MCCARTHYISM By: Melanie Hawes, Robert

Cheetham, Jake Fernandes, and Matt Begley

WHEN? After WWII During the 1940s and 1950s

BACKGROUND In June of 1940, Congress passed the

Alien Registration Act in an attempt to undermine the power of the American Communist Party. Congress decided to put the House of Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), in charge of the investigation of people suspected of unpatriotic behavior and discover if people were trying to overthrow the government. In 1949, leaders of the party began to be arrested; they were charged with advocating an attempt to overthrow the government.

JOSEPH MCCARTHY

When Joseph McCarthy arrived in Washington, he seemed like a “fire-breathing anti-Communist conservative legislator” but some didn’t know his true desires on being in office “beyond the obvious desire to be elected to office”

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Everyone is suspecting their neighbors of being communists

WHY? After WWII the Red Scare was still

occurring in the U.S. and caused many Americans to be paranoid about the threat of Communism. Joseph McCarthy took advantage of this paranoia and developed a list of about 200 communist men who had “ supposedly” infiltrated the government.

Palmer Raids

NOTORIOUS ACCUSERS Joseph McCarthy, Vincent Harnett,

Edward Dmytryk,  

Victims who were being accused of being communists, accused other people in order to help clear their own name.

MAJ0R FIGURES

Joseph McCarthy, J. Edgar Hoover

Roy Cohn- McCarthy’s wingman

Main Target of McCarthy: Secretary

of State Dean Acheson

David Schine- McCarthy’s main fear

John Henry Faulk- Helped end the

blacklisting

VICTIMS Government officials (mostly democrats and

a few republicans), business leaders,

writers, and entertainers.

Their careers were ruined if their names

were mentioned on the list. Some had their

passports taken away, others were jailed.

They were labeled communist sympathizers

and could not return back to work.

BYSTANDERS

The press failed to stand up and speak

out for the innocent victims.

Also some of the government officials

that weren’t persecuted stood by and

watched

RESULTS Paranoia Hysteria Those who were accused lost their jobs Distrust in the government

THE END McCarthyism begins to die out by 1954. McCarthy died in 1957 from acute

Hepatitis

WHY ITS IMPORTANT TO STUDY Learn from the past Shows how quickly people are willing to

turn on one another for the sake of clearing their own name

This experience shows how susceptible the country is to suspicion and one man’s/woman’s bold move to accuse certain government officials

WORKS CITED Cohen, Daniel. Joseph McCarthy: the Misuse of Political Power.

Brookfield (Conn.): Millbrook, 1996. Print.

"Joseph McCarthy: quote on McCarthyism." American History. ABC-CLIO, 2011. Web. 15 Dec. 2011.

Sparknotes. "SparkNotes: The Cold War (1945â1963): Key People & ��Terms." SparkNotes: Today's Most Popular Study Guides. Sparknotes. Web. 15 Dec. 2011. <http://www.sparknotes.com/history/american/coldwar/terms.html>.

Spartacus Education. "McCarthyism." Spartacus Educational. Spartacus Education. Web. 15 Dec. 2011. <http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAmccarthyism.htm>.

PBS. "Arthur Miller - McCarthyism | American Masters | PBS." PBS: Public Broadcasting Service. PBS. Web. 15 Dec. 2011. <http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/arthur-miller/mccarthyism/484/>.