Ever heard the word "McCarthyism"? McCarthysim is the accusation of others without evidence. It came from a time when a desperate man went on an anti-communist "witch hunt." Let's take a look at what happened.
Who?
Senator Joseph McCarthy was a republican senator from Wisconsin. The Senator was long known for being inefficient and thus needed a strong point behind his name for reelection in 1952.
When?
The McCarthy situation happened in the early 1950's, following WWII. At the time, fear of communism and the USSR spread like wild fire. America and USSR had begun their own attempts as superpowers to influence the nations of the world into following their respective strategies, democracy and socialistic communism. The U.S. was fighting the Korean war, and the ultimate conflict of the 20th century was looming: the Cold War.
What?
McCarthy was aware of the spreading fear and took advantage of this opportunity to support his own needs. He attempted to start an uproar against "potential communists" in the U.S. government. He then began to accuse senators and other various government officials of being communist or disloyal. Not only did he claim knowledge of communists in the government, but he went as far to blame the infiltration of communists on the democratic party itself.
The evidence against McCarthy was high. He claimed the number of communists in the government were, 57, 81 and 205, at different times! But which one was it?! Not only was he inconsistent with numbers, but he also could never provide a name. He never made his accusations outside the Senate, where he had legal immunity from slander. Ultimately, in 1954, he began accusing the military of communism.
Few republicans choose to speak out against McCarthy, for they believed that with his calumny and lies, he could help them win the next presidential election.
Aftermath
In 1954, the Senate began to investigate McCarthy's lies. As the investigation went on, and the truth became more clear, the media began revealed his boorishness by televising the investigation, and in doing so, alienated his public support. The Senate censured him on account of dishonesty and disreputation. Stripped of his position, he turned to alchohalism and died of the drug three years later. But even with McCarthy silenced, the fear of communisism lingered on.
Gayan and Cat
9 comments:
I like the subheadings because it makes the summary well-organized and easy to read. Also, I am shocked by McCarthy's abuse to his privilege of immunity from slander.
Great diction and a very informative summary. I like how there are subheadings so it is easy for someone to skip to a section they'd like to know more about...or are just lazy. I found McCarthy's accusations of varying numbers of communists in the government quite hilarious. Good job overall.
I really liked how it was set up with the who? what?. It is different than writing a whole paragraph and is more to the point. You guys chose an interesting topic, i did not know about McCarthyism, but you guys had good information about to and were able to inform others. overall good job and great format.
I like how you broke them down into different paragraphs. It made it easier to read and wasn't just one huge paragraph. Great information straight to the point!
The way you set it up makes it really easy to read. Although what I like the most if the energy you put in your writing. All the questions and exclaimations make it really exciting to read
Great post! Good organization, makes it fluid and easy to read. Filled with great information. I enjoyed your introduction and it was set up well.
Nice structure. Haven't seen this type of structuring before, and I think it makes it easier to read.
I like how you broke it up into who, when, etc. It makes it organized and easy to read. You also have a lot of good information.
I like the way you organized all of the information. It is new and makes reading and retaining the information very easy.
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