This shocking announcement propelled the senator into the national spotlight, and McCarthyism gained a foothold in the United States.” This announcement led to widespread panic, with individuals fearing communism
The Cold War was a war of ideologies and propaganda. Hence, the smallest display of failure or mistrust on one side meant a great advantage for the other. This is exactly what McCarthy did in the 1950's. He created and developed a period of negativity in his time as a senator. By doing so, he gave the Soviets an advantage, and he weakened America's image internationally.
Arushi Patil ILS 200, Discussion Section 307 Essay 1 19 March 2023 Essay 2 Senator Joseph McCarthy is famous for initiating the Red Scare, which made people question whether or not the US government was safe and trustworthy. McCarthy gave several speeches ranging from 1950 to 1953 addressing the existence of communism in America and its threatening consequences. His powerful rhetoric and compelling speaking style allowed McCarthy to gain and maintain an immense group of followers. Through the use of several rhetorical devices such as repetition and extreme language, McCarthy convinces his audience—a wide range of Americans—of the dangers of Communists and their presence in the US government, overall generating a sense of fear, urgency, and
The speech made McCarthy famous and led Congress to begin investigating supposed communists in the government. McCarthy later gave Congress the names of State Department employees he claimed were traitors. Those individuals lost their jobs, even though McCarthy never supplied evidence to prove their guilt” (Joseph McCarthy). McCarthy used a list he made up to gain notoriety with
During this time in the world people were scared of the red scarce. People would say that Joseph Mccarthy was the modern
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.
In order to fully understand how Joseph McCarthy became the tyrannical Wisconsin Republican Senator who fortified his power by inciting fear, we must examine
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.
McCarthyism turned Americans against each other after WWII by claiming that Communists had infiltrated many areas of American life and government. In fact, “According to a local newspaper McCarthy dropped a bombshell: ‘The State Department is infested with Communists,” (para 3). In other words, this is the beginning of McCarthy turning Americans against each other. Paranoia started to spread through America which all this strongly affected Americans everyday life. McCarthyism was a result of American fear of communism in the 1950s.
The Cold War refers to the hostile political relations between the Soviet bloc countries, and the US-led Western powers from 1945-1991, resulting from ideological and political differences (http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/cold-war). It is considered one of the most important events of the 20th century, and its effect can still be seen in contemporary world affairs. The Cold War was characterized by the omnipresent feeling of distrust, suspicion and fear. In the United States, this culture of fear was often called the Red Scare, or the era of McCarthyism. It was most prominent during the early fifties, but started to die down when Senator McCarthy was discredited and relations between the US and USSR thawed.
Joseph McCarthy, McCarthyism and the Mccarthy-Army Hearings On September 2, 1945, the Second World War ended and what became known as the “Cold War” began between the United States and Soviet Union. The Cold War was mainly a disagreement between the two oppositions of government- Communism versus Democracy which divided the world. (Lindrop 19-29) This subject also divided America and caused political outbreak throughout the country.
Joseph McCarthy, a United States senator, as well as other citizens, began posing false accusations of communists in the country and government. Since the fear of communism during the Cold War was so high, mass hysteria extended through the United States and its government, like the Salem Witch Trials and the village of Salem,
Response to Senator McCarthy’s “Enemies From Within Speech” With anti-communism being the dominant political issue during the Cold War, hysteria and paranoia spread throughout the minds of Americans. The “Enemies From Within Speech” delivered at Wheeling, West Virginia in 1950 by Senator Joseph McCarthy focused on worsening that national fear. Senator McCarthy used ethos, metaphor, and hyperbole to create the notion of disloyalty within the federal government. In order to persuade the American public in a convincing way, Senator McCarthy appeals to their ethics.
The Soviet Union was on the verge of a nuclear war, so McCarthy put fear in everyone because no one had any idea who was a communist and who was not. He made everyone afraid to trust people, even the friends other had. They were afraid that they would be accused
In the early 1950’s, McCarthyism spread as a result of allegations, which ended up turning Americans against each other. Politicians across the United States made anti-communism the centerpiece of their identity after the second world-war which led straight into the Cold War. With the Cold War fueling America, it gave rose to McCarthy, a senator from Wisconsin. What made McCarthy famous was that he, who out of all people, said allegations claiming that two-hundred and five people were in the Communist Party and who were shaping the policy in the state department. The reason in which made McCarthy so believable is a result of what happened in the year prior.