 |
||||||
 |
 |
 |
||||
 |
||||||
 |
 |
 |
||||
 |
||||||
 |
 |
 |
||||
 |
||||||
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Fraud and Hoax
Goal: Students will be able to summarize the arguments of McCarthy’s critics against public exposure of Communists.
Objectives:
1) Students will analyze excerpts from a 1950(?) document called The McCarthy Record, which was published by The Wisconsin Citizen’s Committee on McCarthy’s Record, a group that opposed Senator McCarthy.
2) Students will record their observations about the content of the document in questions 1, 3, and 6.
3) Students will summarize the effects of McCarthy’s public accusations for those he “exposed.”
4) Students will interpret the meaning of a statement made by a McCarthy critic.
5) Students will offer their own opinions about McCarthy’s crusade against Communists.
6) Students will stage a debate about McCarthy’s methods, each defending their assigned viewpoint verbally.
Read the excerpt of The McCarthy Record called “Fraud and Hoax.” The McCarthy Record was published by The Wisconsin Citizen’s Committee on McCarthy’s Record, a group that opposed Senator McCarthy.
1) This section of The McCarthy Record booklet discusses the results of the U.S. Senate’s investigation into McCarthy’s charges that there were Communists at work in the State Department. The Senate’s findings were made public in a report on July 17, 1950. What was the conclusion of the committee?
2) Why do you think the author found it important to give some biographical information about the men on the committee?
3) Whose job did the report say it is to gather facts about disloyal people and to protect the government “against foreign penetration”?
4) What does the report conclude have been the results of McCarthy’s charges for those he accused?
5) What does the following statement suggest about McCarthy’s methods? “Indeed, we have seen an effort not merely to establish guilt by association but guilt by accusation alone.” (pg. 68)
6) According to the report, what result have McCarthy’s charges had on the abilities of government agencies to combat subversion?
7) After reading this excerpt, what do you think about McCarthy’s crusade against Communists?
8) After completing this activity and the activity on McCarthy’s response in McCarthyism: The Fight for America, divide your class into two groups. One group will represent McCarthy’s point of view and the other group will represent the point of view expressed by the Senate subcommittee. Each group will make notes on their argument and then the class will stage a debate on McCarthy’s methods. The following questions can be used to spark the debate.
Whose job is it to root out Communists or other subversives in our government?
What should be the procedure for doing this?
Should people who associate with those whose activities or loyalties are questionable be targeted as well?
What is more important – national security or individual rights?
