McCarthyism

= McCarthyism =

**Origin:**
When Republican Senator Joseph McCarthy took over the House Un-American Activities Committee, he became paranoid with the thought of communism in his own country. He saw communists everywhere. This period lasted from roughly 1950 to 1954. The fear reflected onto the American public, where everyone was drawn into the state of paranoia. People thought that the communists would influence American institutions and there would be espionage from Soviet spies. The first red scare in 1917-1920, contributed to the McCarthy era. The Communist Party of the United States gained members throughout the 1930s, and eventually reaching its peach of 75,000 members in 1940. The Soviet Union then tested out their A-bomb in 1949, which was earlier than what was expected. This sent fear into the hearts of the Americans. The same year Mao Zedong and his Communist party took over mainland China. In 1950 the Korean War started, that featured the US, UN and South Korea against the Communist North Korea and China. These communist fuelled events were followed by an outbreak of Soviet espionage activities. In the 1930s, the New Deal policies of Roosevelt were said to be communist of nature. Implying that the government was heavily influenced with Communists.

Joseph McCarthy initiated the beginning of this era of paranoia, when he made his speech in Wheeling, West Virginia. It was on Lincoln Day, February 9, 1950 at the Republican Women's Club. He read off a list of names that were supposedly known to the Secretary of State as members of the Communist Party. This attracted much media attention and established the future of his era. No audio recording was saved unfortunately, so we do not know the entire content of his influential speech. Over the next couple weeks the number fluctuated each time he spoke. At times he mentioned 57 members, or 81 members rather than the original 205. McCarthy never produced evidence that there actually were communists in the State Department.
 * Beginning Event:**

//"The State Department is infested with communists. I have here in my hand a list of 205—a list of names that were made known to the Secretary of State as being members of the Communist Party and who nevertheless are still working and shaping policy in the State Department." - Joseph McCarthy//

Thousands of Americans were aggressively questioned and investigated by government panels, committees and agencies. The number of imprisoned Americans is in the hundreds and thousands lost their jobs, although it is hard to give an estimate. If you were suspected of being homosexual, you were also targeted. Hollywood was hit hard. Over 300 actors, authors, and directors were fired and denied work since they were on the Hollywood Blacklist. Blacklists were also made for universities, in the legal profession, and many other fields. Almost 300,000 seaman lost their jobs. Accusations were made with little or no evidence, and the threat was most of the time highly exaggerated.
 * Victims and How they were Treated:**

The most influential factor to the slow down of the rash McCarthyism, was public opinion. A couple of cases also brought about the demise of this era. The decline took place in the mid to late 1950s. One of the most important cases was one which involved Henry Faulk, a radio announcer, when he spoke out against one of the private firms that evaluated people called AWARE inc. Faulk was then fired from CBC radio because AWARE deemed him unfit. Outraged, Faulk decided to sue AWARE in 1957, and won his case in 1962. This would start many other supreme court cases that would rule in favour of the poor women and men who were unemployed.
 * Slow Down:**

The word McCarthyism is currently used in everyday speech. It is often used in the context of aggressively questioning ones patriotism or making poorly supported claims. Many scholars and authors also compare the current anti-terrorism policies to the old ways of McCarthyism. It is quite ironic when we think about the whole McCarthy era. The Communist Party of the United States barely did any harm at all, while the whole execution of the McCarthy theory tainted American history.
 * Present Day Repercussions:**

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/mccarthy-says-communists-are-in-state-department http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McCarthyism