The Red Scare Analysis During the rise of World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union had been brought into an alliance due to both of their desires to defeat Nazi, Germany. Although the Soviet Union’s aggressive, antidemocratic policy towards Europe created tensions even before World War II had ended. That being said, they tolerated each other as much as they could but weren’t exactly friends. The United States government was initially hostile to the Soviet leaders for their decision to take Russia out of World War I and was opposed to a state ideologically based on communism. The main conflict between them was their inability to agree about communism.
During this time period, not long after the end of World War II, the USSR (Soviet Union) was on the rise, which led to the Cold War. The Cold War led to increased tension between the United States, and the Soviet Union due to competition and heavy conflict of interest. The involvement of the Soviet Union led to the dramatic fear of communism among the public after witnessing the horrific environment within the USSR. This helped develop McCarthyism, the idea of investigating, and accusing someone in power of being associated with communism. Joe McCarthy himself, the founder of his very ideal also gained much popularity within this time period due to many Americans fearing the rise of communist leaders and communism itself. He maintained support throughout all this time because there was no one that would go against him or his ideals. McCarthy was easily able to gain
The most significant takeaway that I have from this course would be learning information regarding John Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie. Now, the reasoning behind this is because these two men without a doubt influence the nation more than anyone else during their era and beyond. Furthermore, when looking at each one of these company’s net worth, they easily rival several nations gross domestic profit during this period. Additionally, their businesses employ more people across the country than any other companies of this time. Moreover, once these men reach the pinnacle of the corporate world, each one decides it is time to start giving back to their fellow man. Now, I found this baffling considering everyone at the time sees Rockefeller and Carnegie as robber barons. Additionally, when comparing Rockefeller’s and Carnegie’s philanthropy actions to today’s modern market, you do not see business owners contributing to society to the same magnitude as Rockefeller and Carnegie.
Fear, it causes people to be blinded by the truth. People can’t tell right from wrong. Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible to show how no one could see what was right. During the 1950’s communism was spreading throughout Europe like a wildfire, then it slowly made its way over to the U.S. This was known as The Red Scare. People were terrified of communism spreading to the United States, so when accusations started floating around everyone would believe them. McCarthy accused people of communist behavior, although many were falsely accused, no one knew better than to think they were guilty because of how scared they were of communism spreading. This resembles how certain characters were accused of witchcraft in The Crucible. The Red Scare caused nationwide hysteria just how the Salem Witch Trials caused hysteria to the people of Salem.
Today, in the world there are so many different types of societies that unite for numerous reasons. They can either be big or small, but no matter what, a society is a society that stays united. However, one of the many things that can destroy millions of a united group in a matter of seconds is the compelling emotion also known as, fear. People who are power hungry individuals, see fear as an easy and beneficial tactic to gain power. In both the Crucible by Arthur Miller and the Red Scare, it is clearly evident that fear does not unite but rather splits both of these societies. Considering that witchcraft and communism were unsuitable practices during these times, it caused people to go insane because of the growing hysteria and accusations
The Red Scare quickly spread across the States as American people feared that communism would take over their country one day. The era had significant impacts on American society during the early stage of the Cold War. Shortly after the beginning of the Red Scare, a phenomenon which is known as McCarthyism appeared and shaped American politics. The anti-communist movement reached its peak in February 1950, when Senator Joseph McCarthy capitalised the fear by claiming he had a list of more than 200 communists working inside the American government.
In response to the second Red Scare, prompted by the accusations of Senator Joe McCarthy, Arthur Miller felt it necessary to express his political feelings through an author’s medium. Similarities are shown between McCarthyism and the Salem witch trials in the way Senator McCarthy gained power and control by inducing fear and hatred of communists in America, comparable to the fear and hatred of witches in the late 1600s. Miller shares that themes of paranoia and vengeance continue on even as society progresses, and presents The Crucible as an example to shed light on issues inherent with using accusations to gain power. With its ability to relate to a number of political situations in many countries, even as far as 50 years past its creation,
This kind of hysteria caused the Red Scare, which was a period that Americans thought communists were working to destroy America. This mass fear of communism ruined people’s lives and made them turn against their own family and friends. Joseph McCarthy played an
Sam Robert in the article, A Decade of Fear, argues that Americans turned against each other because of McCarthyism. Robert supports his claim by explaining, contrasting, and demonstrating the effects that McCarthyism had on humanity. The author’s purpose is to persuade in order to convince the reader that McCarthyism sparked betrayal and fear among Americans. The author writes in a tone for his educated audience. I strongly agree with Robert’s claim.
Cameron Oldfield Mrs. Brincks English III 15 November, 2015 The Crucible and Red Scare Imagine being thrown in jail, blamed for something that you didn't do .The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, is a story about how certain propaganda and false accusations can ruin lives, just like in the case of the Red Scare. Although 1692 the Salem witch trials and the Red Scare were over 200 years apart, The similarities are striking. both trials used intimidation, fear, hatred, and false accusations to ruin innocent lives. Both trials resulted in terrible outcomes, with both ending with innocent people being put to death and shunned from society.
Senator Joseph McCarthy was a merciless politician who would be censured by the Senate in 1954 for his false accusations. However, his political journey throughout the country had a significant impact on the American public. Americans let fear override their conscious and allowed a bully to insert panic into their minds. McCarthy’s crusade was powerful and convinced the naive public during a time of war to question their own government without sufficient
The Hunt Historic recurrence is the repetition of analogous events or circumstances in history. Many argue that historic recurrence is one of the most unacceptable and shameful concepts in our civilization because it is entirely preventable. We as a society are fully responsible and liable for it’s detrimental effects because we have the wherewithal to know better. In our very country, there are many accounts of history repeating itself. Two prominent and heavily associated models of such recurrence are the communist-hunt of the 1954 McCarthy hearings and the witch-hunt of the 1692 Salem Witch Trials.
Senator Joe McCarthy of Wisconsin believed communism was the most daunting threat to the American government at the time. Moreover, most Americans had only heard of communism, but were generally unaware of the topic until McCarthy preached his opinions. After his speech to the Republican National Convention in 1952, American citizens suddenly felt a responsibility to rid the country of communists. Although the thought of communism did not pose a danger to the average American, McCarthy’s rampant speeches made unknowing citizens feel a sense of urgency toward the topic. One reason Americans heard little of communism is because the government did not want them to know.
Can the fear of people control the way certain things and events are looked at? In 1950 a nationwide historical campaign called McCarthyism took place. The campaign was against alleged communist in the U.S government and other institutions and accusations of subversion or treason without proper regard for evidence which was carried out by Joseph McCarthy. The primary targets were usually union activist, government employees, educators, and entertainment industry. Many people people lost their trust in others, causing a new outlook on life while relationships were destroyed. McCarthyism was caused by the fear of the people due to past events.
McCarthyism falsely accused people of supporting communism and being unloyal to America(Document D). These claims had no proper evidence which justified the said assertions. Individuals who were accused of being a communist or a spy, even if the facts were not accurate, were looked down upon and occasionally prosecuted. Accused people no longer supported the war, for it led to the government punishing the innocent(Document G). Not only was the government believed to be unreliable, but trust between people was a large issue during the Cold War.