what was the McCarthy witch-hunt era?

Question

i just need to understand what it was, about a paragragh not 10 =P
thankz heaps everyone
xxx

Answer 1

The McCarthy era was a time during the "cold war" when America was at odds with the Soviet Union. It was essentially a struggle between Communism and Democracy. Americans were very wary about Communist spies in America. One man, McCarthy, played off of our citizens' fears in a bid for the political spotlight. He had a list of "known communists" in America. People like Lucielle Ball (I Love Lucy) were targeted because back in those days people were asked to identify themselves in a political standpoint as what their views were. Lucielle was neither Rep. or Dem. so she had put "Communistic." This was well before the Cold War broke out and as such had no truth in her life. Many people were gathered up in the same way. McCarthy would also put his political and personal enemies on the list in a way of putting them down and making him look even better in the public spotlight. This era was almost exactly like the Salem Witch Trials where 18 people were executed on other peoples' testimonies that they were, in fact, witches. Thus McCarthy's ruse was named a Witch Hunt.

Answer 2

You have to realize the political climate of the times and the arrival of TV. The Democrats had been in power for a very long time. Republicans were looking for any advantage possible. Much screeching about how China had been let go to communism while America focused on ending WWII. Then came television. Television had no software. The conservatives gave mesmerizing software holding "anti-American" hearings before Congress. Obscure politicians like Mundt, Nixon and McCarthy received free national advertising and capitalized on it. The head of the FBI, J. Edgar Hoover claimed 1 in 10,000 Americans was a "communist". People were fried in the electric chair. People in Hollywood lost their whole life careers. Fortunately, Conservatives didn't like stage plays. The NY theater circuit was largely unaffected.

Answer 3

Basically, the McCarthy witch hunt era was named after Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin who believed that American institutions had been infiltrated by communists and communist sympathizers, particularly in the higher offices of the government and in the acting profession.Some notables who capitalized here was Nixon vs Alger Hiss; etc