Mccarthyism Vs. The Crucible

McCarthyism vs. The Crucible

Many tragic events in the history of our country have parallels with other tragic events. When an important event does happen in our county, writers find fuel for their writing in the details of the event. There are many similarities between the McCarthy Era and the play written by Arthur Miller, The Crucible.

McCarthyism, or the time known as the McCarthy Era, dominated our country from 1950-1954. During this time, there were many hearings in which people suspected of being related in some way to communism were interviewed and forced to give up names of others. If they refused to give up names of others, they were put in prison.

On February 9th, 1950, Joseph McCarthy, a senator from Wisconsin, made a speech claiming to have a list of people in the State Department that were thought to be members of the American Communist Party. However, the list of names was not secret. In fact, it had been published by the Secretary of State in 1946. McCarthy was also receiving information from his friend, J. Edgar Hoover, who was in the FBI.

With the war going horribly in Korea, the American public was frightened about the possibility of communism in the United States. So, for the next few years, McCarthy and his committee investigated many government officials and questioned many people about their political views and past. Some people lost their jobs because they admitted to being members of the Communist Party. Also, McCarthy made it clear to the public that the only way of proving that people who had been members of the Communist Party, was to name others who were also members.

At first, McCarthy mainly targeted democrats associated with the New Deal policies of the 1930s. Harry Truman was portrayed as a dangerous liberal and McCarthy's campaign helped republican Dwight Eisenhower win the election in 1952. Next, McCarthy targeted what he thought