M C C a R T H Y I S M

Its Origins, Its Impact on US Society and What People Were Afraid Of






The term McCarthyism is named in memory of the US Senator, Joseph McCarthy, the founder of of this concept.   McCarthyism refers to the ‘withchunt’, the investigation and persecution of ‘communist sympathizers’, that is people who believed in or supported communism in the United States in any form.   Also the term is descriptive of the outbreak of panic and worry about communism that flooded American society at the time.






McCarthyism originated from the mouth of Senator Joseph McCarthy.   The Alien Registration Act had been introduced into the United States and everyone who had the slightest chance of being linked to communist aggression was required to register, or face being ‘Blacklisted’.   This prevented the accused from finding work and made life in general very difficult.   The Blacklist also affected, to a further extent perhaps, people with public and/or social influence.   This included writers, directors, actors and actresses who pressured film studios to produce movies promoting the ideals of the Communist Party.  






The American Communist Party was also investigated and leaders and members were arrested for violating the code of the Alien Registration Act.   Irony of this action against the American Communist Party is that some members were abolished due to screening of their files revealing drinking problems and sexual preferences and Joseph McCarthy, had he been screened also, would have made it onto the Blacklist.






The list didn’t exclude objects promoting communist aggression either.   A list was compiled stating 30 000 books which were considered inappropriate to the McCarthyism campaign and were therefore removed from libraries throughout the country.  






When the McCarthyism witch hunt ventured into the military and leading officers were...