Joseph Raymond McCarthy
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Joseph Raymond McCarthy was born on November 14, 1908; he was an U.S. Senator in the state of Wisconsin as well as the leading American anticommunist figure in the late 1940s and early 1950s.During His 10 year “reign”, in the Senate McCarthy and his staff became notorious for aggressive investigations of people in the U.S. government and others suspected, on grounds of their political beliefs as Communists or Communist sympathizers, of being Soviet agents.
He was coined to an intensive anticommunist movement between 1950 and 1956 known as the Red Scare. During this time McCarthy countlessly accused many people in the media, motion picture industry, as well as the military of being Soviet spies, which lead the accused to various aggressive inquiries which his opponents deemed as, “witch hunts”.
During the 1950s & 1960s a multitude of Hollywood producers ,directors, actor, musicians and many other entertainment professionals were denied employment due to the anticommunist “Witch hunts” that were taking place at the time.
An anticommunist association known as “HUAC” was later developed. “HUAC”, also known as the House Un-American Activities Committee was led by Joseph McCarthy, Its purpose was to find Communists and Communist sympathizers within the government and state and later, throughout the US. It was deemed as the 20th-century version of a witch hunt.
The FBI ( Federal Bureau of Investigations) response to these anticommunists blacklist accusations actually were supporting ones, the FBI did what it was it supposed to do and got involved and started to investigate the accused by conducting investigations of suspected communists, had them followed as well as had their phones wire-tapped and their mail read, a complete lack of privacy.
The similarities between the events or, “Witch Hunts” that took place in Salem, Massachusetts in the 1600s and in the United States during the 1940s & 1950s is that the accused faced consequences nonetheless even though the consequences were prominently different in the 1900s. For example during the 1600s an individual that was accused of witchery would be taken and thrown in prison, later to be burned at the stake or hanged whereas in the 1950s men and women that were accused would be denied social luxuries, or jobs or an chance to move ahead in life but before anything could be done they would be inquired, investigated and interrogated, practical and clear evidence would be needed to put them away or to be thrown in jail. A substantial difference would be that McCarthyism affected the entire country; where as the Salem Witch Trials were to a much smaller region of the nation. Nonetheless both periods in Americas history showcase the darker side of human nature and our ability to exhibit a mob