McCarthyism
Riley Walz
Turner Luke
Alicia Monson
Johs Bjorge
10.Who were McCarthy’s “helpers” on
HUAC? What was their role?
● Roy M. Brewer
● Roy M. Brewer was appointed by the Motion
Picture Industry to “root out” any communists in
the film industry.
● John Garfield was an example of a man whose
acting career was ruined by false accusations
● Dalton Trumbo was a screenwriter whose career
was also ended, except he was proven to be
affiliated with the communist party
11.Ultimately, what was McCarthy’s fate?
When and how did he go too far?
● In 1954, the Senate censured McCarthy on 46 charges
● Eventually censured on two of the charges
● Censure resolution: McCarthy abused power as a senator
-Still held office, but had no power
● He had gone too far when he began criticizing war veterans
● Lt. Col. Chester T. Brown didn’t answer McCarthy’s
questions during a hearing
● McCarthy responded, “Any man in the uniform of his
country who refused to give information to a committee of
the Senate which represents the American people, that man
is not fit to wear the uniform of his country” (CNN)
11.Continued
● McCarthy called interviewee Brigadier General Ralph
Zwicker-- decorated veteran, hero in Normandy-- “a
disgrace to the uniform he wore”
● McCarthy was saying that these men were Communist
● Died on May 2, 1957 of acute hepatitis from alcohol
abuse at age 48
12.What was The HUAC Renamed in 1969?
What is its status today?
● Committee’s importance was declining
then they changed their name.
● Was renamed the Committee on Internal
Security
● The HUAC was dissolved entirely in 1975.
13.Prediction: What bearing does all of this have on
the play we are about to read?
● In many ways McCarthyism and The Crucible are alike some of the main
similarities are:
○ Both McCarthyism and the Crucible have claims from people that are
unreliable and have no proof. In The Crucible its the girls that make
claims about witches in Salem. Then in McCarthyism Joseph
McCarthy made many claims that members of the US government
were communist.
○ Another example is nobody stood up against the people that were
accusing people of being either a witch or a communist in fear that
they would be accused by McCarthy or the girls.
○ Both McCarthy and the girls ended up going to far when they started
to accuse people that were either higher class or people who were
veterans.
Continued
Both McCarthyism and the Salem witch trials were very similar in many
different ways. This makes McCarthyism have a greater bearing on The
Crucible because it helps us get a better understanding of what went on
during the trials.
Works Cited
Hoyt, Alia. "How McCarthyism Worked." HowStuffWorks. LLC, n.d. Web. 15 Oct.
2014. <http://history.howstuffworks.com/historical-figures/
mccarthyism.htm>.
http://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/huac