The Second Red Scare Essay -- Politics McCarthyism McCarthy

The Second Red ScareThe McCarthy era, which generally spanned from 1947 to 1957, brought to the caput of American politics the question of courtly rights. At issue were controversies astir(predicate) both First Amendment rights to assembly and free speech and Fifth Amendment rights to due(p) process and freedom from self-incrimination. Anti-Communist actions often involved restrictions on these rights, and heading the anti-Communist stool was the Ho part Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC). This committee, which consisted of government officials from Congress, was formed to wonder the threat of Communism in America. In doing so, the committee brought in witnesses, commonly individuals thought to have, or to have had, Communist affiliations. The overzealous tendencies of HUAC, however, resulted in the use of bullying and smear tactics in its quest to expose a supposed Communist conspiracy. Coming to the defense of individuals under attack by anti-Communists was the Ameri can Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). The ACLUs aim was to champion well-bred rights, regardless of the ideologies of the groups it defended. Its activities have ranged, for example, from defending the rights of Nazis to protest during the seventies to espousing the abolition of nonintegrated schools in the South during the fifties. In the McCarthy era, the ACLU had its hands full dealing with threats to civil rights that stemmed from anti-Communism. The ACLU, however, was not without its own anti-Communistic sentiments. Indeed, within the ACLU was a cadre of anti-Communist members that do it difficult at times for the ACLU to take a strong billet for the civil liberties of suspected Communists.This side of the ACLU often gets overlooked, as do the master intentio... ...arvard U.P., 1955. Kazan, Elia. Executive Hearing. Laws and Orders Humanities and the Regulation of Society.Ed. Gail Hart. Boston. Pearson Custom Publishing, 2002 402-408. Parnell, Thomas. Transcripts from Hearing Before the nominate Committee on Un-AmericanActivities (HUAC). Laws and Orders Humanities and the Regulation of Society. Ed. Gail Hart. Boston. Pearson Custom Publishing, 2002 398-401. Schrecker, Ellen W. archival Sources for the Study of McCarthyism. The Journal of AmericanHistory. 75.1 (June 1988) 197-208. JSTOR. California Digital Lib., U of California,Irvine. 11 May 2002 . Walker, Samuel. In Defense of American Liberties a History of the ACLU. tender York. OxfordU.P., 1990. JSTOR. California Digital Lib., U of California, Irvine. 13 May 2002.