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Senator Joseph Mccarthyism And The Red Scare

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McCarthyism represents a period of mass hysteria, fearmongering, and demagoguery. It differs a little from the Trump era, yet both are similar in the aspect of manipulating public opinion to undermine democracy. Joseph McCarthy used communism as a way to feed into mass hysteria; Donald Trump wants to use immigrants in the same way. They wanted to amass a lot of power and be the sole perpetrator who wields it. They avoided accountability as long as they could from the judicial branch, the media, and anyone who disagreed with their interests. We can pinpoint when McCarthyism gained traction. According to The Unfinished Nation, “In February 1950, while delivering a speech in Wheeling, West Virginia, Senator Joseph McCarthy lifted up a sheet of paper claiming to …show more content…

People didn’t know who to trust and by accusing other people of being communists, it would give him a form of protection if they ever accused him of being a communist spy. But the Red Scare, as it came to be known, was not only promoted by Sen. McCarthy, but involved the FBI: “When the Supreme Court started to make anti-Communist prosecutions more difficult, the bureau (FBI) embarked on COINTELPRO, a secret program of political sabotage, unauthorized surveillance, and disinformation designed to cripple the Communist party and, later, other radical groups as well” (Schrecker 24). McCarthyism created an environment where it was acceptable to break the law to get convictions even if the convictions were false. The FBI were quick to accuse people of being communists to divert attention from the laws the FBI broke, and it wasn’t until the 1970s where it became widely known. Even though people believed McCarthy’s accusations “McCarthy had no evidence that any of the people he referred to were communists; and, in fact, he tended to qualify his initial charges and fling new ones” (Schrecker

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In McCarthy’s speech in Wheeling, West Virginia, he mentions how there were communists throughout the government. He targeted those treated well by the Nation, such as the wealthy and white-collar workers. Attacking people born with silver spoons in their mouths, those who are born privileged, and claiming the ones in the government are Communists increases the amount of fear the Americans had that communism was spreading. Despite McCarthy’s accusations that these people were communists, he never provided evidence that supported his claim. McCarthy’s “witch hunt” for Communists, also known as McCarthyism, was a movement he used to make himself more powerful and to discredit the Truman

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McCarthyism era was this huge idea of creating terror and frenzy by accusing most of the people of being involved in an "unwelcome" repetition, and making deals like letting them go in exchange for turning in friends, family members, and acquaintances. Senator Joseph McCarthy worn with an accused communist stating, "Senator, have you no shame" (Miller 1995; 111; Schrecker 1994; 93). In these cases, fear, philosophy and suspicion threatened to destroy the "community" of people and put in its place a tyrannical lead. People then started looking away from each other and questioning and trying to find out if they have a communist ideology. This gave so much tense and stress to the

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The government, including McCarthy, wanted more power also at this time. It all was a big mess. It seemed like McCarthy wanted the power more than everyone else. So he started to try and take control of things. If he thought that a person was a communist then he would call them out and take almost everything from them even if they were not communists.

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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.

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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.

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McCarthy created the uproar of having a ‘witch hunt’ on communists in America. His influence on the people gave him credibility when he accused those innocent people. “He cited 81 cases that day. He skipped several numbers, and for some cases repeated the same flimsy information. He proved nothing, but the Senate called for a full investigation.”(ushistory.org).

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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.

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“In a narrow sense McCarthyism is the name given to the attitudes and practices of Senator Joseph McCarthy (1908-57) and his followers engrossed in investigating and purging purported security risks, especially those supposedly with ties present or former, actual or imagined, to Communist groups and governments during the late 1940s and early

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McCarthyism, a broad political campaign during the mid-twentieth century against suspected Communists in influential positions throughout America, had severe implications on the American political landscape. In what ways did McCarthyism impact politics during the time period of 1946-1953? McCarthyism impacted politics during 1946 - 1953 by allowing politicians to run on claims without evidence, the use of legislative actions, and through the rise of Nixon. Politicians and political groups were able to run on claims without evidence, a core principle of McCarthyism.

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At the time J. Edgar Hoover was in command of the F.B.I., due to this he obtained extensive files one suspected subversives through the use of wiretaps, surveillance and the infiltration of leftist groups. There were many communistic events that were internationally happening around the world at the time. Consequently, this heightened the fear for the public. Above all, the public felt the Red Scare on a personal level. Many alleged communist sympathizers saw their lives disrupted.

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McCarthyism was a vociferous campaign against alleged communists in the US government. Many of the accused were blacklisted or lost their jobs, although most did not in fact belong to the Communist Party. In these two events, many similarities

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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.

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McCarthyism caused Americans to strife each other because of acts of aggression, deceitful rumors, and paranoia. Clearly, McCarthyism corrupted Americans by bringing forth violence and aggression. One reason for this was the overall stress and hysteria of

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Both situations spiraled out of control because of ignorance and the use mob mentality. A person who sympathized with Communists was persecuted, just as if someone tried to defend the accused witches of Salem. Parallel to the Salem Witch Trials, the McCarthy Trials accused hundreds of innocent people of being Communists without any proof. Like Salem, if the accused confessed to communism, they would be blacklisted from their community, but not jailed. Sir William Phips was the Governor of Massachusetts at the time of the salem Witch Trials, and he refused to stop the trials until one of the accusers targeted his wife.

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For the next two years, he began to question numerous officials in the State Departments in the hope to backup his claims. Joseph McCarthy accused several innocent citizens of being associated with communism with groundless claims, but he was unable to unmask any communist among them. Joseph McCarthy’s downfall began in October of 1953 when he started to question if the Military was infested with Communism. The Army fired back with accusations and started revealing information about him. Reporters started publishing unflattering articles about him and he eventually lost his position as the Chairman of the Government Committee on Operations of the Senate.

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