Mccarthyism
...Such as in the case of Senator Joseph McCarthy who instilled fear into the minds of the Americans with his deep rooted beliefs in anti-Communist. Suring 1950-1954, Senator McCarthy disrupted the United States with his HUAC (House of Un-American Activity Committee) Hearings. These hearings brought government workers, college professors, playwrights and Hollywood screenwriters, actors, artists, musicians, gays, Jews and anyone with a goatee under suspicion. These actions proved in many cases to be outrageous and extreme.
During McCarthy's early days he was just an unknown senator from Wisconsin, wanting to be in the public eye. During a speech in Wheeling, West Virginia, Senator McCarthy declared he had possession of a list proving that the State Department was infested with communists. The media then immediately centered on McCarthy and his unexpected accusations. Shortly after, a Senate committee was immediately appointed to overview and validate these accusations. Because the United States was already in the middle of a Communist witch-hunt, McCarthy blended in as just another activist.
With the Communist take over in Russia with Stalin and in China with Mao Tse Tung, it seemed that America was about to show itself as conservative. At this time, the Republican Party had control of the Congress, talk stirred about atomic secrets being stolen by Russian communists, and President Truman restarted the HUAC to stop the fears of the American people.
Investigations were started to seek out Communist activity in organized labor, the Federal government, and especially Hollywood. Hollywood was hit the hardest with the accusations of Communism. Many of the actors and writers moved to either Europe or Mexico to avoid being jailed. Because of the accusations, a group of Hollywood liberals established the "Committee for the First Amendment." The CFA...
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