What is McCarthyism? And how did it happen? - Ellen Schrecker
View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/what-is-mccarthyism-and-how-did-it-happen-ellen-schrecker In the 1950s, as part of a campaign to expose suspected ...
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Imagine that one day, you're summoned before a government panel. Even though you haven't committed any crime, or been formally charged with one, you are repeatedly questioned about your political views, accused of disloyalty, and asked to incriminate your friends and associates. If you don't cooperate, you risk jail or losing your job. This is exactly what happened in the United States in the 1950s as part of a campaign to expose suspected communists. Named after its most notorious practitioner, the phenomenon known as McCarthyism destroyed thousands of lives and careers. For over a decade, American political leaders trampled democratic freedoms in the name of protecting them. During the 1930s and 1940s, there had been an active but small communist party in the United ...
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Imagine that one day, you're summoned before a government panel. Even though you haven't committed any crime, or been formally charged with one, you are repeatedly questioned about your political views, accused of disloyalty, and asked to incriminate your friends and associates. If you don't cooperate, you risk jail or losing your job. This is exactly what happened in the United States in the 1950s as part of a campaign to expose suspected communists. Named after its most notorious practitioner, the phenomenon known as McCarthyism destroyed thousands of lives and careers. For over a decade, American political leaders trampled democratic freedoms in the name of protecting them. During the 1930s and 1940s, there had been an active but small communist party in the United ...
