as 20 million Americans watched the combative senator bully his witnesses who had no chance of defending themselves. McCarthy ruined lives with the power of paranoia and blacklisting. A blacklist was a list of people who were condemned for having a Communist background. If one was on a blacklist, it was almost impossible to get a job because employers feared accusation of being a "Red" by association. A "Red" was a short term used for Communist. A fair amount of the blacklisting came from the Hollywood industry as a result of the House of Un-American Activities Committee. The HUAC developed from a congressional committee created to search out disloyalty before World War II. The power of the HUAC grew in the late 1940s and during the 1950s because of the Cold War and the "Red Scare." The "Red Scare" was the hysteria and fear of the American government and public during the Cold War that the Communist may infiltrate and take over the United States (Martine, Politics 67). The Cold War was a period of hostility developed between the United States and the Soviet Union after World War II. This period did not include much direct military conflict though it did include a battle upon Communism and the use of spies. One of the most famous cases of spies was the case of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg. The couple was minor activists in the American Communist Party and convicted of being Communists. As a result the two were found guilty and executed. This is similar to what happened in Salem, Massachusetts in the 1600s. McCarthyism caused much chaos in America. Average United States citizens were being blamed and persecuted for things that most did not do. It is believed that McCarthy made his accusations out of challenges to his authority. Many scholars have confirmed that his accusations have no proof and were spontaneous. These little spouts spilled over to the citizens. Many would spy on each other out of paranoia of...
