Joseph McCarthy was a anti communist activist. He was a republican from Wisconsin. After learning he was an ineffective legislature he looked for a winning issue in order to be elected in 1952. Looking for an issue McCarthy stated that communists were taking over the American government. He took advantage of peoples fear of communism and made countless claims against innocent people. These attacks on the "suspected" communists became known as McCarthyism.
During the period he was in the senate, he made accusations of having in his hands the names of 57, 81 and 205 communists in the senate, but he never actually gave a single name. He also accused the entire democratic party of 20 years of treason for allowing communist infiltration of the government. Another tactic he used was only stating his accusations in the senate, where he had legal immunity from being sued for slander.
Republicans did very little to stop the madness because they wanted him to win the presidential election based on his popularity. However, in 1940 his plan backfired, when he made accusations against the U.S. army. This resulted in a nationally televised investigation, and because of this he lost public support. The senate condemned him for improper conduct, and three years later he died from alcoholism.
There are a wide variety of effects McCarthyism had on the American people. For example, millions of Americans were forced to loyalty oaths and undergo investigations. It also caused many people to be scared and question their right of free speech. Anti-communism continues to drive U.S. foreign policy even today.
3 comments:
Good job covering what it was and the effects on America. Good cartoon too it really adds to your blog!
A thorough and brief summary of the vital points about McCarthy and McCarthyism. Faaantastic. I also like the little cartoon at the top there. Good job overall. Noice.
It was concise and informative. It included all the necessary parts and was easy to read. Nice job.
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