What was the HUAC? How did its tactics help lead to McCarthyism?
1 Answer
HUAC and McCarthyism
Explanation:
HUAC was the House Un-American Activities Committee. It was founded in 1938 and was known for mainly investigating people and or possible links to communism. HUAC took advantage of the Red Scare and all of the anti-communist hysteria that was running around.
The atmosphere of HUAC was pretty intimidating. HUAC's investigations usually led to a lot of drama and yelling and questionable revelations and tactics but no concrete evidence.
HUAC had a lot of people and organizations "blacklisted" for potential ties to communism. These people/groups were subpoenaed to testify before HUAC. HUAC would demand to know their political beliefs and activities. If the person/group said any names, those people were subpoenaed as well. This led to a very broad power to question a lot of people. If the person/group refused to answer, HUAC could hold them in contempt and have them arrested. If they plead the fifth, it looked like they were guilty and they usually lost their job.
Historians say that HUAC's tactics served as a type of blueprint for Joe McCarthy. McCarthy used similar tactics in his anti-communist crusade. His claim of knowing and having a list of communists who worked in the American Gov't made him a very powerful and influential figure in a short amount of time.
McCarthy's crusade eventually came to an end in 1954 when news outlets spotlighted his unethical tactics and he was censured by the Senate.
HUAC was renamed the Committee on Intel Security in 1969 and kind of faded into obscurity. The committee officially ended in 1975
