McCarthyism

McCarthyism is the politically motivated practice of making accusations of disloyalty, subversion, or treason without proper regard for evidence. During the Second Red Scare, the public was increasingly set in fear of communism residing in the United States. Joseph McCarthy, a republican from Wisconsin, acquired a reputation for being an ineffective legislator. In order to be reelected, McCarthy took advantage of peoples concerns about communism raiding the country. McCarthy made one accusation after another without reasonable evidence to support claim. On Lincoln Day, February 9, 1950, McCarthy came up with a list of 205 claimed to be communists. He also accused the democratic party of being guilty for "20 years of treason" allowing the communist party to infiltrate the government. He was careful to only make his accusations in the Senate as he had immunity to say whatever he pleased. Since then, from 1950, thousands of Americans were accused of being communists or communist sympathizers and were subject to aggressive investigations and questioning. These suspicions were often backed up with insufficient or questionable evidence, and the threat posed by the person would be greatly exaggerated. Many of these victims lost their jobs, property, and were sent to prison. This era of accusating suspects for supporting communism became known as the period of "McCarthyism".

-Frank