Senator Joseph McCarthy - PowerPoint Presentation

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Senator Joseph McCarthy

BY: Kate Rhoads, Maya Givens, Emma Smith, Savanah Northern Slide2

About Sen. Joseph McCarthy

Wisconsin senator, Joseph R. McCarthy is most known for being a symbol of the “Red Scare” and initiating the term McCarthyism. McCarthyism is the practice of accusing one of disloyalty, many times without support.

While he was senator, McCarthy began on compiling a list of over 200 people he suspected to have connections to communism/Russia without any evidence. The list consisted of public figures with higher social standings such as politicians and celebrities.

“Although he failed to make a plausible case against anyone, his colourful and cleverly presented accusations drove some persons out of their jobs and brought popular condemnation to others,” (Britannica). Slide3

The Fall of McCarthy

McCarthy’s accusations instigated fear among many Americans for a few years. People began to accuse the people around them of having ties to communism without any basis.

After two years McCarthy started losing support because of his controversial tactics of placing blame. He was discovered to be using communism as a way to affect the outcome of the senate polls by accusing his (innocent) running mates.

On December 2nd, McCarthy was voted out of his seat as senator when people became aware that his accusations had little to no basis. McCarthy then ceased to make more allegations for people no longer believed him.Slide4

Connections to the Witch Trials

Sen. Joseph McCarthy accused people of being communists to increase his chances of being re-elected. McCarthy knew that he was going to have little chance at reelection due to his unimpressive term. When he created the Hollywood Blacklist, he accused his competitors of being communists.

During the salem witch trials, people were accusing people of being witches because they threatened other people’s positions. McCarthyism was used to accuse people of witch behavior without any proof, instigating similar hysteria to the Red Scare because everyone was being accused of being a witch.Slide5

Hysteria In America

During the Cold War, American citizens had growing fear of the spread of communism. This fear was known as The Red Scare. Because he created the Hollywood Blacklist during this time, Joseph McCarthy increased the fear of Communism in America even more.

Since Americans already had an existing fear of Communism, it didn’t take much for McCarthy to convince Americans that the people on his list were actually communists. The accused faced many trials to prove their innocence. People accused their neighbors and friends during this time as well. During the Red Scare, Americans felt that nobody could be trusted anymore.Slide6

The After Effects

Many famous celebrities were affected by the accusations of being communist made by McCarthy.

Owen Lattimore- Lattimore directed the Page School of International Relations at John Hopkins University. When he was accused of being the number one spy for the Soviets, he was faced with 12 days of intense questioning, and charged with seven counts of perjury. Lattimore's reputation and credibility among people was destroyed.

Val Lorwin- Lorwin was a State Department employee, and also number 54 on the list of alleged Communist. After being accused he was charged with perjury and, his reputation was ruined. He even said several years of his and his wife’s life was taken away, and he was thankful he didn’t have children. Slide7

Sources

Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Joseph-McCarthy

.History.com. http://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/joseph-mccarthy.

Victims.

https://www.mtholyoke.edu/~lillsie/McCarthyism/Victims.html

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Dictionary.

http://www.dictionary.com/browse/mccarthyism?s=t

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History.com.

http://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/red-scare

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http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/mccarthy-condemned-by-senate

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Coldwar.org.

http://www.coldwar.org/articles/50s/senatorjosephmccarthy.asp