In the 1950s, a great amount of Americans who operated in politics, served in the armed forces, worked in the motion picture industry, or originated from different places of life needed to answer that question before a congressional board. "Are you a Communist?" Many people were terrified by this staement, hints the “Red Scare”. These people like Mcarthy made accusations of treason without good evidence. Started by Republican Representative, Joseph McCarthy, McCarthyism profoundly aggravated the political, social, and economical condition of the United States in the 1950's. The start of the Cold War was 1947 and Mccarthyism started in the early 50’s many Americans were afraid of the comunist beliefs. The Preisdent at this time was Harry …show more content…
Victor Navasky said, “The social costs of what came to be called McCarthyism have yet to be computed. By conferring its prestige on the red hunt, the state did more than bring misery to the lives of hundreds of thousands of Communists, former Communists, fellow travelers, and unlucky liberals. It weakened American culture and it weakened itself.” He says it weaken America, I believe that to be true instead of standing up for they’re beliefs most people were to timid to voice their opinions. A good example of communism is Robin Hood, its show practices of communism he takes from the rich to give to the poor. Thats why in many of the schools and libraries the tale of Robin Hood was taken out, because of that one little reason. McCarythism and the Cold War were side by side, when the tensions of Cold War rose so did McCarthyism. People were very afraid of nuclear warfare, so anybody they assumed to be communist spy was imprisioned. Ushistory.org states, “At a speech in Wheeling ,West Virginia on February 9, 1950, McCarthy launched his first salvo. He proclaimed that he was aware of 205 card-carrying members of the Communist Party who worked for the United States Department of State. A few days later, he repeated the charges at a speech in Salt Lake City. McCarthy soon began to attract headlines, and the Senate asked him to make his case.” This got the countrys heads thinking if theres