THE CRUCIBLE

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THE CRUCIBLE

• By Arthur Miller

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What was going on in History During 1940s and 50s?

• WWII
• War in Korea
• Communist Advances
• in Eastern Europe and in Asia

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COMMUNISM

• Anyone who undermined the government was labeled
  a Communist
• Anyone who disagreed with the governmental
  policies or decisions was considered to be
  un-American

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Alien Registration Act

• Passed by Congress in 1940, made it illegal for
  anyone in the U.S. to advocate of overthrowing
  the government
• Alien Residents over 14 years old had to file
  personal status and political beliefs

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Communist Party

• Main goal of the ARA (Alien Registration Act) was
  to undermine the ACP (American Communist Party)
• Mainly Left Wing political groups
• Democrats

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House of Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC)

• Investigated people
• suspected of unpatriotic behavior
• This was the best tool to discover those who were
  attempting to overthrow the government.
• Investigated Hollywood Motion Picture Industry
• 19 people accused of holding left wing views
• Hollywood Ten refused to give accounts-as a
  result served 6-12 months in prison

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RED CHANNEL

• Published a list of 151 writers, directors, and
  performers who they claimed were members of
  subversive organizations prior to WW2, but had
  NOT been blacklisted.

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BLACKLISTED

• All accused people remained on the list until
  they agreed to come forward and testify they had
  turned from their Communist ways.
• YOU HAD TO GIVE NAMES, OTHERWISE YOU REMAINED ON
  THE BLACK LIST!

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Senator Joseph McCarthy

• The man behind it all

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Joseph McCarthy Who was he?

• Senator from Wisconsin
• Feb 9th 1950 McCarthy made a list of 57 people
  in the State Department whom he believed to have
  Communist connections
• People screened for more than having communist
  connections.
• Interrogations included questions about their
  personal lives.
• Backfired for McCarthy he would be questioned
  about his alcoholism and sexual past.

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McCarthy on the RAMPAGE!!

• He spent the next two years as part of a
  committee who investigated government departments
  and large groups of people about their suspicious
  political past
• The only way to save your own skin was to name
  people who you thought were/are part of communist
  organizations (even if you lied).

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WITCH HUNT anti-communist hysteria

• This witch-hunt known as anti-communist hysteria
  is what we now refer to as McCarthyism
• Politicians were unwilling to criticize McCarthy
  in Senate.
• Anti-American books in libraries
• As a result, 30,000 books associated with
  Communism were removed from the shelves.

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McCarthyism continued...

• Opponents of McCarthy questioned his sexual
  orientation.
• As a result, he married his secretary Jeannie
  Kerr to stop the accusations.
• McCarthy targeted the military for communist
  connection/activities
• He attempted to have The Secretary of Army
  discredited
• This made President Eisenhower mad (Eisenhower
  then tried to put an end to McCarthys activities)

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McCarthy Under Attack!

• President
• United States Army
• Media
• In this long, degrading travesty of the
  democratic process, McCarthy has shown himself to
  be evil and unmatched in malice (Louisville
  Journal).

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McCarthys Downfall

• Lost position as Chairman of Government Committee
  on Operations of the Senate
• No power no media would publish his stories
  anymore.
• End of McCarthyism (Late 1950s)
• Died of liver disease, due to alcoholism, in 1957

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ARTHUR MILLER
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HISTORICAL FICTION

• FICTION BASED UPON FACT
• DISCLAIMER AT THE BEGINNING OF MOVIES
• The Crucible is based upon an historical event
  The Salem Witch Trials

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BACKGROUND

• Born in 1915 Died in 2005
• Grew up during the depression
• Intrigued with the events of 1940s and 50s
• Wrote a Screenplay Called THE HOOK
• Submitted screenplay to Harry Cohn (who showed it
  to the FBI)
• He suggested to have the gangsters referred to as
  communist.
• Miller realized this behavior was crazy

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WITCHCRAFT TRIALS

• They began in 1692
• Miller read about the trials in college
• Read book published in 1867 which held personal
  accounts of the persecuted in Salem
• Miller visited Salem in 1952
• Read actual reports issued by Rev. Parris
• Story of infidelity interested him because he was
  having troubles in his own marriage
• John Proctor became his inspiration because
  Miller felt he spoke TRUTH
• Caused problems because people became suspicious
  about the link between the Red Hunt and the Witch
  Hunt

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LINK

• ARTHUR MILLER SAW A LINK BETWEEN McCARTHYISM AND
  THE WITCH TRIALS OF 1692
• Thoughts and intentions meant more than actual
  fact (true for both cases)
• The more he read about the Salem trials the more
  interested he became

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THE CRUCIBLE

• The language intrigued him
• The Crucible took 1 year to write.
• Opening night was on Jan. 22, 1953
• Nobody liked it
• 1 year later it became a hit in Martinique
• People liked the play because of the themes
• Relates to societal and personal
• issues
• Hidden abuse situations
• Mass hysteria

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Interesting Arthur Miller fact

• He was married to Marilyn Monroe for a short
  time ?

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YOUR QUIZ (next time)

• Will cover information from the video, text
  book/packet, and power point
• Short answer questions
• You may use 1 of the 3 notes on the quiz (video,
  text book/packet, or power point)
• Worth 30 points