Making Connections: 1692 to 1953

1. Making Connections: 1692 to 1953 Arthur Miller: “The task of the real intellectual consists of analyzing illusions in order to discover their causes”

2. The Red Scare • McCarthyism is a term used to describe the making of accusations of disloyalty, subversion, or treason without proper regard for evidence. The term has its origins in the period in the United States known as the Red Scare, lasting roughly from the late 1940s to the late 1950s and characterized by heightened fears of communist influence on American institutions and espionage by Soviet agents.

3. Senator Joe McCarthy • Beginning in 1950, McCarthy became the most visible public face of a period in which Cold War tensions fueled fears of widespread Communist subversion. He was noted for making claims that there were large numbers of Communists and Soviet spies and sympathizers inside the United States federal government and elsewhere. Ultimately, McCarthy's tactics and his inability to substantiate his claims led him to be censured by the United States Senate.

4. Arthur Miller • Arthur Asher Miller (October 17, 1915 – February 10, 2005)was an American playwright and essayist. He was a prominent figure in American theatre, writing dramas that include award-winning plays such as All My Sons, Death of a Salesman, and The Crucible. • Miller was often in the public eye, particularly during the late 1940s, 1950s and early 1960s, a period during which he testified before the House Un-American Activities Committee, received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and was married to Marilyn Monroe. • In 1956, HUAC subpoenaed him to appear before the committee. Before appearing, Miller asked the committee not to ask him to name names, to which the chairman agreed. • When Miller attended the hearing, he gave the committee a detailed account of his political activities (leaving out the fact that he was a communist party member). Reneging on the chairman's promise, the committee asked him to reveal the names of friends and colleagues who had participated in similar activities. Miller refused to comply with the request. A judge found Miller guilty of contempt of Congress, and he was fined $500, sentenced to thirty days in prison, blacklisted, and disallowed a U.S. passport. In 1958 his conviction was overturned by the court of appeals, which ruled that Miller had been misled by the chairman of the HUAC.

5. The Crucible • A fictional dramatization of the Salem witch trials that took place in Salem, Massachusetts Bay Colony during 1692 and 1693. Miller wrote the play as an allegory to McCarthyism. Crucible: defined • Literal: a container made to withstand intense heat, pressure, and chemical reactions. Used in chemistry and metal working. • Figurative: an extreme test of physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual strength.