McCarthyism Flashcards
Who was Joseph McCarthy?
In 1950 a politician named McCarthy wanted to further his career he used American fear of communism to help him. He made speeches and claims that there were over 200 communists working for the government.
What is McCarthyism?
The use of fear of communism to prosecute suspected communists.
What happened as a result of his speeches claiming communists were in the government?
It became front page news and for the next 5 years with massive public support he waged a witch hunt investigation looking for communists. However even before McCarthy made his speech the government were already hunting communists.
How was communism treated in the 1940s?
From the late 40s onwards Americans began to suspect anyone who did not display the so called American virtues of patriotism, freedom and enterprise they instantly suspected of being a communist sympathiser.
How did Hoover combat the threat of communism?
However remained the director of FBI until his death in 1972 and age 77.
His techniques included phone tapping and other modern methods of surveillance used to investigate civil rights leader like Martin Luther King.
What was the House of Representatives Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC)?
Fears were so great that the US congress set up the HUAC to investigate communist involvement in the government, education and film industry. President Truman also introduced a Loyalty programme that allowed the FBI to investigate all government employees and sack Amy security risks.
What did McCarthy claim and how far did he go?
He claimed communist sympathisers were in the government. Many were put on trail and found guilty with little proof. He never found any really evidence, but this did not stop any anti-communist headlines in newspapers and new reports on the radio and television. He then began to accuse some officers in the US army. At this point, for many, McCarthy had gone too far.
How many Americans did the HAUC Act affect?
From 1947-1950 millions of Americans were investigated by the HUAC and loyalty programmes. Although none were actually found guilty of spying many were forced out of their jobs because of the disgrace associated with the investigation.
Who took action against McCarthy and what did they do?
A senate subcommittee was set up to investigate McCarthy’s accusations bout US army officers being communists. They showed McCarthy to be an irresponsible bully. However the damage had already been done to many peoples lives and the USAs reputation across theworld.
How is Hoover and and McCarthy related and what did they do?
One of McCarthy staunch allies J. Edgar Hoover, director of FBI a love long opponent of anything that smacked communist influence. During the McCarthy period of late 40s-50s the FBI kept files on 1 million suspects.
How did nuclear weapons contribute to the hatred towards communism?
After the war the USSR a communist country emerged a a rival nuclear superpower to the USA This period of rivalry became known as the Cold War . America were also manufacturing bombs in 1953.
How did spies contribute to the red scare?
Spies contributed to the red scare because Alger Hiss was accused of spying for the Soviet Union. Two Americans Ethel and Julius Rosenburg were also accused of spying and providing the SU with information about the atomic bombs. They were executed in June 1953 and became headline news, people feared this.
How did China increase fear of communism?
America tries a policy called ‘containment’ which tried to stop communism spreading. China another huge nation with vast reserves of raw materials, became communist in the late 1940s.
What was the impact and damage caused by McCarthyism?
Many peoples lives and careers were destroyed if they were accused of being communist.
The fear made people accuse people who liked art, had a mixed race of friends, were anti nuclear or being communist/sympathisers.
Hundreds of people were accused and if they did not cooperate the would be put in jail, put on the black list and loose their jobs.
McCarthy in 1950 became chair of the board he lost his job when he started to accuse the army. The Supreme Court also failed to remove anti-communism.
