Example research essay topic: Lost Their Jobs Mccarthy Hearings - 1,250 words

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The Cold War ushered in a new era in the American society that would change the way in which everyday life was carried on by the public. Men, women and children were convinced to fit the average mold that was promoted through propaganda issued from the American government and media. Events, such as the McCarthy hearings and Hollywood Blacklisting, contributed to the overwhelming fear of nonconformity. The American public was bombarded with images of conformity such as the popular family sitcoms that were mass produced in the 1950 s. The insistence upon normality and conformity was also portrayed metaphorically in numerous Sci-Fi movies of the time which exemplified xenophobia, the hatred or fear of strangers or foreigners or of anything strange or foreign. The ideas promoted by McCarthyism and the anti-communistic sentiment of the times were meant to push people away from non-conventional ways of thinking.

Anything that was the slightest bit left or radical or even new could be construed as communistic. After Russias rejection to the Marshall Plan, a strong wave of communist fear began to sweep the nation and was being promoted by the U. S. government and the media. The early development of the Russian nuclear weapon brought grounds for suspicions of leaked information and the discovery and conviction of espionage for the Rosenberg's only fanned the flames of fear.

The 1940 s were plagued with endless magazine articles like How Communists Get That Way and Communists Are After Your Child. Even President Truman's Attorney General stated There are today many Communists in America. They are everywhere -- in factories, offices, butcher shops, on street corners, in private businesses -- and each carries in himself the germs of death for society. The Cold War had created a fear that democracy was in danger and that the American people must take drastic measures to ensure the continuance of their way of life. The first step taken in searching out Communists in the U. S.

was the development of the House on Un-American Activities Committee or the HUAC. The HUAC was formed in the 1930 s but didnt really become active until the Cold War controversies began in the forties and fifties and would assist Senator Joseph McCarthy in rooting out the Reds. The HUAC distributed millions of pamphlets to the American public cautioning: One Hundred Things You Should Know About Communism (Where can Communists be found? Everywhere). By the late 1940 s and early 1950 s the American public had been primed for the invasion of privacy and civil liberties that the HUAC and various other congressional subcommittees would commit in their quest to seek out the Commies. In 1947 the first wave of hearings of the House Committee on Un-American Activities began.

These hearings were mainly focused on Hollywood and the film industry. McCarthyism would take its biggest toll in this industry and would contribute to the creation of the infamous Hollywood Blacklist. The HUAC interrogated numerous actors, directors, screen-writers, etc, and countless films were reviewed by innumerable congressional committees in hopes of finding circumstantial evidence that would prove the theory that Hollywood was infiltrated by communists and that communistic ideas were being portrayed to the unknowing public in films and the media. The HUAC hearings subpoenaed countless members of Hollywood, many of which lost their jobs. In the publics eyes, being called to testify meant that you were either a communist or were associated with one and that was simply unacceptable for many of the production companies at that time.

The most notable victims of these are hearings and the only ones to actually go to jail were the Hollywood Ten. After the investigation and analysis of a few select films, Away Bessie, Herbert J. Biberman, Lester Cole, Edward Dmytryk, Ring Lardner Jr. , and Dalton Thumbs were found suspects in portraying communistic ideas and were subpoenaed in October of 1947. These ten individuals refused to cooperate with the hearings and pleaded the Fifth Amendment which had become a popular response tactic to the committee inquiries.

In the spring of 1948, all ten were convicted of contempt of court and were sentenced to one year imprisonment. Upon the announcement of the imprisonment of the Hollywood Ten, fifty studio heads convened in New York for a secret meeting to discuss the film industries reaction to the HUAC hearings and imprisonments. The fifty business men decided that the film industries tie to the McCarthy hearings was extremely damaging for their public image. Thus, a statement was released announcing that We, will not knowingly employ a Communist or a member of any party or group which advocates the overthrow of the Government of the United States by force, or by any illegal or unconstitutional method.

This acceptance of the results and pressures from the HUAC hearings was one of the first capitulations to the red scare that was sweeping through the public and now would be an overwhelming force in Hollywood. The 1950 s ushered in a new agenda of seeking out the Reds in America when Senator McCarthy made his memorable speech on February 9 th, 1950 in Wheeling, West Virginia. He claims to have in my hand a list of fifty-seven cases of individuals who appear to be either card-carrying members or certainly loyal to the Communist Party. McCarthy was now spearheading the search for communism in American and would soon be focusing, yet again, on Hollywood. The use of hearings and inquiries was powerful in Hollywood due to the high level of cooperativeness that the studios put forth. Many of the studio presidents were eager to see any controversy quickly removed and even hired private Ex-Communists to search out infiltrators in their own studios.

However, when the HUAC returned to Hollywood in 1941 for an even more vigorous inquiry into the motion film industry, the trials were simply shows put on to arouse public attention; no real facts were obtained during these hearings, only the pressure to name names. The major focus of almost every inquiry was to find out the names and roles of other individuals that the suspect had come in contact with during their role in the evil Communist society. Many actors and actresses were called in for hearings without any probable evidence what so ever. Some would be labeled as friendly witnesses, ones that cooperated and answered the committees questions, such as Lucille Ball, while others would be known as unfriendly witnesses who choose to plead the Fifth or First Amendments and were submitted to secretive lists that condemned them as Communists and dangerous individuals. Soon the committees began to insinuate the guilt of everyone who pled the Fifth, calling them Fifth Amendment Communists.

Senator McCarthy insisted that A witnesses refusal to answer whether or not he is a Communist on the ground that his answer would tend to incriminate him is the most positive proof obtainable that the witness is a Communist. Of the hundreds of people subpoenaed, a list of some 324 people was composed that would outline them as communists and communist supporters. The movie studios were extremely reluctant to get involved with anyone whose name appeared on the list or had been involved with the hearings and many lost their jobs. Yale Law School professor Ralph Brown has conducted one of the most systematic surveys and finds that roughly ten thousand people lost their jobs due to McCarthyism (cite 9 u 39). In the film industry alone, some 80 % of unfriendly witness lost their jobs wi...

Research essay sample on Lost Their Jobs Mccarthy Hearings