Mccarthyism Research Paper

“McCarthyism was a campaign against alleged communists in the US government and other institutions carried out by Senator Joseph McCarthy in 1950-1954 (authentichistory.com by: Michael Barnes)”. McCarthyism is when people make false accusations about someone or something with out evidence to back it up. During the cold war Joseph McCarthy had made many false accusations about having a large number of communists and soviet spies in our government feeding top-secret information to Russia, which was not true. McCarthyism didn’t just spread false accusations through out the nation it also spread fear and dread for many. I believe that McCarthyism is just like the Salem witch trials in one way would be that

“Arthur Miller made the play called “The Crucible” during the 1950’s as a response to McCarthyism and the U.S. Governments blacklisted people.”(Blakesley). Miller was then question and accused of “Contempt of Congress” for not identifying people that were at meetings he attended. McCarthyism and The Salem Witch Craft Trials have been two very wrong things that have happened in the history of the United States for a lot of reasons. First off they both wrongfully accused innocent people of performing not accepted actions of those times. In America you have a right of free will and in both cases they were denied this right just because of someone else’s opinion. In both cases of the Salem Witch Craft Trials and McCarthyism people were being accused of acts with little evidence. People pointed fingers at others so they wouldn’t get blamed for anything, so there was a scare factor taking place. Large groups of people supported these acts maybe because of a get on board everyone’s doing it theme, and if you disagreed you were considered a witch or a communist. Our country supported McCarthy until later we soon regretted it. During the 1940’s and 1950’s communism was a scare in the U.S. so McCarthy capitalized on the subject and said two hundred card carrying communist were in the U.S(PBS). With the Salem Trials people capitalized on the scare of witches and everyone starting accusing the “weird” people. Accusations weather true or false can

Suspicion of witchcraft and a relationship with the Devil had emerged in the 1600s in Salem, Massachusetts. Joseph McCarthy concentrated on Democrats by and large with unmerited and clearing allegations of socialist association, giving the Republicans control over the government. Just like many innocent people, Miller was likewise taken into examination, and was requested to name the general population who he believed were communists. He declined to, since he strongly believed individuals ought to be given the privilege to have faith in whatever they needed to have confidence in. The political witch-chase and the Salem trials were very comparable to the individuals that were promptly accused of being a witch. Without a trial or some other type of a court, the trepidation of McCarthyism was physical; the socialist risk was a genuine danger, from a gathering of individuals. The mania created from the overcompensation of the trepidation of the communist danger was soon taken out of extent like the Salem trials where innocent people were blamed of being witches, who were thought to serve

In 1692 nineteen men and women and two dogs were convicted and hanged for witchcraft in a small village in eastern Massachusetts. People in Salem, Massachusetts were persecuted and accused for something that wasn’t true. The author is comparing the events of the Salem Witch Trials to McCarthyism throughout the 1950’s through the use of the morally ambiguous character Reverend Hale. Arthur Miller, author of The Crucible, utilizes convincing logos, compelling pathos, and thought provoking ethos in order to highlight the dangers of McCarthyism through the morals of Reverend Hale.

The horrors of history are passed on from generation to generation in hopes that they will never occur again. People look back on these times and are appalled at how horrendous the times were; yet, in the 1950s, history repeated itself. During this time, Joseph McCarthy, a United States senator from Wisconsin, began accusing people of being communists or communist sympathizers, which is parallel to the Salem witch trials in the late 1690s when innocent people were accused of practicing witchcraft. One of the people McCarthy accused was author and playwright Arthur Miller. To express his outrage at McCarthy’s actions, miller wrote The Crucible, intentionally drawing similarities between the McCarthy hearings and the Salem witch trials.

More than 200 people were accused of being witches in the 1600’s Salem Witch Trials. Even though many people were assumed witches, only 20 people denied the false claims and were, therefore, hung (Blumberg). The integrity of those who denied any accusations and refused to give into the claims is shown through Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible. Written during the time of McCarthyism, Arthur Miller attempts to warn people of the dangers of blame and giving into fear through his play. In the 1690s, fear of witches and the Devil riddled the town of Salem, causing them to act hysterically, jump to conclusions and point fingers at others to save themselves. Although most everybody in the town was taken over by this fear and hysteria, there were a selective few who stayed mentally strong throughout the experience. Among these few were John and Elizabeth Proctor, Martha and Giles Corey and Rebecca Nurse. These characters are among the few that are respected in the town of Salem and, for the most part, seen as noble people with righteous intentions. One reason these people are so high in this town is because of their ability to stand up for themselves and their beliefs. In The Crucible, Arthur Miller uses the motif of integrity to show people’s bravery to stand up against the powerful; thus, Miller emphasizes that one who stands true to their beliefs in the face of conformity remains on the highest ground of morality.

