(Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, above) (Map of Red Scare/McCarthyism, above)

On February 9th, 1950, Joseph McCarthy made a speech at the Republican Womens Club of Wheeling, in Wheeling, WV. This speech was called, "Enemies from Within." This speech explains about the possibility of Communist spies being hiding inside the government. Many people began to worry, thinking that their freinds, or even family, could be communist. Many falsehoods and rumors began to spread such as one about McCarthy having a list of names of people who are communist, and that he wouldn't say who they were. Obviously, this wasn't true. There was no "list." McCarthy created a rule to find out who is communist, and it goes like this: If you wear red, you're communist. This created the system of "McCarthyism." Many people were thrown into court because of this law, and most came out innocent. One of the major communist spies who were exposed were the Rosenbergs. Julius, and his wife, Ethel, Rosenberg, were put on trial to expose their true identities. Ethel's brother, David Greenglass, exposed the Rosenbergs and himself in the trial. Due to David's honesty, he was only sentenced to 15 years in prison (he was released after 9). On the other hand, the Rosenbergs were sentenced to death by the electric chair. The Rosenbergs were one of the only communist spies, but because of the trial going well, McCarthyism stayed as an efficient system, even though there was only a few successful trials.

On December 2nd, 1954, Senator McCarthy was told that McCarthyism was no more after a majority voted to end McCarthyism due to being "untraditional." Just before that, on June 9th, 1954, McCarthy was in the Army-McCarthy Hearings. In this hearing, it was to expose a man who was in the Communist Party. In this hearing, he gains a signature phrase that almost everyone will remenber him by: "Have you left no sense of decency?" This quote basically seals the deal that McCarthyism would be at its end.

Here is an excerpt from the McCarthy-Welch Exchange in the Army-McCarthy Hearing (You only hear Senator McCarthy):