Mccarthyism In Joseph Mccarthyism In The 1950's

McCarthyism is defined as a “political attitude characterized chiefly by opposition to element held to be subversive… especially on the basis of unsubstantiated charges”. The term was coined by in 1950 by Herbert Block, a political cartoonist. Many historians attribute McCarthyism to a period of time that largely took place in the 1950’s, due to the popularization of McCarthyist tactics by Senator Joseph McCarthy at that time. However, McCarthyism cannot be contained in one decade, as the behaviors linked to it are present in most walks of life. A form of McCarthyism can be seen in the way children behave. Rumors hold much of the same weight that truth does in a child’s world. This results in very real conflicts and consequences arising from not-so-real information. In fact, “research has shown that children naturally propagate overheard

This is the Second Red Scare during the 1950’s, when the word McCarthyism came about. Deep in the throes of the Cold War, at this time America was gripped with a paralyzing fear about the spread of Communism. Paranoia blossomed and progressive movements such as feminism and labor reform were labeled as dangerously close to Communism. An anti-Communist sentiment grew into a movement against a variety of different communities. This is the environment that Senator Joseph McCarthy began to thrive in. Throughout his political career, McCarthy had told several rather large lies. For example, during his campaign, he touted his patriotism by reminding his audiences of his battle wound, when in reality, the so-called battle wound had been obtained by “drunkenly falling off a ladder while attending a party on a Navy ship”. However, it wasn’t until the Second Red Scare when Joseph McCarthy was given an opportunity to take his manipulation to a larger