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McCarthyism

McCarthyism. By Mat Dinan Andy Period 1. What it is. McCarthyism is the politically motivated practice of making accusations of disloyalty, subversion, or treason without proper regard for evidence. At the time, it was accusing many people of being communist without any evidence

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McCarthyism

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  1. McCarthyism By Mat Dinan Andy Period 1

  2. What it is • McCarthyism is the politically motivated practice of making accusations of disloyalty, subversion, or treason without proper regard for evidence. • At the time, it was accusing many people of being communist without any evidence • The term is still used today to describe accusations regarding people’s patriotism and loyalty to their county

  3. Joseph McCarthy • He was a republican U.S. senator for Wisconsin from 1947 until his death in 1957 • He became the chairman of the Government Committee on Operations of the Senate • This gave him the perfect opportunity to investigate the possibility of communism • During the next few years, he and his committee investigated many government departments • He died from hepatitis on May 2 at age 48

  4. Joseph McCarthy (continued) • On Feb. 9, 1950, he gave a speech saying 205 people in the state department were members of the communist party • The number was then lowered to 57 • They were found by a screening of 3,000 employees that not only found communists, but alcoholics and sexual deviants • If McCarthy was screened, he would have been put on the list due to drinking problems and sexual preferences

  5. Cause • It was caused by the Second Red Scare • It was a fear that communism would spread • The anit-communists saw things like child-labor laws and women’s suffrage as communist • They believed that Roosevelt’s New Deal was proof of communist influence in the government • He accused Truman and members of his administration like George Marshall and Dean Achesom of being soft on communists

  6. Effects • Hundreds of people were put in jail and about 12,000 people lost their jobs. • Many American’s attitudes changed toward communism and viewed it as a really bad thing • Homosexuality was also commonly targeted and accusations of being “sexual deviants” embarrassed people and got them denied from getting jobs • Because of his accusations of Truman, Dwight Eisenhower had a better chance of winning the election of 1952 • After the election, many people in the senate were afraid to criticize McCarthy after seeing what he did to his opponents • It wasn’t just those who worked for the government, but people of all professions • Over 300 actors and directors were denied jobs due to the unofficial Hollywood Blacklists

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