McCarthyism key features

McCarthyism was rudimentally instigated on the 9th February 1950, when Senator Joseph McCarthy articulated a speech to the Republican Women’s Club of Wheeling, West Virginia, which averred he possessed a list of 205 names who were known communists, yet worked for the State department. This speech was extolled by many as they they categorically wished to culminate the recent communist threats, such as the subjugation of the Kuomintang by the Chinese Communist Party and the Korean War. McCarthy subsequently obtained distinguished espousal from the press, which depicted him as a crusader amid his influence.

His sway also incited the passing of major pieces of legislation; in 1950 the McCarran internal security act was passed, which required Communist organisations to register with the Attorney General. Moreover, the immigration and nationality Act of 1952 restricted immigration into the U.S. McCarthy coerced 2375 innocent individuals to appear before the House of Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) and notwithstanding his failure to produce any evidence against, 400 were incarcerated. There was evident fear among the nation; being blacklisted served as the ignominy of many; they would be evicted from their homes and were ostracised or abused by their community; even President Truman did not reprimand some implausible allegations, in case of antagonism by the nation

A litigation, known as the Army-McCarthy Hearings, was promulgated live on television, where he was seen as having a truculent and intimidating temperament, as well as purportedly leaving his evidence in his briefcase and his nature was confirmed by an episode of “See it now”, where he articulated the denunciation of the administrations of all democratic leaders, including Truman and also severely berated an Army General, which accentuated his offensive comportment

McCarthyism opposition

One reason for the ignominy of his reputation was due to his intimidating and abusive temperament towards any element of antagonism to his ideology. A litigation, known as the Army-McCarthy Hearings, was promulgated live on television, where he was seen as having a truculent and intimidating temperament, in contrast to the army’s attorney Joseph Welch who was polite and obliquely humiliated him. His nature was confirmed by an episode of “See it now”, where he denounced the administrations of the Democratic FDR and Harry Truman and also severely berated an Army General, which accentuated his offensive comportment

As well as this, his loss in support was due to the gradual revelation of his allegations being half-truths or wholly erroneous. During the televised Army-McCarthy Hearings, he did not provide any real evidence and asserted it was in his briefcase, and made it strongly appear as if he was simply fuelling the hysteria. Moreover, he accused high-profile individuals such as George Marshall of treason and Reed Harris of helping communists by curtailing some broadcasts to Israel, even though he was a civil servant in the State Department for many years. This portrayed that he exploited his influence and was censured by the Senate in December 1954, which seemed to be a culminating step towards the end of McCarthyism.

Red Scare and McCarthyism impact

The immediate and aggregate result of McCarthyism was the negative ramifications it induced on many individuals in the American populace. 7000 civil servants lost their jobs and those that were dismissed from their post on grounds of communist insurrection also had their pensions retracted. Moreover, 15,000 individuals were cognisant of the risk in their post and thereby resigned, while many were ejected from their profession and many even committed suicide. These corollaries as well as simply being blacklisted served as the ignominy of many; they would be evicted from their homes and were ostracised or abused by their community.

However, McCarthyism spurred fears towards different ideologies, namely left-wing and liberal and the Communist Control Act was a prime example of the fear. This piece of legislation, which was signed into law by President Eisenhower on 24th August 1954, outlawed the communist party of the United States (CPUSA). It also amended the Subversive Activities Control Act, which prohibited communists from running for public office and reinforced the apprehension of dissimilar principles. This however, cultivated a more long-term effect.

The USA reputation for justice and freedom was severely damaged, due to the general fear of communism and their rebuff of a different form of ideology. As aforementioned, their legislation against the development of communism substantiated their intolerance towards left-wing and liberal policies. As well as this, many states in the USA demanded an ‘Oath of Loyalty’ against communism from their employees until the 1960s. At length, it portrayed the extent of anti-communism in the USA.