Essays on Mccarthyism

McCarthyism is the practice of making accusations of subversion and treason, especially when related to communism and socialism. The term originally referred to the controversial practices and policies of U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy, and has its origins in the period in the United States known as the Second Red Scare, lasting from the late 1940s through the 1950s.

The idea that it was necessary to guard against people seeking to overthrow the U.S. government took root early in the 20th century. Advances made by the Soviet Union, coupled with the victory of the Chinese Communist Party in establishing the People’s Republic of China and the apparent inability of the United States to prevent the spread of communism, were among the factors causing fear of communist infiltration in the United States.

In 1950, U.S. senator Joseph McCarthy made a speech in Wheeling, West Virginia, in which he stated that the U.S. was engaged in a “battle between communistic atheism and Christianity” and declared that he had a list of a large number of communists working in the State Department. The accusations triggered investigations and kept McCarthy and his search for communist subversion within the U.S. government in the spotlight.

Joseph McCarthy’s accusations of communist infiltration into the U.S. Army Signal Corps and the army’s charge that McCarthy had sought preferential treatment for a recently drafted associate led to 36 days of televised Senate hearings, known as the McCarthy hearings, that began in April 1954. McCarthyism ended with the senator’s downfall.

McCarthyism had wide effect on America, it created a culture of uniformity and paranoia that feared anything slightly. McCarthyism led to increased suspicions and fear within the government. Also the term McCarthyism is still used in modern political discourse as a byname for defamation of character or reputation by indiscriminate allegations on the basis of unsubstantiated charges.

Joseph McCarthy

c. 1950 - c. 1954

United States

McCarthyism is the practice of making accusations of subversion and treason, especially when related to communism and socialism. The term originally referred to the controversial practices and policies of U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy, and has its origins in the period in the United States known as the Second Red Scare, lasting from the late 1940s through the 1950s.

The idea that it was necessary to guard against people seeking to overthrow the U.S. government took root early in the 20th century. Advances made by the Soviet Union, coupled with the victory of the Chinese Communist Party in establishing the People’s Republic of China and the apparent inability of the United States to prevent the spread of communism, were among the factors causing fear of communist infiltration in the United States.

In 1950, U.S. senator Joseph McCarthy made a speech in Wheeling, West Virginia, in which he stated that the U.S. was engaged in a “battle between communistic atheism and Christianity” and declared that he had a list of a large number of communists working in the State Department. The accusations triggered investigations and kept McCarthy and his search for communist subversion within the U.S. government in the spotlight.

Joseph McCarthy’s accusations of communist infiltration into the U.S. Army Signal Corps and the army’s charge that McCarthy had sought preferential treatment for a recently drafted associate led to 36 days of televised Senate hearings, known as the McCarthy hearings, that began in April 1954. McCarthyism ended with the senator’s downfall.

McCarthyism had wide effect on America, it created a culture of uniformity and paranoia that feared anything slightly. McCarthyism led to increased suspicions and fear within the government. Also the term McCarthyism is still used in modern political discourse as a byname for defamation of character or reputation by indiscriminate allegations on the basis of unsubstantiated charges.