State Department Of Being Full Of Communists example essay topic

The McCarthy Hearings Senator Joseph McCarthy instilled fear into the minds of the Americans with his anti-Communist thinking, with his ideals. Senator McCarthy, during 1950-1954, disrupted the United States with the HUAC (House of Un-American Activity Committee) Hearings. These hearings brought government workers, college professors, playwrights and Hollywood screen writers, actors, artists, musicians, gays, Jews and anyone with a goatee under suspicion. Joseph McCarthy was an unknown senator from Wisconsin, who wanted to be in the spotlight. During a speech in West Virginia, Senator McCarthy accused the State Department of being full of Communists.

The media immediately centered on McCarthy and his accusations. A Senate committee was immediately appointed to look at these accusations. The United States was already in the middle of a Communist witch-hunt. It was believed that the recipe for the atomic bomb was stolen by an American communist.

With the Communist take over in Russia with Stalin and in China with Mao Tse Tung, the United States was already on the road to being conservative. The Republican Party had control of the Congress. President Truman restarted the HUAC to stop the fears of the American people. Investigations were started to look for Communist activities 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 either moved to Europe or Mexico to avoid being put jail. As a result of the accusations, a group of Hollywood liberals established the " Committee for the First Amendment". The CFA went to Washington to support their Hollywood but in the end denied all involvement with them because they felt they were being used. Many people in Hollywood had lost their jobs because of the HUAC meetings.

President Truman at a Democratic meeting backed the Anti-Communist feelings to gain political and popular support. It was very common for people to have to take an Anti-Communist oaths when they worked in the government. If they refused, they were fired. McCarthyism left its mark on the United States government and its people. If the public could express their opinions about the government without their fears about being labeled a Communist, an event such as the Vietnam War may have not taken place.

The cultural and academic life was also affected. T.V. shows were bland and non-threatening, as were movies. The United States tried to isolate itself from Communism and liberal views. It was not until the 1960's with the Civil Rights Movement and the full-blown Vietnam War, that the liberal ideas began to be accepted. McCarthyism and "The Crucible" have many similarities such as the need for attention. Senator McCarthy was looking for attention and made accusations about the State Department having Communist-personnel. There was no proof of this and he never mentioned how many people were involved.

He, however, got media-attention from the story. In "The Crucible", the girls lied about who they saw with the devil. By lying, they got the attention from Rev. Parris, Rev. Hale, and, especially, the townspeople. People react to the fear of the unknown in strange ways. With the McCarthyism, the fear of Communism made people fearful of anyone with independent ideas, different thoughts, or anything out of the ordinary. In "The Crucible", the fear of being accused of being a witch, made the people in the story fear for their lives, fearful of what others think of them.

Throughout history, people have been fearful of being different and the punishment for being that way. In Nazi Germany, the Jews were afraid of being caught, because they were not considered part of the "supreme race". Before the Civil Rights Movement, there was a fear by African Americans of seeking their individual rights and freedoms. Since McCarthyism has died and the country has advanced out of the "dark ages". People have learned that they can express their own beliefs with out fearing persecution.