How McCarthyism and the Anti-War movement effected US Society Flashcards
HUAC, Hollywood and blacklist, Increased conservatism, increased fear in general, student protests, mess demonstrations and Kent state uni, political opposition to war, African Americans , media, us economy
House Un-American Activities Committee
In response to anti-leftist ideals of McCarthism, the HUAC was formed to investigate potential communist infiltration on US life.
“McCarthyism is Americanism with its sleeves rolled”
After 1945 they were devoted entirely to looking for communists.
The committee held hearings like the ones the accused state Department Official, Alger Hiss , of being a soviet spy.
He denied the charges, but files released after the Cold War confirmed people’s suspicions.
The American Communist Party was banned and in 1951, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were tired and sentenced to death for passing secrets about nuclear weapons to the soviets.
The HUAC affected US society by instilling fear on US society and contributed to the distrust and fear in America at the time.
Hollywood and Blacklist
During the period of Anti Communist McCarthyism, the HUAC held hearings on the Communist influence on Hollywood.
“Our job…is to dislodge the traitors from every place where they’ve been sent to do their traitorous work”
Many leading actors, writers and producers and directors named people who they believed were communist.
These named actors and people were then black listed from future projects
The most famous were the “Hollywood 10”, a group of actors and writers who were tried for contempt for referring to talk about their political beliefs.
In the book, “Red Channels”, 151 more were identified as “Red Fascists”
This affected US society by causing several actors to lose their jobs and also further instilled fear on the US population
More conservatism and less freedom of speech
As a result of the increased fear from McCarthyism, politics became more conservative as a result
“We are engaged in a final battle between communistic atheism and Christianity”
People were afraid to voice viewpoints that could be seen as being sympathetic to the soviets.
Any policy that was in favour of liberalism or equality was dismissed as communist and found it hard to get support.
Increased fear in general
Student protests
The anti-war movement caused civil unrest throughout the US.
Student protests were and motivated by factors such as, opposition to conscription,
Empathy for the soldiers,
The morality of the war and
Youth and counter culture movements.
“Our present course will not bring peace”
An important student protest group was the Students for a Democratic Society.
They were founded in the 60s and by the mid 60s, it had branches all over the USA.
Many protests in the early years were peaceful however many protests got out of control and got in clashes with the local police and national Guard.
“Too American politicians seem to able to reply only with negative and self defeating violence”
The anti war movement affected US society by causing civil unrest and protests through the country.
Mass demonstrations and Kent state Uni
As the war dragged on, the anti war movement grew.
Mass demonstrations started being held in response to opposition to the Vietnam War.
In 1966, students groups organised the mass burning of draft cards and in 1967 Christian groups joined the movement and 100,00 marched in Washington.
One of the most famous protests was at Kent State University.
The National Guard killed 4 students during protests on the second and fourth of May.
“The enemy was always the other side but this time the enemy was our own children”
The anti war movement effect us society by causing people to be angry over the war and the US killing their own. This cause more demonstrations and protests
Opposition to Vietnam War rose politically
Because of the Anti War Movement, the opposition for the war rose.
The number of Americans who believed that it was a mistake to send US troops to Vietnam rose from 25% in 1965 to 71% in 1971.
Opposition grew in congress and Johnson a minced he would not seek re-election after nearly losing to Senator Eugene McCarthy, an opponent of the War.
Widespread protest caused by the movement caused people to fear for the collapse of US society.
The people turned to Nixon who promised an honourable end to the war.
Despite people’s faith in Nixon, the release of the “Pentagon papers” exposed US military strategy.
As more information came out people lost their confidence in the US government.
This because known as the “credibility gap”
African Americans and Vietnam War
Because of the Vietnam War, the Civil War movement began to fracture.
The Anti War movement made people realise the amount of uni quality and injustice in America.
African Americans hated fighting for a country who didn’t fight for them.
Fewer black men could avoid the draft as many were too poor to afford college.
African Americans were 16% of the soldiers drafted in 1967 despite being less than 11% of the population.
This increased to 40% in 1968.
Racist abuse was common in training and on bases.
The Movement made people realised the amount of discrimination in the US Army .
“If it costs half a million to kill a Vietcong soldier,
We are only spending 53$ on every poor black American”
Use of Media
The use of Media during the Vietnam War helped the Anti War movement flourish.
90% of Americans had a TV in the 60s.
Image of the Anti War movement protests were broadcasted all over television.
Media showed images of burned houses, dead civilians and injured soldiers.
Media coverage made society wonder why they sent 90,000 to fight in Vietnam.
The use of media heighlighted the mistreatment during the War of both the Vietnamese and the Americans, this made US society become more angry.
US economy
The Anti war movement made people realise the amount of money being put into being in the war.
This made people distrust the government even more.
The war cost the government approx. 168$ between 1965-73.
In 1973, the National debt was 455$ billion in 1973 which led to concerns about how the US was spending their money which could’ve been spend on domestic issues.
