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The McCarthy Trials

The McCarthy Trials. A modern day witch hunt. McCarthyism.

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The McCarthy Trials

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  1. The McCarthy Trials A modern day witch hunt

  2. McCarthyism • Throughout the 1940s and 1950s America was overwhelmed with concerns about the threat of communism growing in Eastern Europe and China. Capitalizing on those concerns, a young Senator named Joseph McCarthy made a public accusation that more than two hundred “card-carrying” communists had infiltrated the United States government.

  3. The Alien Registration Act • passed by Congress on 29th June, 1940 • made it illegal for anyone in the United States to advocate, aide, or teach the desirability of overthrowing the government. • The law also required all alien residents in the U.S. over 14 years of age to file statement of their personal and occupational status their political beliefs.

  4. Senator McCarthy • A senator from Wisconsin • He accused hundreds of politician, writers, directors, entertainers, and homosexuals of communist affiliation • Made it clear to witnesses that the only way to show allegiance to U.S. was to name names of others in the communist party • His trials were highly publicized and ruined many careers

  5. The House of Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) • The objective was to undermine the American communist party • Established in 1938 by congress under Martin Dies to investigate unpatriotic behavior • In 1947 J. Parnell Thomas began an investigation into the Hollywood Motion Picture Association

  6. “Friendly Witnesses” • The HUAC interviewed 41 people who were working in Hollywood. • These people attended voluntarily and became known as "friendly witnesses". • During their interviews they named nineteen people who they accused of holding left-wing views. • Ten of these nineteen people refused to name names to save themselves. They became known as the “Hollywood Ten”

  7. The Red Channels • June 1950: a pamphlet listing 151 names of writers, directors, and actors who were alleged communists • These people were blacklisted until they were cleared by HUAC • Anyone who refused to name names for HUAC was blacklisted by Hollywood studios

  8. Arthur Miller • Used his personal moral and political convictions to write over 30 stage plays and screen plays • Won a Pulitzer prize for his outstanding efforts • Was convicted of contempt of congress for not naming names to HUAC • Conviction was overturned a year later

  9. The Crucible • ." The Crucible, which premiered in 1953, is a fictionalization of the Salem witch-hunts of 1692, but it also deals in an allegorical manner with the House Un-American Activities Committee.

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