In the 1950s, tensions ran high between America and its one-time ally, and fear of the Communists was widespread. Joseph McCarthy, a little known senator from Wisconsin, exploited the fears of the masses in an attempt to gain a popularity and a good reputation. He declared that not only did loyal Americans face the Communist threat overseas, but that America itself harbored Soviet sympathizers and closet “Commies” by the hundreds. McCarthy spearheaded an effort to rid the country of Communism in a mass movement called the Red Scare. During the Scare, thousands of innocent citizens were accused of holding Communist sympathies, accusations which had little or no evidence to support them.
During his office as a Senator, McCarthy claimed that there were numerous communist subversives and Soviet (Russian) spies in the federal government and elsewhere in the nation. McCarthyism is a political movement inspired by Joseph McCarthy himself to accuse many people of being communist subversives or Soviet spies without concrete evidences. Determined to root out the communist parties in America, McCarthy started to track down numerous people that he thought to be communists or belonged to the American Communist Party. The reason why McCarthy started to track communists is because he thought that communism was an ominous threat to the nation. McCarthyism closely resembles the witch-hunting era of the 1600s portrayed by Arthur Miller through his piece of literature, The Crucible.
Terrible, right? Joseph McCarthy, a U.S. Senator, caused hysteria in society by accusing thousands of people of having connections with the Communist Party. Although, in most cases there wasn't even any evidence to prove it many were fired from high paying jobs with their reputations being ruined. In the play "The Crucible" by Arthur Miller (an accused Communist himself), Miller used the Salem witch trails as a metaphor for McCarthyism, saying that "McCarthyism-style persecution" can happen at any time or place.
Due to the striking similarities between the two events, Miller chose the Salem witch trials to represent the Red Scare in his play The Crucible. The impetus behind both the Red Scare and the Salem trials came from the innate emotionality of the subjects with which they dealt. When the Red Scare occurred, Americans had lost the comfort, however the illusion of the isolationist policy predating the First World War. The United States was suddenly thrust neck-deep into world affairs and immediately entangled in a cold war with the Soviet Union. Americans feared the great power across the ocean, and the thought that spies might be present among them in their own towns and cities struck a common chord.
Body Paragraph #1 A. Topic sentence : Arthur Miller’s development of Fear in The Crucible is parallel to the fear that was experienced in the 1950’s. B. CD #1: Abigail accuses Tituba of being a witch and to prevent herseld from being hanged, Tituba confesses that she was doing witchcraft (Miller 45-49). C. CM #1.A. : Being accused of being witch in Salem, Massachusetts was alarming because even if one was innocent, they are still held guilty D. CM #1.B: One could infer that the morals of society dictated that a person wasn’t “Innocent until proven guilty” but rather they were “guilty until proven innocent.” E. CD #2: “ [ In Hollywood] blacklists were quickly circulated of
One actor was even blacklisted just because she looked like a girl that had been blacklisted for being communist. Also in 1950 there was a Wisconsin republican senator named Joseph McCarthy. He Made quite a stir in the hysteria of the red scare when he made a speech in wheeling West Virginia. During the speech he had held up a piece of paper and said here is a list of 205 members of the department of state that are communists. His “list” of people changed inconstantly and his refusal to provide anyone names of the so called communists set up a horrifyingly awesome spike in hysteria and fear of communists infiltrating the government.
Anti-Communism & McCarthyism (1947-1954) Renee Abreu University of Phoenix Anti-Communism & McCarthyism (1947-1954) The cold war in America marked a period of historic political conflicts & military pressures that over time would cause nationwide anxiety due to a belief in communist infiltration of the US borders. As a result of this false belief the nation responded with anti-communist attacks on accused communists of which there were various political trials. By definition the term communism is “a political theory derived from Karl Marx, advocating class war and leading to a society in which all property is publicly owned and each person works and is paid according to their abilities and needs (Google Dictionary: Communism).” Thus an anti-communist is basically an individual who opposes this view and in the case of
Anticommunism and McCarthyism DaChel Carey His/145 January 12, 2012 Stev Donev Anticommunism and McCarthyism Anticommunism and McCarthyism there have been many dark days, events and eras in American history that tested the mettle of the American populace. World War I and II, the coup in Czechoslovakia, the House un-American Activities Committee, and the Rosenbergs, were cases in point. Anticommunism is an ideological belief that communism is wrong or harmful. As a dogma, it holds that communism is bad, regardless of whether the communists are democratically elected, attain power by winning a war or by revolution or are imposed by a foreign power. Any person in any country may be anti-communist at any time.
Honors English 1 The Crucible Comparison Essay October 25th, 2010 The Crucible vs. McCarthyism Fear, passion, jealousy, and paranoia have consumed America and its people for years, causing chaos and unbalance. The Salem Witch Trials in the late 1600’s and the Red Scare starting around 1950 are two examples of these four dynamics. Although both incidents occurred almost 260 years apart, they are directly associated because of the similarities in people, causes, and effects. Giles Corey from Arthur Miller’s The Crucible can be compared to the “Hollywood Ten” from the 1950 Red Scare. In The Crucible, Giles Corey gets himself in a dilemma with the court after worrying about his wife, who was later thrown in jail under allegation of witchcraft, and then accusing Thomas Putnam of killing his neighbors for their land.
‘Salem is presented as a successful community’ How far and what ways do you agree or disagree with this statement? Miller presents Salem as a highly unsuccessful community in The Crucible. The chaotic nature in the community was evident from the very beginning of the play. The Crucible is a play, which explores the witch hunting hysteria that happened in Salem in 1692. Miller uses this mass-hysteria to comment on his own similar experience during the 1950s.