans looking for someone to blame. One group that came under heavy fire were women, more specifically mothers.
McCarthy manipulated the media, told outrageous stories about the communist conspiracy in the United States, and used his power and America’s fear to besmirch any opponents as “communist sympathizers” to make sure he remained at the top. Actually, most conservative members of Congress supported McCarthy because it helped them gain votes during elections. The majority of McCarthy 's movement attacked liberals and members of the Democratic Party and this aided anyone who was not part of those topics and organizations. Then McCarthy began to target the Army because they wouldn’t favor David Schine, one of his former investigators, who had been drafted in. “Senator Joseph McCarthy began hearings investigating the United States Army, which he charged with being ‘soft’ on communism.
George Orwell wrote the novel "1984" in 1949. What is engaging about this book is the author's use of advanced technology, like screens that watch you at all times, monitor your heart, and listen to everything you say. What makes this fascinating is that Orwell wrote this over six decades ago, at a time when such technology was only a fragment of his imagination. In the book, the Party spies on the characters to keep everyone in check and ensure no one has opposing thoughts against the Party. Anyone who is inconsistent with the Party's ideology gets punished.
The purpose of this investigation is to answer the following question, “What impact did McCarthyism have on American society during the early 1950’s?” The main body of evidence will investigate on what events lead up the practice of McCarthyism, and why it holds negative connotations of government accusations on the society. Evidence will include eyewitness accounts of this practice such as journal articles and speeches from the time. Documents will be analyzed in regards to their origin, purpose, value, and limitations in order to properly evaluate the evidence. Documents include a list containing the false accusations Senator Joseph McCarthy made under his own reasoning as well as President Harry S. Truman’s response according to this practice.
Over six million Jews were brutally murdered in the Holocaust during World War II. Sadly, only very few Jews were able to survive this terrible event. Among these few was Elie Wiesel, a boy of only 13 years of age when taken by German soldiers into a concentration camp called Auschwitz. In these camps, Jews are dehumanized and stripped of everything they own and everything that they are. The story Night, by Elie Wiesel, portrays the awful life that all Jews endured during their time in Auschwitz.
When people are placed under an intense feeling of fear, they begin to commit actions they never thought they were capable over. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, a young group of girls commit witchcraft which eventually leads to the arrest of over 100 women. This is similar to a time in the 1950s when Joseph McCarthy accuses government officials of communism and that ultimately leads to hundreds of citizens losing their jobs. The Crucible reveals the similarities between The Salem Witch Trials of the 1690s and McCarthyism of the 1950s because it demonstrates how a society can be tremendously impacted by the feeling the fear.
In mid 50’s, Senator Joseph McCarthy suggested that “the Soviet Union had a conspiracy to place Communist sympathizers into key positions of American life” (Rogers, Thomas, 2008). Due to these accusations there were purges and show trials of those accused of “un-American” behavior, meaning that if they said something bad about their own country
his skepticism towards McCarthy. He saw through McCarthy’s tactics and knew he was an opportunist using this petty form of bullying for his own social gains. Around 1950, McCarthy had formed accusations against policy makers and clerks, maintaining that there had to be traitors in the administration. Murrow responded to these accusations by saying that while it might have been a possibility that there were in fact Communists in Washington, those individuals were protected by the Bill of Rights. More importantly, he pointed out that McCarthy’s accusations were unfounded and held no signs of proof (Edwards 102).
“We are who are always were in Salem, but now the little crazy children are jangling the keys to the kingdom, and a common vengeance writes the law (Miller Act II:389-390) ” This quote, by Arthur Miller in his famous play The Crucible, depicts McCarthyism as the Salem witch trials. Miller shows the resemblance of both events when people are being falsely accused with little to no evidence, and the trails were prejudicial and horrific. Using this approach has its strengths, weaknesses, and ideas that differs between the two. Depicting McCarthyism as the Salem witch trials strengthens the resemblance.
During times of crisis and danger, what are some common human beliefs and behaviors? In the 1950s, people in America were living in fear of McCarthyism. As communism began to spread in Europe and China, the US government began to blacklist random people that are suspected to be communists. McCarthyism, also known as the “Red Scare”, is a political campaign proposed by Senator Joseph P. McCarthy that aimed to expose communists in the US government. During the period of McCarthyism, thousands of innocent people were being accused as communists and lost their jobs.
Consequently, the public’s image of McCarthy was changed from a positive view to a certainly negative one. This change was cemented when he was condemned by the Senate “in a vote of 67 to 22” (“McCarthyism and the Red Scare”). Once being a prominent figure of fighting against communism, Joseph McCarthy’s reputation crumbled as his illusion faded. All together, the McCarthy situation highlights how the fear of communism was able to allow corrupt and dishonest people into power, all in the name of eradicating communism. However, McCarthy is not the only example of such negative occurrences sprouting from the Red
In the beginning of The Crucible, John Proctor is presented as a contradictory and an unfaithful man, whose sins from the past still haunt him. If so, why did the playwright Arthur Miller use Proctor as an advocate to convey a deeper idea about McCarthyism? John Proctor is skillfully employed as the play’s protagonist because he not only displays character development, but he also represents the play’s, and in a way, the Red Scare’s central struggle: confess and calumnize neighbours, or stand up for what they believe is right but confront death in doing so. John Proctor’s disposition, character development, and fate play an important role on the grounds on which Miller chose him to make a commentary on the Red Scare of the 1950s.
Sarah Paroya D period I hate MUSH The end of World War II should have marked a period of relief in America but instead, it lead America into a completely different type of war called the Cold War. The Cold War was an ongoing state of political and military tension between the United States and the Soviet Union. This constant state of tension and fear had been embedded deep in the American public.
