Arthur Miller's Influence On The Crucible

The McCarthy hearings have been trials in which Senator Joe McCarthy accused authority’s personnel of being Communists. He exaggerated and exploited the proof and ruined many reputations. Blacklists have been created and lots of employers refused to rent the suspected or accused. (If they did then they could be accused.) Because of the exaggerated evidence and the seriousness of the charges, the hearings struck fear in many people. Even though at the start famous, the public began to surprise how some distance it would pass. After McCarthy accused the U.S. navy of housing Communists, his committee started to head downhill.

Just like the 1920s with the red scare, a senator joseph McCarthy rose to national fame after confidently knowing of 300 supposedly communists in the federal government, and told president Truman that these communists have to be discharged(Doc C). Joseph admits to already having a list of 57 communists within the federal government but refuses to sell it out to the public, making up excuses as to why. A shady move by McCarthy which shows how hysteria during post-war can lead to false accusations. It was then later noticed by Truman that all his accusations were lies, and he was disgusted by joseph McCarthy. McCarthy was kicked out of congress as a senator, seen as a misery and a failure by the public, and died 3 days later(Doc D). However, his actions were not his fault he only exploited the fear that was occurring in America.(Doc F) In the 1920s, after the bolshevik revolution, the public feared immigrants and suspicious looking citizens since they did not want radicals in the U.S.

Although prosperity filled the 50s, controversy and dissatisfaction surrounded it also. As the picture "Senator McCarthy Extinguishes the Torch of Liberty" conveys, McCarthyism hushed the freedom of speech. (Kennedy, Cohen, and Bailey A127)The man who gave McCarthyism a name, Joseph McCarthy, ruined many lives by accusing tons of Americas of being Communists for about 5 years. The post-cold war paranoia about spies and infiltrates in the American government escalated the allegations to a whole other level, despite the lack of evidence. Many people lost their jobs, went to jail, or became shunned by the public. Senator McCarthy conducted countless numbers of speeches, investigations, and hearings. His actions proved to be so terrifying that very few spoke out against him. Only when taking the claims to the military did the people finally take a stand. Weeks afterward, the Senate condemned McCarthy for “practicing conduct unfit for a member.”

During the time of the Red Scare lives were destroyed from all of accusations made. The people that were wrongfully accused had families and then got destroyed reputations. From the Cold War Museum it stated that “the nation grew to realize that McCarthy was evil and unmatched in malice.” once they found that McCarthy was not to be trusted, everyone knew that the people McCarthy told were communist were not

McCarthyism and the red scare were not justified, as stated in the documents. Both were unjustified because they based their rights to power and personal gains, McCarthy abused his congressional oversight powers and trampled on individuals’ dignity and constitutional rights, and the Red Scare’s critics say the Red Scare was a use for personal gain to spread influence to government officials. In document A it is said that McCarthy was suspecting many people like the U.S. State Department, so that was not smart since he did not have any evidence that the people were communists he just went and said that they were communists because he suspected people, but he did not have any evidence to prove his suspicion, so he really did not think that through. McCarthyism led to witch hunts where individuals were accused of being communists or communist sympathizers based on flimsy or no evidence.

McCarthyism and the red scare were not justified, as stated in the documents. Both were unjustified because they based their rights to power and personal gains, McCarthy abused his congressional oversight powers and trampled on individuals’ dignity and constitutional rights, and the Red Scare’s critics say the Red Scare was a use for personal gain to spread influence to government officials. In document A it is said that McCarthy was suspecting many people like the U.S. State Department, so that was not smart since he did not have any evidence that the people were communists he just went and said that they were communists because he suspected people, but he did not have any evidence to prove his suspicion, so he really did not think that through. McCarthyism led to witch hunts where individuals were accused of being communists or communist sympathizers based on flimsy or no evidence.

Hundreds of years later, the United States entered the time of the “Red Scare”. In this time, Americans were still very apprehensive of Communists. On April 22, 1954, Army hearings began. Senator Joseph McCarthy accused the United States Army of being too “soft” on communism. This really began in 1950, however, when McCarthy claimed that there were over 200 known communists in the Department of State (“Army-McCarthy” History.com). As Abigail did with the Witch trials, McCarthy began accusing innocents of crime to benefit his own personal agenda.

