The Controversy Of The Rosenberg Trial During The Mccarthy Era

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.

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. Over the next five years the relationship between the two countries’ changed

In 1892, a young woman named Lizzie Borden was accused of murdering her father and stepmother (“Lizzie Borden on Trial” 2). This accusation was influenced by the lack of evidence at the scene of the crime. There appeared to be no murder weapon, very few witnesses, and the house did not show any signs of an intruder (“Lizzie Borden on Trial” 5). Once the scene was investigated, it was determined that the cause of death for both victims was multiple blows to the head by an axe. Two axes were found in the home, and neither had a speck of blood (“Lizzie Borden on Trial” 14). As it were, there was not enough evidence to convict a killer, nor was there enough evidence to convict Lizzie Borden. She was declared not guilty (“Lizzie Borden on Trial”

The Rosenberg trial that ended in double execution on the electric chair in 1953 is one of the most controversial trials of all time. Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were husband and wife living in New York City working for the U.S. Signal Corporation. During this time they were both accused and later found guilty of illegally providing information about the U.S atomic bomb research to the Soviet Union. Ethel never had actual evidence gathered against her but only called in for questioning about her husband’s involvement. However, Julius Rosenberg was guilty of spying for the Soviet Union because of the way Julius chose to live his life, the evidence that was gathered against him, and the affect his death had on the

In the 1940 's and 1950 's, an anti-Communist movement swept the United States of America. Fueled by the anti-Communist actions of Congress, particularly a Senator from Wisconsin by the name of Joseph McCarthy, the movement escalated and many people lost their jobs as a result of various blacklists. Congressional hearings, both in front of HUAC and McCarthy Senate committee were a study in organized persecution. The actions taken during the "Red Scare" were eventually given the general name McCarthyism. McCarthyism is the practice of making accusations of subversion or treason without proper regard for evidence.

Do you have any younger siblings who can blame anyone if they do something wrong and the person they accused will get in trouble? That's how the Salem Witch Trials and McCarthyism were. Neighbors and friends would be able to blame someone for something with false accusations. For instance, in the Salem Witch Trials it would be witchcraft and for McCarthyism it would be for being communist. McCarthyism and the Salem Witch Trials are related because they both were caused by fear and mass hysteria.

The purpose of this investigation is to answer the following question, “What impact did McCarthyism have on American society during the early 1950’s?” The main body of evidence will investigate on what events lead up the practice of McCarthyism, and why it holds negative connotations of government accusations on the society. Evidence will include eyewitness accounts of this practice such as journal articles and speeches from the time. Documents will be analyzed in regards to their origin, purpose, value, and limitations in order to properly evaluate the evidence. Documents include a list containing the false accusations Senator Joseph McCarthy made under his own reasoning as well as President Harry S. Truman’s response according to this practice.

History always has a mysterious method of repeating itself, and this concept is visible in the drama The Crucible and the McCarthy Trials of the 1950s. The Crucible, written in 1952 by famous playwright Arthur Miller, tells the story of an account of the infamous Salem Witch Trials in 1692, and how the spread of fear and endless scapegoats caused numerous civilians to be hanged. In correlation, the McCarthy Trials, whose purpose was to find communists, ended up incriminating innocent people, similar to the witch trials. In Arthur Miller’s allegorical play The Crucible and in the anti-communist McCarthy Trials, victims were accused and punished without proper evidence.

Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, is an allegory for the McCarthy era in the 1950s. The McCarthy era is described as a period of fear about the potential rise of Communism, creating hysteria among the American society. Senator Joseph McCarthy holds the responsibility for stirring up the paranoia towards Communist activity in the United States, specifically making accusations for present communists within the United States government. The accused individuals were then followed up with unfair investigations that McCarthy directed. Within the investigations, people were to admit being a communist and be blacklisted, or not confess and be prosecuted. However, there truly was no explicit evidence as to why one is a communist, but for those under

Senator Joseph McCarthy was a far right politcian that thought any american, rich, poor, democrat, rebublican, conservative, liberal and hollywood elites that didn’t agree with his views were communists.

When the “witch-hunts “began in 1692 the people of Salem went in a severe panic mode, people began to accuse others of witchcraft without evidence. Similarly, the 1950’s McCarthyism “ witch-hunts” had everyone looking over his or her shoulder in fear of being named a communist. In both 1692 and the 1950”s being claimed as witch or communist wasn’t something that would disappear in a few days. Arthur miller wrote “The Crucible” to reveal how the Salem witch trials of 1692, replicates the fear of uncertainty presented in the rise of McCarthyism in 1950’s. Miller’s “The Crucible” and “Why I Wrote the Crucible”,

Two years after the Soviet Union tested their atomic bomb, its government accused a couple who were supposedly giving information to the Soviet Union. The couple, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, retrieved information on atomic bombs from Ethel Rosenberg's brother, David Greenglass. David Greenglass who worked on the development of the atomic bomb during World War II. When Julius and Ethel went on trial in 1951, a great number of Americans believed that America was filled with traitors and spies. It states that, "The U.S. government accused Greenglass of passing secret information about the atomic bomb to Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, who then passed it to Moscow." The couple later was sentenced to death because they were convicted of spying on the

gender-skew towards women that we see 1692 . Because women were assigned to certain roles, those who attempted to break the mold the Puritans had shaped was at a greater risk of being accused of witchcraft. Although there may have been other factors involved, the power play between the female accused and accusers in a culture that otherwise aimed to restrict women’s dominance led to the potential of increased power for both parties. The afflicted girls transformed from passive adolescents to a massive authority wielding party.

September 2nd 1945, quite after WWII the two most powerful nations in the world broke into a war of pride and power, which is known as the ‘Cold war’. They battled relentlessly for a reputation that would be honored for a long time. It was a long period of tension between the USA, and the Soviet Union. These two nations worked to be the greatest in the world through politics, weapons, and science. These two countries became known as ‘Powerful’ nations. Although, they never properly declared war; they battled indirectly in the Arm race, Space race, and Proxy wars.

The Nuremberg Trials were a series of trials that took place in 1945 and 1946. They concluded judges from the Allied Powers, Great Britain, France, the Soviet Union, and the United States. The trials involved twenty-two major Nazi criminals. The trials continued in Germany and many other countries. The first session took place on October 18,1945 in Berlin, Germany and later got moved to Nuremberg. There were of course arguments between the judges about the decisions.