McCarthyism: History in Literature? Come on, Mr. Johnson!

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McCarthyism History in Literature? Come on, Mr.
Johnson!

• Arthur Millers Reasons for Writing The Crucible

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What is McCarthyism?

• a movement leaders, such as Senator Joseph
  McCarthy, started in the late 1940s-1950s also
  known as The Second Red Scare

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Huh?

• During this time, Sen. McCarthy and others
  created a blacklist of those people believed to
  be Communists these people, including
  celebrities, often lost money, their jobs, and
  their freedoms because of these false accusations

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so why people be hatin on Communists?

• Basically, we had the same philosophy as Tina
  Feys Sarah Palin character in the SNL sketch I
  can see Russia from my house! Seriously,
  though, we really hated Russia. We were in the
  middle of the Cold War, which was not a war in
  the traditional sense, but more of a competition
  between the U.S. and what was then the U.S.S.R.
  from the 1940s until the early 1990s. (For the
  most part, it was an arms race, meaning the
  countries were trying to outdo each other in both
  production and quality of weapons.)

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So what people did McCarthyism/The Second Red
Scare affect?

• This movement affected anyone, but especially
  entertainers such as actors, screenwriters,
  singers, playwrights, musicians, and authors.
  Who was responsible? Joseph McCarthy and his
  House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC).

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HUAC

• The HUAC was a group formed specifically to
  investigate any cases of alleged Communism. This
  group investigated anyone who seemed unusual or
  outside of the norm, anyone who questioned
  society or who took risks. Another famous HUAC
  member was J. Edgar Hoover.

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Mr. Johnson, were in English classseriously?!

• Yes, seriously. This dude (Arthur Miller)
• wrote one of the
  most
• influential plays
  in
• American
  literature,
• The Crucible,
  which
• was written about
  The
• Salem Witch
  Trials, but it
• was actually a
  thinly
• disguised play
  about McCarthyism.
• You all have the
  privilege (yes,
• privilege) of
  reading this play in my
• class this year.

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Why Miller Cared So Much

• First, Arthur Miller was claiming his own
  political statement about the times.
• Even more importantly, Miller was retaliating
  against the government for their actions against
  him. Yes, McCarthy and his gang had even accused
  lil man Miller of being a COMMUNIST (gasp)!

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Miller Made His Mark

• See, our man Artie had a bone to pick with the
  guys who accused him of Communism simply because
  of his play Death of a Salesman. Critics accused
  him of being too morbid and referred to the
  character Willy as simply a nut. In fact,
  Columbia studios released another play and movie,
  Life of a Salesman, which portrayed the play as
  it should be.

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• The result was The Crucible, the play later made
  into several different movie versions, which
  became a huge success.

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Celebrities Accused of McCarthyism

• Lucille Ball, actress

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• Richard N. Wright, author

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• Charlie Chaplin, comedian and entertainer

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• Lena Horne, singer/actress

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• Pete Seeger, folk singer

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• Langston Hughes, author

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• Aaron Copland, composer

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• and many more.
• The Hollywood Ten

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Works Cited

• AmSt.2010. University of Colorado at Boulder.
  2002. U of C at B. 24 September 2008.
  lthttp//www.colorado.edu/AmStudies/lewis/2010/mcca
  rthy.htmgt
• Buhle, Paul, and David Wagner. Hide in Plain
  Sight The Hollywood Blacklistees in Film and
  Television, 1950-2002. New York Palgrave
  Macmillan, 2003.
• Miller, Arthur. Are You Now or Were You Ever?
• The Guardian/The Observer. 13 July 2000. 24
  September 2008. lthttp//www.writing.upenn.edu/af
  ilreis/50s/miller-mccarthyism.htmlgt