Cold War at Home
They sometimes say that people most fear what they don't understand! Past and present warfare conflicts have brought a sense of patriotism and American duty to the United States. But in World War II in brought a sense of fear home with it too. In Chapter 11 of "American Realities," by J. William T. Youngs, it highlights a point in time where many government officials and other high-ranking personnel used the fear of anticommunism to help benefit their own career and also bring down anyone who dared cross their path. One in particular, Joseph McCarthy, would take his freedom of expression to the highest level and also reveal the urgency behind the anti-Communist crusade. World War II was called "The War to end all Wars," and was fought throughout the world, but many people don't realize that America was not only fighting the war on two fronts. One was in Europe against the Germans and the other was in the pacific against the Japanese, but America was fighting a separate war at home against a foe they could not see or find to well for that matter, "Communism". McCarthy was the figurehead of support against communism during the cold war, but is now the brunt of punishment and criticism that we tend to give out these days whe
Throughout high school I have been taught that when we refer to McCarthy or McCarthyism that it's a time that America was ashamed for their actions. Two good secondary accounts are by Richard Rovere and Herbert Philbrick that helped bring a more outside perspective from a journalist and a counterespionage agent. I can honestly say that the sources were well used and were good for the chapter, but I might have tried to find less sources on his life, which is less important and can be found in secondary and third sources, and more on the political actions and the overall mental affect it had on the people of America too. An example is on page 246, when he points out how J. Throughout the chapter evidence is presented why America supported McCarthy in fear. As you can tell I have and will be using the word fear a lot, I do this because it best illustrates the emotions brought out by the author when showing how McCarthy's actions affected every person. One such example is the primary source from a Wisconsin farmer, "Yes," he said, "I guess almost everybody in this part of the country is for McCarthy. Edgar Hoover, FBI, was angered by McCarthy's allegations but was afraid that if McCarthy failed in finding evidence against communism it would hurt the FBI's own investigations. I did not like the fact that my favorite actor and maybe the best actor of all time, John Wayne, was implicated as a friend of his. Some of the more significant primary sources are the autobiography by Joseph McCarthy himself and the book by Roy Cohn which help give more depth into the anti-communism side. His life was the basic model for most Americans throughout this time period and showed the best of the American will to learn and succeed. The author went beyond just this time period he also used secondary sources that explored communism before the war and what led to such strong feelings of anti-communism in America. Now I know it doesn't seem like it but I do believe that the chapter was balanced, oddly enough, in portraying each side. " This shows how Americans may not have known the full extent of what their government was doing against communism and just followed the one voice that stud out amongst the crowd. The chapter has a good balance of primary and secondary sources that help give detail to the chapter.
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Acceptance Essays
