Please enable JavaScript.
Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.
McCarthyism and Communist Convictions (Convicted Communists (Algar Hiss…
McCarthyism and Communist Convictions
Convicted Communists
Ethel and Julius Rosenburg
Excited in 1953. Were the only civilians to be put to death for espionage
Public communists
Convicted in 1950 of passing information on atomic weaponry to the Soviets. Unlikely that they committed the crime
Turns out someone in the UK passed on the most information to the Soviets. He was sentenced to 14 years in prison
Algar Hiss
His rights were violated in the pursuit of Soviet spies. Spent 4 years in prison and was disgraced for life
Had declared to be a communist in the 30's, and had the right to be a member of the communist party
Former State department official, accused by TIME magazine of being a communist
The Loyalty Program and the HUAC
(1947) enabled FBI to conduct background checks on federal workers. Questionable activities were links to communist loyalty
Those accused were sent to the Loyalty Review Board, which saw the prosecuted guilty until found innocent
Millions were investigated, with a few hundred losing their jobs. Suspicions rose never-the-less
The Hollywood Ten
ten hollywood writers refused to give HUAC evidence, claiming it was infringing their rights to freedom of belief and speech. They were imprisoned and their supporters were investigated
McCarthy
Wisconsin Republican senator who made a speech describing 205 communists who were working
'and shaping policy'
in government
The number changed to 57 the next day, then 81 ten days after. Despite the inaccuracies, the Tydings committee was set up to investigate the accusation
This new form of commie hunting was known as
McCarthyism
He went on to lead the HUAC investigations in 1951
25 States passed anti-Communist laws and allowed gangs to beat up known or suspected communists to hound them out o their homes and work
He stressed he had evidence of communists working in government in speeches and on TV interviews to play on Red Scare fears
He went against and accused certain political figures and personal enemies, which resulted in more outlandish evidence; he photoshopped a picture of senator Tydings to show him standing with a communist leader.
He then started going against the Army in 1953, and began losing public support when he grilled war hero on fake evidence he synthesised.
Firth the media, then the senate, and finally the public went against McCarthy. The senate voted to censure him by 67 votes to 22, and the public feared the now 'radical' HUAC. US politicians were seldom supportive of welfare and union action incase they were suspected of being communist sympathisers
The Hiss case
lead to the
The McCarran Act
, which denied suspected communists passports and limited their work. All communist party members had to be registered and investigated
#