McCarthyism

1
McCarthyism

• The Witch Hunt without Witches

2
McCarthyism

• A term for the widespread accusations and
  investigations of suspected Communist activities
  in the U.S. during the 1950s.

-Insufficient evidence -Unfair -Used to suppress
opposition
3
McCarthyism

• Fed by the quick invention of the Soviet Atomic
  Bomb. It was assumed spies must have helped them.
• Also China became Communist and The Korean War.

• Blamed the problems of the U.S. on the supposed
  secret presence of Communists in the government

4
Joseph McCarthy

• Senator Joseph R. McCarthy was a little-known
  junior senator from Wisconsin.
• He claimed to possess a list of 205 card-carrying
  Communists employed in the U.S. Department of
  State. 

5
How Did it All Start?

• Communists in California and New York
• All Citizens of the United States
• Communism was not illegal
• McCarthy wanted to expose them to decrease their
  credibility
• Scared of bombing from Russia

6
(No Transcript)
7
Loyalty Boards/ HUAC

• Loyalty boards investigated the federal workers
  under Trumans command to search
• The senator created theHouse Un-American
  Activities Committee (HUAC)

8
Loyalty Boards/ HUAC

• HUAC- most widely known for its investigations of
  suspected Communist influence in the late 1940s
  and early 1950s.
• 1947, HUAC subpoenaed 41 witnesses for its
  hearings on Communist influence in Hollywood.

9
The Hollywood 10

• Ten of them, mostly writers and directors,
  refused to answer questions at first, denounced
  the committee, and were held in contempt of
  Congress.
• These witnesses became known as the Hollywood
  Ten and were blacklisted from the industry for
  many years afterward.

10
Why it Worked

• The Big Hollywood 10 8 of 10 actors refused to
  appear in court and were sentenced to a year in
  prison
• The blacklist Informally, if you were accused of
  communism you could not be hired

11
The Deal
Sell out your friends and you keep your reputation

• McCarthyism is now used as a reference to
  reckless public accusations of disloyalty to the
  U.S.

12
Effects of McCarthyism

• Innocent peoples careers ruined- three hundred
  and twenty artists were blacklisted (Among them
  were Arthur Miller and Charlie Chaplin.)
• Arthur Miller The Crucible
• Miller wrote The Crucible as an allegory for the
  unjust accusations of Joseph McCarthy.

13
Arthur Miller

• Grew up during the Great Depression
• Wrote screenplays for Hollywood
• Won a Pulitzer in 1949 for Death of a Salesman.
• 1953- wrote The Crucible based on Salem Witch
  Trials.
• He wrote the play during the McCarthy hearings
  when his friends were being attacked for pro-
  communist activities.

14
(No Transcript)
15

• Arthur Miller The Crucible
• When The Crucible opened in January of 1953,
  audiences noted the similarities between the
  Salem witch trials and the HUAC investigations.
• In 1956 Miller was called to testify before the
  committee. He was later convicted of contempt of
  Congress for refusing to name persons seen at
  meetings organized by so-called Communist
  sympathizers. Millers conviction was overturned
  in 1958.