Tradgedy |
Although McCarthyism and the Red Scare seemingly saved America from the Soviets grasping a hold on our government, McCarthyism and the Red Scare may have done a lot more harm than good. McCarthyism virtually turned America against itself, infecting the nation with fear of communism.
Who did McCarthy accuse?
Senator Joseph McCarthy accused so many people of practicing or supporting communism, the list would be too long. Almost every person McCarthy accused of communism had little to no evidence to back up his wild claims. McCarthy would violate constitutional rights of the people he accused, most notably violating the right, "innocent until proven guilty" - The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, article 11. McCarthy, after finding his accused not guilty, he would blacklist his accused, ruining their lives. When blacklisted, people would lose jobs, family, and friends. McCarthy received much attention from the media, and as his reign of terror continued, he would make more erratic accusations just to stay in the limelight. To the right are some of the most memorable and wild accusations McCarthy made.
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The Hollywood Ten - McCarthy accused many stars of contempt towards congress, and then blacklisted the producers and stars when they refused to answer questions.
Owen Lattimore - After accusations from McCarthy of being the Soviets #1 spy, Lattimore underwent 12 days of investigation and faced 7 charges of perjury. Lattimore was found innocent three years later and cleared of charges. Val Lorwin - Lorwin was accused of communism, and was found innocent two years later. Lorwin claimed that McCarthy's accusations made him and his wife lose almost everything, and he was glad he did not have children to suffer with him. U.S. army - After not giving preferential treatment to a friend of McCarthy's, McCarthy accused the Army of having soviet allegiances. This case proved to be the start of McCarthy's downfall. Joseph Nye Welch - The lawyer who ended McCarthy. On a whim with no credibility left McCarthy accused Welch and his team of having communist affiliations. |
McCarthy's descent
After a couple years of McCarthy's reign, people started to become weary. McCarthy was losing his popularity amongst the people, and America was starting to see through the loosely based accusations. In March of 1854, Edward R. Murrow, the host of CBS's See It Now, exposed McCarthy and his apparent abuse of power. Murrow showed clips of McCarthy, and unlike him, gave plenty of evidence to his claims against him. Murrow was well respected by America, so when McCarthy accused Murrow of communism, America became skeptical. This, was the start of the brutal end to McCarthyism.
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After accusing the U.S. army of communism, America had come to its breaking point. To defend the Army from McCarthy's accusations, was Joseph Nye Welch, who would finally put an end to McCarthy once and for all. The hearing was televised by ABC, being the first hearing to be televised, and quite the gamble for ABC. The 36 day hearing was televised in April 22, 1984. The hearing was the last straw for Mccarthy. People finally saw McCarthy in action with his crazy statements and wild accusations puzzling the nation, showing them the real man McCarthy was. Every single argued piece of 'evidence' presented by McCarthy, was skillfully countered by Welch. People started to see that as the days went on, McCarthy became desperate, frantic to hang onto any shred of claim or evidence he had. Finally, after 36 days, McCarthy was defeated. A ridiculed and frenzied McCarthy lashed out, accusing Welch of having communist ties. Welch then turned to McCarthy, and famously said, "Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last, have you left no sense of decency?" McCarthy was brought up on charges, and forced to step down as chairman of government operations of the Senate PSI.
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