During the 1950s there was a rise in the fear of communism called “The Red Scare”. Senator Joseph McCarthy was one of the many people who contributed to people’s fear by making a list of people who he said were communists even though there was no proof in most cases. In an article by Alan Brinkley called “The 1950s Part One: McCarthy and The Red Scare”, it informs, “McCarthy was only one of many who helped create the great fear. The Red Scare was visible in almost every area of American life” (Brinkley). This quote tell us that in the 1950s even though Senator Joseph McCarthy was a huge contributor to The Red Scare. His list of suspected communists made rumors spread and the people on the list get questioned and even go to jail when in some cases they were innocent. It also says in the article by USHistory.org called “McCarthyism: Witch Hunting and Blacklisting in America”, that, “In the 1950s anyone who was considered a communist could be questioned and thrown in jail” (USHistory.org). Which means that his allegations could have easily put people in prison.

McCarthyism was a time of political hysteria and a figurative witch-hunt that swept through the American society during the 1950s when Anti- Communist figures like Senator Joseph McCarthy and the House Committee on Un- American Activities stalked the land- McCarthyism. McCarthyism is when accusations of treason are made without any prior or proper evidence. Joseph McCarthy was a Republican from Wisconsin, and he was elected to Senate in 1946. He officially rose in power when he made a speech accusing 205 people of being communist and infiltrating the US government. Conservatives in the United States began to fear that anyone with any affiliation with the Communist Party or Russia was a threat to the nation. McCarthy was able to use the fear of others as his advantage. McCarthyism finally reached its peak when 36 televised interviews took place to investigate espionage. Many in turn suffered unemployment or imprisonment. Later, many of these verdicts were overturned and labeled as unconstitutional and illegal. In both the witch trials of Salem, Massachusetts, the trial of Bertram Cates in Hillsboro, Tennessee, and the McCarthy Era, corrupt people used the fear of others for of reasons of hatred, similar to Senator McCarthy. These power hungry people pick a convenient scapegoats as a way of improving what they believe to be right and abandoning all reason in the face of fear. However, The Crucible, serves as a more lasting response to the McCarthyism trials and its modern day

At the end of the 1940’s and the beginning of the 1950’s, the United States were in the midst of the Second Red Scare and a fear that Communism might over throw the American way of life. Cold War tensions were at an all time high, which only fueled the widespread fears of Communist subversion. It was here that Senator Joseph McCarthy became a public face when he began making claims that the U.S. Government, as well as many other areas of the country, including the entertainment industry, had been invaded by Soviet and Communist spies, looking to destroy America from within. Hearings before the House Un-American Activities Committee, Hollywood Blacklisting, and anti-communist activity from the FBI soon followed. McCarthy was under intense analysis

The Second Red Scare was a period of heightened fears of the Soviet Union and the political ideology of Communism. The paranoia and hysteria inherent to this period led to discrimination of Communists. Joseph McCarthy was a main player in this Red Scare, which was sometimes called the “Witch-Hunts in Washington.” He was a Wisconsin senator who made claims against those whom he suspected of being Communists or Communist sympathizers.

The Crucible was based in 1692 in and around the town of Salem, Massachusetts, USA. The Salem witch-hunt was view as one of the strangest and most horrendous chapters in the human history. People that were prosecuted were all innocent and their deaths were all due to false accusation of people’s ridiculous belief in superstition and their paranoia. The Puritans in those times were very strict in personal habits and morality; swearing, drunkenness and gambling would be punished. The people of Salem believed in the devil and thought that witchcraft should be hunted out.

Also during this time from the late 1940s to the late 1950s began McCarthyism and the scare of Communism being the United States. Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin would be pushed into the public spotlight by the issue of anti-Communism. It was discovered later that the FBI had helped give McCarthy the information to help him start his campaign against Communism. For several years, McCarthy operated to seek out and destroy the lives of people whom he or others had declared as being a Communist. Lytle mentions that McCarthy charged that Communists had penetrated the United States by becoming involved in churches, the army, the CIA, and the hydrogen bomb program. Even after McCarthy’s eventual political death, McCarthyism still went on and took longer to fade away. McCarthyism was the lasting legacy of McCarthy that put the nation in a frenzy. It was characterized by false accusations of neighbors, family members, and friends and being part of the Communist party. These accusations meant that these peoples’ lives were over. They had no more authority, respect, or even career opportunities after being accused, albeit falsely.

The playwright Arthur Miller gained critical acclaim in the 1950s. His work exists today on broadway and stages throughout the world. Arthur Miller was able to take the modern social world and turn it into a drama that his audiences could easily understand. Arthur Miller is a son of Jewish immigrants and was born in Harlem, New York. His father name was Isadore Miller, he was a jewish immigrant from Poland(source 2).

People lost their jobs and careers went bad and even imprisonment occurred. McCarthy held hearings called the Hollywood Blacklist, which had to do with The House Committee on Un-American Activities and anti- communist activities with the FBI.