| Summary |
This thesis will demonstrate how McCarthyism operated at the local, state and national levels by using the case of Junius Scales, leader from 1947 to 1956 of the Communist Party, United States in North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee, as an example. Scales's ordeal as a Communist and later as a Smith Act defendant represents the multi-faceted nature of McCarthyism. By focusing on Scales's Communist career one may describe and discuss the characteristics of McCarthyism in North Carolina and throughout the South. An analysis of Scales's case revealed that McCarthyism operated differently at different levels of society and for different reasons. At the local and state levels Communists found themselves persecuted primarily by the local press and found it difficult to secure or maintain employment. Racism and anti-unionism fueled McCarthyism in the South as much as anti-Communism. Many Communists underwent persecution for their agitation for racial equality and better working conditions in addition to their beliefs. Nationally, McCarthyism retained more of its anti-Communist element and persecution took the form of congressional investigations and Smith Act trials. Since the early 1950's and 1960's historians have argued strenuously whether McCarthyism was a grass roots movement or a movement orchestrated by the federal government. Numerous studies argue one side or the other with recent studies leaning toward defining McCarthyism as a top-down movement. This study, while not ignoring the grass-roots elements of McCarthyism, supports the theory that McCarthyism operated as a top-down movement with the federal courts and Federal Bureau of Investigation playing a major role. The Justice Department initiated and prosecuted numerous Smith Act trials in addition to countless investigations by the FBI and congressional committees. Most persecution of Communists occurred directly or indirectly at the instigation of the federal government. Communists or liberals might lose a job after testifying before the House Committee on Un-American Activities or might find themselves suddenly unemployed after the FBI "visited" their employer. Relatively view individuals went to prison because of McCarthyism, but the damage to America's jurisprudence system remains unrepaired. Most of the anti-Communist legislation of the early Cold War period has not been repealed and lies dormant, waiting to be taken and used again at some politically convenient moment. |
