JOSEPH McCARTHY

1. Who was Joseph McCarthy?

He was a Republican Senator that accused everyone of carrying out un-American activities or being communist agents.

2. What were his politics?
McCarthyism, taken from the Senator´s surname, is the term commonly applied to the anti-communistcrusade wich McCarthy started.


3. What were the first accusations he made?
In 1950 he gave a speech during wich he showed the audience a piece of paper with a list of the names of 205 supposed active communists working in the State Deparment.

4. Why do you think the American public believed him?

Because he was the Senator and the Americans were afraid of these communists to be identified and removed from power.

5. What other pepole did he go on to accuse? What were the foundations for his accusations?

Many of the accused were goverments employees, trade union activities aand people in the entretainment in dustry like Hollywood actors and directors who, given that they were named publicy, had their careers and reputations ruined. He had  accuse people of subversion and while there were no convictions for subversion during McCarthy’s investigations, many years later some of the people he questioned were actually identified as Communist agents.


6. How and why did the reaction of the American public change?
The hearings were televised between April and June 1954 and the general public was able to see McCarthy's brutal interrogation methods. Support for McCarthy quickly diminished and he was censured by the Senate for having abused his power as a senator.