You hear about censorship of free speech happening in other countries, but has it ever happened in the United States of America? Not many people know that the restriction of free speech and personal expression actually happened in America, especially during the 1950s. During this tumultuous time, new fears of threatening outside influences, primarily of a political nature, had arisen, and as a result the government sought to protect the American public from these “radical” ideas through the use of censorship or a restriction in the flow of information or ideas. Working feverishly to control what they deemed inappropriate, they launched multiple programs to combat these influences. Unfortunately, the government's reasonably good intentions have warped and changed over time, and have ended up effectively preventing the spread of culture and knowledge in America. This in turn had a lasting impact on the United States, both immediate and long-term. In essence, the 1950s were a time of fear, desperation, and even disorder in the United States of America, as the desire to protect America led to a twisted witch hunt, especially shown by the creation of the House Un-American Activities Committee of the Chamber, from the censorship of literature and the censorship of music. The first and perhaps most prominent example of censorship in 1950s America is the House Un-American Activities Committee. Basically, it was a massive effort to censor communist activities stemming from the Red Scare in America. After World War II, Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin struck fear into the hearts of Americans by claiming that 205 communists had infiltrated the U.S. government (Simkin). While he went around accusing many people of being communists, fear and hysteria reigned in America....... middle of the paper ......J:www.courses.unt.edu/‌efiga/‌HistoryAndEthnography/ ‌SeddelmeyerPaper.doc+ comic+book+censorship+1950s&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=safari>.Nuzum, Eric. “Censorship Incidents in the 1950s.” Parental Advice: Music Censorship in America. Parental Adivsory, 2003. Web. 9 November 2009. .Ockerbloom, John Mark, ed. “Books banned online.” Books banned online. The Online Books Page, January 1, 2009. Web. November 13, 2009. .Simkin, John. “McCarthyism”. Spartaco International. Spartacus International, 2003. Web. November 13, 2009. "Un-American Activities, House Committee." Grolier multimedia encyclopedia. Grolier online passport, 2009. Web. 8 November. 2009. .