This agenda was likely a direct response to the Cold War
In 1954, McCarthy turned his attention from the federal government towards exposing the supposed communist infiltration of the armed services. McCarthy launched his “Army-McCarthy Hearings,” but these hearings were different, they were broadcast on national television from April to June. Hearing after hearing, McCarthy invulnerability reputation began to disappear. First, the army services had undermined the Senators credibility by “showing evidence that [McCarthy] had tried to win preferential treatment for his aides when they were drafted” (“Army-McCarthy Hearings”). Then, the public came to notice that McCarthy used aggressive measure to interrogate witnesses, especially when he was interrogating a young Army Lawyer.
Occasion’s Effect The Salem Witch Trials and McCarthyism are very similar even though they took place such a long time from each other. If someone was accused of witchcraft in 1692 they had to confess and lose all social standing or be executed, in the 1950’s if a person was accused of being a communist they would be fired and put on trial, if they would not confess they were blacklisted until they admitted to their “crime”. Arthur Miller used the Salem Witch trials to protest McCarthyism in a somewhat discreet way that proved to be a timeless comfort to the citizens experiencing oppression from their government (“Why I Wrote The Crucible”, 911).
In the late 1940’s, Senator Joseph McCarthy began a tyrannical attack against the people of America. McCarthy went through the nation and accused powerful people of being a part of the communist party. McCarthy had no grounds for his accusations; he would just keep accusing people until they broke down and just said they were a communist to end his attacks. His form of “trial” worked until he tried to accuse Arthur Miller, a brilliant play write, of being a communist. Arthur Miller was livid and fought against Senator McCarthy and his House Committee on Un-American Activities the only way he knew.
In the 1940 's and 1950 's, an anti-Communist movement swept the United States of America. Fueled by the anti-Communist actions of Congress, particularly a Senator from Wisconsin by the name of Joseph McCarthy, the movement escalated and many people lost their jobs as a result of various blacklists. Congressional hearings, both in front of HUAC and McCarthy Senate committee were a study in organized persecution. The actions taken during the "Red Scare" were eventually given the general name McCarthyism. McCarthyism is the practice of making accusations of subversion or treason without proper regard for evidence.
These years are often referred to as the “McCarthy era”, named after a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin who blamed many of his colleagues of Communist subversion. In many cases, defendants were pitted against their own friends, whose only evidence were their words. Cultural and racial bias ran rampant, and often those accused of a crime against the country, such as espionage or conspiracy of espionage, were not given fair trials. In one such case, a husband
It was derived from the fear and hatred they had deep inside them. Mccarthy used this plot to get rid of his opponents and secure him a prime spot for a next term as a senator. McCarthy’s trials were no different to The Salem witch trials by raising suspitions he was able to destroy lives with a written list. Although people tried to contradict his allegations the majority’s fear of communists clouded the court’s judgement. They had no remorse for the aftermath of their doings.
McCarthy manipulated the media, told outrageous stories about the communist conspiracy in the United States, and used his power and America’s fear to besmirch any opponents as “communist sympathizers” to make sure he remained at the top. Actually, most conservative members of Congress supported McCarthy because it helped them gain votes during elections. The majority of McCarthy 's movement attacked liberals and members of the Democratic Party and this aided anyone who was not part of those topics and organizations. Then McCarthy began to target the Army because they wouldn’t favor David Schine, one of his former investigators, who had been drafted in. “Senator Joseph McCarthy began hearings investigating the United States Army, which he charged with being ‘soft’ on communism.
McCarthyism is the term that came to be in 1950 when Joseph Mcarthy accused 205 people that were in the State department of being Communist. McCarthyism is falsely accusing someone of treason without proof or much reason. At the height of anti- communism Aruthur Miller wrote a play called “The Crucible”. The play was set in 1692 based on the Salem witch trials. Salem witch trials in his play was a time where everyone was falsely accusing someone else of being a witch just like McCarthyism is falsely accusing someone of treason.
Mass hysteria was present in both The Crucible and McCarthyism. Mass hysteria is when people went crazy because people were accused of being communists and or witches. Mass hysteria was however started by specific people in both scenarios. In Mccarthyism Joseph Mccarthy a United States Senator and in The Crucible Abigail Williams who was accused of having an affair with John Proctor her employer were the specific ones who accused people of being communists and witches. Even though the Salem witch trials happened in the late 1690s and McCarthyism in the 1950s they paralleled each other.
The Red Scare was a time period that is suggested to have start in the late 1940s, and lasted through most of the 1950s. In the late forties, tension between Soviet Union and The United States began to grow and intensify. With the threat of nuclear bombs and communism, the people of the United States started to grow wearier of possibility of a takeover by the Soviet Union. People lived in fear, the fear was on brought from the threat of communism, but also the fear that the United State government pushed upon them as well. Not only fear of the people of the United State, but also certain events and political figures during the time period help pushed the Red Scare to be prolonged.
Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, is an allegory for the McCarthy era in the 1950s. The McCarthy era is described as a period of fear about the potential rise of Communism, creating hysteria among the American society. Senator Joseph McCarthy holds the responsibility for stirring up the paranoia towards Communist activity in the United States, specifically making accusations for present communists within the United States government. The accused individuals were then followed up with unfair investigations that McCarthy directed. Within the investigations, people were to admit being a communist and be blacklisted, or not confess and be prosecuted.
In order to convict someone of being a Communist back in the 1950’s all that was needed was an accuser to speak out against that person and claim they saw them at a Communist meeting and then the prosecution would only intensify and then, even without solid evidence, that person would be jailed, added to the blacklist, or deported. Also, there was not any real evidence that the Communists were doing anything bad to the society in America. As exhibited after mail bombs were sent to executives, people instantly blamed Communists without any sufficient evidence implicating them. A key accuser during the Red Scare was Joseph McCarthy, “The climax of the McCarthy era was a series of televised hearings in 1954 about the supposed communist infiltration in the U.S. Army. The accusations against the army were made by McCarthy after military officials rejected Cohn's request that the army grant special privileges to G. David Schine, a member of McCarthy's staff who was drafted in November 1953.
After World War II, many Americans were in extreme fear as to what would become of them. The main fear was that the Communists would attempt to take over the world and to destroy precious American liberties. John McCarthy, a republican senator from Wisconsin, became the head of a committee known as the United States Senate Homeland Security Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, or PSI (“Joseph R. McCarty”). This committee became infamous for its unconstitutional investigation and hearings. The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller in response to what are now known as the McCarthy hearings, proves to be an allegory for McCarthyism in that the play contains a similar basis for the ordeal, a similar set of trials, and some similar effects.
McCarthy was a political agitator ( a person who urges people to rebel against something) who criticized Communism trying to use that to push the United States forward into a passionate anti-communist country during the tense years with the Soviet Union and Cold war. A special congressional committee, which was led by McCarthy, conducted debatable investigations so that they can rid of Communist sympathizers. Those who were suspected of being a communist were encouraged to confess and identify other communist sympathizers so that they can escape punishment. Because of that there were a lot of accusation, as they realize that they may be declared as communists whether they are innocent or not. People gave false confessions to save themselves, they created the image of the United States occupied by communism.
