Answer to Question #120117 in History for Mia

Question

Did the threat of Soviet espionage justify the reaction from HUAC and McCarthy?

Answer 1

No, it did not. During the 1950s, there was a wide spread of panic that Soviet espionage were trying to infiltrate in the country.

Republican Senator Joseph McCarthy accused the whole communist leaning population by establishing that Soviet spies were expanding in American institutions through them.

Though they were mere no concrete evidence of such infiltration, Mccarthy alleged that many communists were present in the country. In response to this, House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) was created to investigate and apprehend communist activities in the country.

However, he received a lot of criticism for his actions and intolerant attitude towards the communist inclined population.