The Red Scare Senator McCarthy and HUAC & Arthur Miller and “The Crucible”

The Communist Party in America The Communist Party in America was established in It was closely tied to the Labor Movement in the 1920s-40s, and promoted unions and racial equality. In 1919, it claimed 50,000 members. During the Great Depression in the 1930s, many Americans felt that Communism was a viable solution to the joblessness and economic troubles that plagued the nation and the world. It was not uncommon for Americans with liberal political opinions to attend meetings of the Communist Party. Twenty years later, this would mean the downfall of many of those citizens.

After the end of WWII, mistrust of the Soviet Union and Communism was rampant.

1947 – The House on Un-American Activities Committee (HAUC) blacklisted 10 Hollywood artists for allegedly spreading Communist propaganda.

Three hundred actors, directors, screenwriters, and radio personalities were boycotted by movie studios, often for refusing to “name names,” or accuse their peers. Charlie Chaplin and others left the country to continue working. Only 10 percent of the accused were able to successfully rebuild their careers.

Joseph McCarthy Capitalizing on Red Scare hysteria, a young Senator named Joseph McCarthy made a public accusation that more than two hundred “card- carrying” communists had infiltrated the United States government.

Eventually his accusations were proven to be untrue, and he was censured by the Senate for unbecoming conduct. His zealous campaigning ushered in one of the most repressive times in 20th- century American politics. Though relatively short, these proceedings remain one of the most shameful moments in modern U.S. history.

1953 – Arthur Miller wrote “The Crucible” during the McCarthy period when Americans were accusing each other of Pro- Communist beliefs. Many of Miller’s friends were being attacked as communists. He compared the hysteria of the McCarthy era to the witch-hunts of Salem. Arthur Miller

1956 – The year he married Marilyn Monroe, Arthur Miller applied for a passport renewal and was subpoenaed by HUAC. He asked the committee not to ask him to name names. The chairman initially agreed, then asked anyway. When Miller refused to answer, he was convicted of contempt of Congress. Miller was fined $500, sentenced to thirty days in prison, blacklisted, and disallowed a U.S. passport. In 1958 his conviction was overturned by the court of appeals, which ruled that Miller had been misled by the chairman of the HUAC.