What sparked the communist which hunts of the 1950’s?

Answer 1

Fear, it's always fear. Russia was Communist and when it didn't have the atom bomb Russia was not feared.

But after WWII when Russia had the bomb, they were somebody to fear and when there is someone to fear there is always someone who will exploit peoples fears to give themselves power.

Joseph McCarthy was such a person and because of his fear mongering to gain power, he ruined a lot of lives. All I can say is thank God for CBS and Edward R Murrow.

Answer 2

the version is, the Communists basically spied on us, they did no longer assault us on our very own soil. The terrorists did that, interior the U. S., and in addition they attacked our allies in Spain, Britain, and France. to no longer point out assaults remote places, like the U. S. Cole. the main important distinction is, most of the goals of the Communist witch hunts have been harmless. those Muslim wackos are responsible as hell!

Answer 3

McCarthyism. Senator Joseph McCarthy. The historical period known as McCarthyism began well before Joseph McCarthy's own involvement in it. There are many factors that can be counted as contributing to McCarthyism, some of them extending back to the years of the First Red Scare (1917-1920), and indeed to the inception of Communism as a recognized political force. Thanks in part to its success in organizing labor unions and its early opposition to fascism, the Communist Party of the United States (CPUSA) increased its membership through the 1930s, reaching a peak of 50,000 members in 1942.

While the United States was engaged in World War II and allied with the Soviet Union, the issue of anti-communism was largely muted. With the end of World War II, the Cold War began almost immediately, as the Soviet Union installed repressive Communist puppet régimes across Central and Eastern Europe.

Events in 1949 and 1950 sharply increased the sense of threat from Communism in the United States. The Soviet Union tested an atomic bomb in 1949, earlier than many analysts had expected. That same year, Mao Zedong's Communist army gained control of mainland China despite heavy financial support of the opposing Kuomintang by the U.S. In 1950, the Korean War began, pitting U.S., U.N. and South Korean forces against Communists from North Korea and China.

There were also more subtle forces encouraging the rise of McCarthyism. It had long been a practice of more conservative politicians to refer to liberal reforms such as child labor laws and women's suffrage as "Communist" or "Red plots." This tendency increased in reaction to the New Deal policies of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Many conservatives equated the New Deal with socialism or Communism, and saw its policies as evidence that the government had been heavily influenced by Communist policy-makers in the Roosevelt administration.

In general, the vaguely defined danger of "Communist influence" was a more common theme in the rhetoric of anti-Communist politicians than was espionage or any other specific activity.

Answer 4

The origins of the witch hunts are in the House Un-American Activities Committee, which actually started as an anti-Nazi, anti-fascist organization, but turned most of its attention to communism right after WWII. The Hollywood blacklist, which was one of the first witch hunts, started in 1947.

Answer 5

communism and the ever growing strenght of the U.S.S.R. sparked it. We had a nuke, they had a large army and we both had different ideals, mix them both and you have one against another, bumping heads. And as fear settles in ignorat people, it becomes an excuse for hate and discrimination. Not to lie, I sometimes feel prejudice against communist nations out of fear that if they win, we might lose all freedom of expression and democracy. Plus something with east and west germany cuse tension with the two nations.

Answer 6

Major Characters:

Francis Nurse: He was the head of the Nurse family and was a respected man in town. He tried to stop the trials by aiding John Proctor.
Rebecca Nurse:She is a very kind women who is the midwife to the Putnam's. They feel she is a witch because seven out of eight of their children died at birth.
Reverend Parris: He is the local Minister. He discovers the girls dancing. He is mainly responsible for the witch trials. He is a materialistic man, places gold candlesticks in the church.
Betty Parris: She is Reverend Parris' daughter, is caught dancing and pretends to see spirits.
Tituba: She is Parris' ***** slave who teaches the girls about spirits.
Abigail Williams: She is the niece of Parris and a very emotionally strong person. She scares people into doing what she wants them to do. She leads the girls in the accusations. She accuses Elizabeth Proctor because she( Abigail) had an affair with John Proctor and feels he still has feelings for her. Without Elizabeth in the picture she feels they can have a relationship together.
The Putnams: Attributed the death of seven of their children to Rebecca Nurse . They are wealthy land owners, holds many grudges in the town.
Mary Warren: She works for the Proctor's. She gives the poppet to Mrs. Proctor, which leads to her accusation of being a witch. She was going to testify against the girls but then in the end she accuses John of being a witch.
John Proctor: He opposes the expenditures of Reverend Parris in the church. He is well-known and respected in the town. He had an affair with Abigail, but after Elizabeth is accused by her, he no longer has feelings for her and realizes how many feelings he has for her.
Elizabeth Proctor: She discovers that John is having an affair, but forgives him. She is incapable of lying.
Reverend John Hale: He is the minister who is called in to investigate the witch trials. At first he believes them, but later he returns to the town to try and stop the trials.
Deputy Governor Danforth: He is the judge at the witch trials. He is dedicated to removing all witches. He rules by the law and will not allow exceptions or anyone to try to undermine his court.

:)

Answer 7

communist infiltration in our country. It was proven to be FACT and admitted to my many leftists at the time.

It wasn't a witch hunt. FACT.

don't they teach kids anything in school anymore?

Alger Hiss, a former State Department official, was accused of spying for the communists in 1948 and convicted of perjury in 1950. Also in 1950, physicist Klaus Fuchs, who helped to create the atomic bomb, was convicted of passing British atomic secrets to the Soviets. These sensations were followed by the spying convictions of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg in 1951 and Jack and Myra Soble in 1957, among others.

Professor Arthur Herman shows the vindication of most of McCarthy's charges. Herman, who is also coordinator of the Smithsonian's Western Heritage Program, said that the accuracy of McCarthy's charges "was no longer a matter of debate," that they are "now accepted as fact." However, the term "McCarthyism" still remains in the language.

Hillary's self-described hero Saul Alinsky said this:

"I knew plenty of Communists in those days, and I worked with them on a number of projects. Back in the Thirties, the Communists did a hell of a lot of good work; they were in the vanguard of the labor movement and they played an important role in aiding blacks and Okies and Southern sharecroppers. Anybody who tells you he was active in progressive causes in those days and never worked with the Reds is a GODDAMN LIAR"

Answer 8

Right-wing propaganda had people shaking in their boots. McArthy is the best example of this.

Anybody to the left of them was labeled a communist.

Answer 9

The same type of rhetoric that is being used today to claim that anyone who doesn't believe as right-wingers do, is a terrorist sympathizer, or a liberal commie/socialist!

"you are either with us or against us" attitude coupled with Blind patriotism and fear mongering.

Answer 10

Senator McCarthy probably had a great deal to do with that..... It all calmed down after he admitted his ideas were baseless.