Sam Roberts's A Decade Of Fear

Often times there’s a point in a person’s life where one wonders if they’re crossing the red line when it comes to reaching their goals. When the lines a drawn and crossed, people suffer, much like the 20 sad souls who were executed in the Salem witch trials, or the 205 falsely accused state department officials. False accusations that ended and ruined people’s lives have been going on for ages like the examples before. Either for self-preservation or to cheat their way up, these things have always been embedded in human nature. Just like in Arthur Miller’s, The crucible, Abigail William’s false accusations propelled the community into its own demise, which also happened when McCarthy doomed 205 members of the state department with his accusations.

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.

During this time in the world people were scared of the red scarce. People would say that Joseph Mccarthy was the modern

The Second Red Scare was based upon hysteria, not legitimate threats as evident in American politics. The first example that proves the Second Red Scare was based upon hysteria not legitimate political threats is the low percent of the population that were Communists. “In 1950, fewer than 50,000 Americans out of a total U.S. population of 150 million were members of the Communist Party” (“Anticommunist Hysteria”). Americans feared that Communists were becoming the majority of American citizens (“Anticommunist Hysteria”). Among the American population, only 0.03% of the population actually identified as Communist. The idea that Communist were taking over America was greatly exaggerated and proves the Second Red Scare was based upon hysteria and Communism posed no real threat to American politics. The second example that proves the

As the title may suggest, the book explores the evolution of the Red Scare within the press, mainly newspaper publishings and the consequent guilds. The author’s, Edward Alwood’s purpose behind the book lies in his interest to expose the disregard and the neglect of the first amendment in the face of the anti-communist crusades. The book describes the hearings and demonstrates that while uncovering no real criminal activity they resulted in the firings of newsmen who refused to fully respond to congressional inquiries the purpose of which was often to learn the names of all those associated with the communist party, thus having an intimidating and long-lasting effect upon the press. Alwood’s interest in the matter lies in his life-long fascination

After World War II, the fear of autocratic governments and communism spread, especially within the United States. The idea of having a restrictive leader produced fear amongst citizens, creating a sense of distrust towards neighbors or officials that might support such a faction; this anti-communism movement was known as the Red Scare. Spearheaded by Senator Joseph McCarthy, the domestic war-on-communism reached an extreme, one that took away the freedoms of this nation’s people. Americans sacrificed civil liberties and privacy in an effort to deter the totalitarian wave from taking root in their country.

In the mid-20th century, Americans feared the infiltration of Communism. The Soviet Union had amassed great power and the threat of a nuclear confrontation was at the forefront of the American psyche. China, too, had become a powerful Communist threat. The breeding ground for McCarthyism was fertile. Paranoia permeated. In Arthur Milers parable of contemporary life, The Crucible depicted Salem, a religious community, mired in evil. The forest was the devil’s domain, and Salem was encircled by forest. Paranoia permeated.

McCarthyism was a made up theory that only caused hysteria and had no real benefit to the United States. Government officials and people in power did not agree with McCarthy’s actions. The hunt for communists was like an impossible witch hunt. The lives of many were flipped upside down because of the accusations made by Joseph McCarthy.

1950’s America was a time of great fear and of great power. World War II had ended a few years prior and had left a mark on the nation. Nazi Germany had fallen and in its place a new power captured the fear of America: The Soviet Union. Many Americans had a fear of this new world power, as the United States was in a “Cold War” with them. Wisconsin senator Joseph McCarthy used these fears to Start a hunt for the communists he claimed were plotting to overthrow the country. The Crucible itself is written as an allegory for these times. Both the group of girls in The Crucible and Senator McCarthy with his committees in the 1950’s used their respective forms of fear-mongering and witch-hunting to further their social or political lives and to rid

Sam Robert’s article, “A Decade of Fear” explains how McCarthyism turned Americans against each other after World War 2. In the first place he lied about communists being in the U.S. senate. As stated in Sam Robert’s article, “News of McCarthy’s accusations against the state dept. of president Harry Truman sent shock waves across the nation.” McCarty’s statements made him look like a gallant anticommunist and gave him power. As a matter of fact, he was considered more of a witch hunter. According to the article, “he had alleged 57 communists work in the state dept. Americans have been inclined to believe the worst even without evidence.” In other words he is just pointing fingers at people and had no corroboration at all. Americans had already

McCarthy used multiple forms of propaganda to scare people into thinking that there were spys from Russia here in the U.S. Since he was known to enjoy having the spot light on him he knew that there were people that were going to listen to what he had to say. Even though he did try and scare some people the information that he used at times was fallacious. Through these tactics as Mary mentioned he ruined the lives of many. Simply because of his own personal beliefs he forced others to share the same ideals through fear and misinformation.

After World War II, many Americans were in extreme fear as to what would become of them. The main fear was that the Communists would attempt to take over the world and to destroy precious American liberties. John McCarthy, a republican senator from Wisconsin, became the head of a committee known as the United States Senate Homeland Security Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, or PSI (“Joseph R. McCarty”). This committee became infamous for its unconstitutional investigation and hearings. The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller in response to what are now known as the McCarthy hearings, proves to be an allegory for McCarthyism in that the play contains a similar basis for the ordeal, a similar set of trials, and some similar effects.

Injustice takes place everyday in the world. It becomes apparent when landmark cases arise. Whether it is admitted or not, someone will recognize the injustice but not say a word. The legal system has proven itself unjust through infamous trials in different eras.

Schrecker, E. (2003). McCarthyism. In S. I. Kutler (Ed.), Dictionary of American History (3rd ed., Vol. 5, pp. 181-183). New York: Charles Scribner 's Sons. Joseph McCarthy was a Wisconsin senator who was an anticommunist political repression. McCarthyism was what adherents agreed it was an essential to eliminate the danger of American. McCarthyism. McCarthyism was used to eliminate the danger of American communism because people believed Soviet puppets might subvert the government, steal official secrets, and sabotage the army. By late 1950 's, many men and women had lost their jobs, have been deported, or placed in jail. McCarthyism was powerful because different agencies and individuals took a part of the process.

In 1946 Joseph McCarthy a Wisconsin Republican won an election to the Senate after an extensive anti-communist campaign that preyed on the fears of a nation. After the Republicans victories President Truman a Democrat launched his own anti-communist campaign with an extensive loyalty program for federal employees. Even after the conviction of communist spy Alger Hess a state department employee McCarthy was not satisfied what followed was a witch hunt that mirrored the Salem Witch trials. In his letter to President Truman, McCarthy uses extremely bold but logical language and statements to our president in order to receive information and clout to continue his witch hunt and rise