How did McCarthyism affect Americans?

Answer 1

Almost all that I have seen published about McCarthyism, during the era and afterwards, discusses the horrid negative effects of Tail-Gunner Joe's political activities; and almost all of that material is written by people who openly state their left-wing political viewpoint. Because the negative impact has been the major theme of discussions of the McCarthy era, and because it is difficult, though not impossible, to find an apologist for the activities of U.S. government officials and agencies in that era, I'm posting a Web site URL that has eleven links to discussions of McCarthyism, all written (as far as I know) by left-wing thinkers. One of them was a respected and influential Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, who often disregarded the law and wrote opinions based on his personal beliefs - to "invent" law, as it were. Here's the Web site: http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/mccarthy/mccarthy.htm

Answer 2

Senator McCarthy's accusations sent the United States into peril regarding the spread of Communism. McCarty effectively had a chokehold on politics and the media, disallowing anyone to defend the accused for fear of being accused themselves.

Answer 3

It brought alive the fear that was existing in America at the time. The American public feared the Russians that they believed that a nuclear war was upon them. At that time McCarthy began naming people as secret agents for Soviet Russia and the instant the he did that the fear developed faces. It was this act the brought the fear to a whole other level because once you can picture the enemy (and in this case many of the people named looked like Americans) then you start seeing them everywhere. It lead to harsh investigations and was really hard on the people falsely accused. This brought about panic until McCarthyism decline.

Answer 4

It created an atmosphere of fear and division in the American society. It casused hightened political repressions and false accusations of supporting Communism destroyed many people's careers and lives. Many unfairly accused people lost their jobs, some were imprisoned.

Some argue that its impact is still felt today, and portions of McCarran Internal Security Act remain in force, and some elements of US security are rooted in laws from that era.

Ellen Schrecker wrote that "in this country, McCarthyism did more damage to the constitution than the American Communist Party ever did."

Answer 5

It led to almost tribalistic fear of communists and anyone left of centre while creating an atmosphere of fear not dissimilar to the NKVD in the same period