Although McCarthy never proved his proclaims by any credible evidence, the event resulted in large-scale of investigation towards communists and communist sympathiser within the US government which was led to massive amount of resignations. However, a significant number of suspects were just liberal democrats and left-leaning figures. Also, conservative political value became more popular as it was strongly opposed to communist ideology. To
One reason Americans heard little of communism is because the government did not want them to know. For example, McCarthy’s speech sparked an anger in Americans for being lied to for so long, causing them to draw their own conclusions. After all, Miller describes similar occurrence in his play. In The Crucible, the townspeople are oblivious to what is causing a disturbance in their village. Consequently, they decide it must be witches becas they themselves are unaware of any other possibility.
“ in 1946 the U.S Chamber of Commerce was so worried about the spread of communism that it proposed removing liberals, socialist, and communist from places like schools, libraries, newspapers and entertainment” (Boissoneautt). Even though there was no proof to
Throughout the film, various themes become evident; the most obvious of themes as mentioned was McCarthyism. McCarthy used the power of media to intensify the “Red Scare”, to the point that individuals began to question and judge anyone who they believed to be a communist whether they were or not. Although McCarthyism ended, it left many jobless, due to accusations of communism, “ ten thousand Americans lost their jobs because of their past or present affiliation with the Communist party”. Lastly, McCarthyism lead to constant suspicion and one might say it manifested hatred between Americans. Similarly the theme of dissent goes hand in hand with McCarthyism and is also prevalent throughout the film.
The origins of McCarthyism is complicated however the root of it is fear and anxiety within the Republican Party and what kept the red scare or the mccarthyism going was the shocks around the world the hiss trials, the fall of china and he korean war. There were many people who feared communism was gonna spread in united states between 1940s and 1950s after the world war ii and Joseph Mccarthy republican senator from Wisconsin spend five years trying to expose communist parties that were in the united states government and in the midst of the cold war. Two superpower were going head to head, United States vs Soviet Union representing democrats vs communism. The cold war was all about Commuinsm vs United democrats because of all this
Not only did the trial of Captain Preston affect the relationship between the Americans and British, but also the Coercive Acts. After the Boston Tea Party, Britain passed these laws to punish Boston and reinforce British control. The laws affected the lives of the Americans and through the Boston Harbour Act, they were unable to utilize the harbour. Due to Britain taking away the people of Boston’s ability to export and import goods, Samuel Adams’ words were valued and Americans wanted Britain to be held accountable for “cutting off our trade with all parts of the world”. Adams was the founder of the Sons of Liberty, a group of merchants, politicians and lawyers, involved in the protest of the Stamp Act.
So for a brief explanation, McCarthyism was carried out under senator Joseph McCarthy during 1950-1954 against alleged communist in the US government and in other institutions. The Salem witch trials and McCarthyism have an uncanny relation to one another. In Salem people were afraid of not appearing christian enough, meanwhile during the 50’s Americans feared of being accused of communism. Also during the McCarthyism era and the witch trials innocent lives were ruined when people were forced to accuse others or be accused themselves. Though The Crucible is an allegory for McCarthyism, it focuses some of its attention on the question what is more important, your honor and reputation or your life?
Nineteen Eighty-Four is a dark satirical portrayal of a government simply known as the “Inner Party” bestowing a totalitarian rule and is lead by the mysterious Big Brother. The Party has striking and deliberate parallels to the Stalinist Soviet Union. The extensive and institutional use of propaganda and the theme of a betrayed revolution are some of the main details that mark the resemblance. Orwell’s experience in the Spanish Civil war with the media’s manipulation of the reports of the conflict lead to Orwell developing a great skepticism about the ability of “even a well intentioned and honest writer to get to the truth”. He was also generally skeptical of the stories that rambled on about the atrocities in the world; he felt them to be an exaggeration of the true event.
In late October 1947, ten members of the film industry in a public statement, publicly denounced the actions employed by the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), an investigative committee of the U.S. House of Representatives, during a probe of alleged communist influence in the American film industry. These screenwriters, producers and directors, who became known as the Hollywood Ten, received jail sentences and were banned from working for the major Hollywood studios. In addition to the Hollywood Ten, many other members of the film industry with suspected communist ties were banned from working for the movie studios. The Hollywood blacklist era came to an end in the early 1960s. The activities of the HUAC seemed to be focused on the film and entertainment industry, and there was speculation that this investigation was driven by anti-Semitic behavior.
This link clearly established the fact that Nixon was involved up to his ears in trying to do a cover up and this raised serious doubts in the minds of the public as to why the President was involved in a cover up if he was not guilty in the first place. The FBI, CIA and the IRS were all being used by Nixon and his aides for all their dirty work and the Watergate Scandal brought out multiple instances where power had been abused to further their cause and ensure that the President stayed re-elected. The US Political arena had taken a serious turn for the bad with such orchestrated misdeeds carried out to ensure the success of a single individual. The presidential appointments secretary Alexander Butterfield, gave a statement that made the situation worse. He openly acknowledged that all conversations that took place in President Nixon’s office as well as all his telephone conversations were taped and recorded.