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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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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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