HUAC+-+p2

Brandon HUAC-House of Un-American Activities Committee The House of Un-American Activities Committee was established in 1938 as an investigating committee for the House of Representatives. They were looking for Threat of Subversion or over throw of the government. The main interest of this committee was to catch people with Communist influence.

The HUAC became a standing committee and lasted for 15-20 years beginning in 1945. Public employees and a number of employees in a private businesses had to take loyalty oaths to show they were not Communists.

The "Red Scare", or fear of Communism, also spilled into a time of fear in Hollywood. The HUAC began an investigation on the movie industry in 1947. About nineteen people were convicted of having Left Wing Views with the threat of becoming Communism.

Ten of the nineteen people involved in this scandal were named the "Hollywood ten". The "Hollywood ten" refused to testify before Congress, using their rights under the Fifth Amendment. The HUAC and the courts disagreed with the "Hollywood ten's" refusal to testify and the entire group was sent to prison for 6 to 12 months. After the refusal, the "Hollywood ten" and other left wing groups were not able to find work. This is referred to as "Blacklisting". The HUAC also started to think that people who were in the government had Left wing views.

Others say that the HUAC was just a stage of time that came and went. Many people thought it was a waste of time and money for people to be convicted of being Communists even though most of them were not.

www.worldbookonline.com The Mc. McCarthy Hearings by Thomson Gale Copy right 2003