McCarthyism is the practice of making accusations is subversion or treason without proper or fair regard for evidence. The man who this method is named after and originally used by is Wisconsin senator, Joseph McCarthy. From 1950 to 1956 it was thought that McCarthy had a list of 205 government employees who were allegedly communists, this was made the people turn on each other, even McCarthy falsely accused innocent people. McCarthyism worked so well because americans were so scared by communism, they truly believed that communist were evil and were out to get their freedom. The official start of McCarthyism was on February 9th, 1950 when Mccarthy gave his Wheeling speech. McCarthy wanted to capitalize off of the propaganda and paranoia of

During the late 1940’s, Senator Joseph McCarthy had begun rumors of infiltrated communists, which would later become to be known as “McCarthyism”. McCarthyism was showed in many different ways such as falsely accusing, and the widespread use of fear throughout the nation of communism. in the political cartoon “It’s okay - we’re hunting communists”, The HUAC (which played a large role in the second red scare alongside McCarthyism), is shown ramming into a large crowd of people, which signifies how the people driving the “HUAC car” were affected and influenced by McCarthyism to search many people due to speculations and lots of news surrounding communism infiltration (Block). During the time of McCarthyism, there were many investigations and

Which they then use to their advantage by manipulating people into obtaining their selfish desires. Indifferent to the hundreds of innocent lives sacrificed during the process. Specifically, their leader Abigail Williams, developed a strategy to take revenge upon Elizabeth Proctor, her former mistress. Out of fear towards Abigail, the girls pretended that the people of Salem were under the devil’s control, and soon began to falsely accuse individuals in Salem of Witchcraft. An example being Mary Warren accusing Sarah Good, stating “She sent her spirit out“ ( Miller pg. 1057). Ignorant of the fact that those words would put Sarah Good's life in jeopardy. Only when John Proctor forces her to go with him to court and confess the truth because his own wife has been convicted, does Mary tell the judge, “It were pretense sir“ (Miller pg.1065). Feeling responsible for her foolish actions which ended in innocent people being hanged. Therefore she pleads for the girls to quit acting like they’re being possessed for she realizes the havoc it has created and will continue to cause in the

The founding fathers of our Constitution held firmly to the principle of justice in which “Every man is presumed innocent until he is proven guilty.” There have been several episodes in history in which communities violate this principle and allow unsubstantiated accusations to drive their justice system. As depicted in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, during the Salem witch trials, to be accused of “witchcraft” was to be guilty. To be guilty meant a death sentence, which could only be avoided if one was to confess their guilt and to identify other “afflicted girls.” During the McCarthy era, a strikingly similar situation aroused when suspected

McCarthyism by definition is the action of making accusations of disloyalty with inadequate evidence to support. This idea was introduced by Senator Joseph R. McCarthy and was a vital aspect in the U.S during The Cold War. Joseph R. McCarthy McCarthyism in a Nutshell Throughout 1950 to 1954, the people of the United States of America were terrified of the spread of communism. This was greatly known as “The Red Scare”.

McCarthyism basically is the practice unfair accusations that are made against a person or group of people. During the cold In the time of the Cold War Americans were paranoid and vulnerable, as they never knew when the Soviet Union, or any other communist-totalitarian state would attack. “McCarthyism” gave Americans a sort of “hope” to get fight against communism in their own country. Joseph McCarthy, a U.S. Senator, became the face of the national fear of communist infiltration. Officials could not stop McCarthy from destroying people’s by accusing them of being a communist as then they themselves would be accused.

McCarthyism, named after the U.S senator Joseph McCarthy, is a practice of making false accusations without proper evidence. It used fear and prejudice to alienate people who were thought to have communist beliefs and ideas. On February 9 1950, McCarthy claimed that he knew some officials of U.S Department of State

“Honesty is the best policy.” Kids grow up hearing that from their parents, teachers, and other adult figures. However, many grow out of listening to this advice, spreading bits of untruths as harmless as white lies to the more severe, like in the case of the Salem Witch Trials or the McCarthy trials during the Red Scare. Arthur Miller delved deeply into this topic in his famous play, The Crucible, in which he compared the Salem Witch Trials to the McCarthy trials as a comment on the self-preserving, rash, and gullible nature of human beings, in order to open the audience’s eyes to the error of their ways. He wanted them to see the negative consequences of the Red Scare so they would put an end to it.

McCarthyism is the unjustified accusation that claims someone is a Communist. The term originated from “The Second Red Scare” that took place in the United States between 1950 and 1954. During this period Sen. Joseph McCarthy claimed to have a list of 205 people that were allegedly communist or communist sympathizers. The fear of the Communists spread throughout the U.S. and no one stood up to McCarthy. This silence allowed McCarthy to gain traction and eventually thousands of people were at a loss for a job at minimum. Nearly 300 in the film industry were out of work because of the unofficial “Hollywood Blacklist”. FInally, in 1954 McCarthy was put on trial and his public image declined. On December 2, 1954 the