THE RISE OF JOSEPH
MCCARTHY
MCCARTHY’S ‘ENEMIES WITHIN’
WHEELING SPEECH 1950
• What information did McCarthy cite to show that
America was losing the war against Communism?
•
• Explain what McCarthy meant when he said "When
a great democracy is destroyed, it will not be from
enemies from without, but rather because of
enemies from within."
• How did McCarthy describe the sorts of people
engaged in "traitorous actions" in the United States?
DEFINITION OF MCCARTHYISM
• The fear, suspicion, and scapegoating that
surrounded McCarthy, his accusations and the
general curtailment of civil rights during the Cold
War era. It was a witch-hunt style campaign to
silence critics of the Cold War.
PRAISE AND CRITICISM
• Perfect
moment
politically for
the speech
• But there was
always some
opposition
HOUSE UNAMERICAN ACTIVITIES
COMMITTEE (HUAC)
• Subcommittee of the House of Representatives
• Purpose: To root out “subversion” of the American
system
• The Question: “Are you now or
have you ever been a member of
the Communist Party?”
THE MCCARRAN ACT
• Formal name: The Internal Security Act
• Requires communist organizations to register with
the Subversive Activities Control Board
• Authorizes the arrest of suspect persons during
national emergency
• Six concentration camps
built for this purpose
THE IMMIGRATION AND NATIONALITY
ACT OF 1952
• Another McCarran-authored law
• Barred people who were deemed either
“subversive” or “homosexual” from
becoming citizens or even visiting the U.S.
• Power to deport immigrants who were
members of the Communist Party, even if
they were citizens
• In effect until 1973
EXAMPLES OF MCCARTHYISM
• In NYC, citizens must take loyalty oath to
receive a fishing license
• FDR’s New Deal is re-evaluated as “a socialist
conspiracy” and “20 years of treason”
• Jonas Salk invents vaccine for Polio; a
congressman suggests that it be distributed
to all school-age children for free.
Eisenhower’s Secretary of Health rejects the
idea as an attempt to “socialize medicine
through the backdoor.”
MCCARTHY HEARINGS
• In the Senate Sub-Committee for Investigations,
Senator McCarthy applied the methods of HUAC to
the American government, military, and defense
industry.
• According to McCarthy’s own numbers, his
investigations drove 400 suspected communists
from the American government, though, in reality,
few were guilty of anything more than liberal politics
or associations
SOME OF THE FAMOUS VICTIMS OF
MCCARTHY AND FBI’S BLACKLIST OR
HEARINGS
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WEB Dubois
Albert Einstein
Danny Kaye (famous actory)
Arthur Miller (playright, The Crucible)
Dorothy Parker (poet)
Pete Seeger (folk singer)
LANGSTON HUGHES
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an American poet
social activist
novelist
playwright and columnist.
Jazz Poetry
• Harlem Renaissance
• Hearing Transcript