Virtually the same thing happened in 1950 when communist North Korea invaded pro-American South Korea. This also meant that communism was spreading and becoming a much bigger threat to America.
The final and probably biggest reason for the Red Scare was in 1949 when the Russians exploded their first atomic bomb. Up until then the Americans were the only ones to have this technology so it made them aware of spies, also known as ‘the enemy within’.
The fear of spies was increased during two HUAC cases. HUAC was a committee that had the right to investigate anyone doing anything un-American. Whilst investigating a man accused of being communist, the man informed them that another man named Alger Hiss was a communist as well. Hiss was a high-ranking member of the US State Department and, although he was never convicted, it worried the public because it convinced them that, if an important member of the US State Department could be a communist, anyone could be one. The second case was the case of the Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, a married couple accused of selling atomic secrets to the Russians. They denied it but were convicted anyway and executed for treason in 1953. This worried the public because if a nice, ordinary couple like the Rosenbergs were communist, how are you meant to know who else is or isn’t?
So when McCarthy came along, fear of communism was already very ongoing throughout America. This was the main reason people were so willing to believe him without question. They were ready to resort to any means possible to expose ‘the enemy within’.
McCarthy became famous in 1950 when he claimed to have a list of 205 known communists (although it was dropped to 57 after investigations) and, because of all the reasons above, no-one ever questioned him. This meant he never had to produce any evidence to any of his accusations. He attacked many public officials and ruined almost as many people’s lives, as well as their careers. When the Senate Committee criticised him he accused the chairman, Senator Tydings. Tydings career was completely destroyed because of this accusation and it made people extremely reluctant to criticise McCarthy or challenge his judgement any more. It made many afraid to not support him.
McCarthy was very lucky because he had huge amounts of help from the press. It portrayed him as a crusader, fighting the enemy and making America safe for democracy and safe from ‘the Reds’.
The list he kept referring to kept on growing and included many civil servants, directors, writers and actors. These accusations made great stories and consequently attracted a lot of press attention. This meant that McCarthy got lots of publicity and it all added to his image as a crusader.
These were the methods McCarthy used to convince Americans of his greatness and increase his power. The above also shows why people were willing to believe him without any doubt.
Although, in the end, people did stop believing McCarthy, because he was too unspecific with his list of accusations and they began to see him as a bully and a tyrant, he did have a massive impact on America and it’s society. The after-effects of the McCarthy era were very great and very long lasting.
Around 9,500 civil servants lost their jobs and 15,000 resigned. 600 teachers were sacked and many Hollywood actors and screenwriters were ‘blacklisted’, meaning they could never work again. People were afraid to help the poor, blacks or trade unions as people were suspicious of these acts and labelled the people responsible as ‘commies’. This suspicion led to the persecution of innocent people. There was also the formation of many vigilante-style organisations that took the law into their own hands. The government produced leaflets and films about the danger and McCarthyism even led to the Communist Control Act of 1954, which banned the communist party altogether.
So, to summarise, McCarthy had such a big impact on the USA that, even after his era, there was still a huge fear and hatred of communism. It made many people very afraid to show their political views because of the lack of tolerance. As America calls itself the ‘land of the free’, McCarthyism is a great example of just how much a single man can do to destroy a country from within.
