McCarthyism Recap Arthur Miller Puritans The Crucible

1. McCarthyism RecapArthur MillerPuritans The Crucible

2. Who was Joe McCarthy? • Joseph McCarthy was elected Senator for Wisconsin and rose to public attention when in a 1950 speech he claimed to have in his hand the names of 205 members of the communist party. • It was found that McCarthy actually had a bunch of ‘random’ papers in his hands. Nothing about communism. • He changed his facts in subsequent speeches, and people still followed him.

3. After the speech… U.S. and Russia were struggling to be the main superpower in the world. Because Russia was a communist country, there was a lot of fear of communism and communist spies in the United States. Most people in America didn’t truly understand the principles of communism. In 1947, the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) interviewed 41 people who were working in Hollywood. These people named 19 people who they accused of holding left-wing communist views.

4. Ten of these people appeared before the committee and became known as the Hollywood Ten. • They refused to answer any questions and were held in contempt of court. They were sentenced to 6-12 months in jail. • The committee was quiet until 1951 when they compiled a list of 324 present and former Hollywood workers who supposedly were or had been communists.

5. The accused included Leonard Bernstein, Charlie Chaplin, Burl Ives, Orson Wells, and Arthur Miller among others. • The accused had two choices: • Confess to being a communist and give the committee the names of other communists. • Deny being a communist, be held in contempt of court (jail time or fine), and get blacklisted in Hollywood (no longer allowed to work). • Arthur Miller refused to confess and was blacklisted.

6. The Crucible A play by Arthur Miller

7. The Red Hunt experience motivated Arthur Miller to write The Crucible. • The Crucible is an allegory for the Red Hunt. • Allegory = a story in which characters, actions, themes, plots, and/or settings represent other characters, actions, themes, plots, and/or settings. • Miller spent several years researching the Salem Witch Trials before writing the play.

8. Although based on the actual events, elements of the play are different for many reasons: • Many more people were involved in the actual case. • Names were changed to avoid confusion. • There were many more judges in the actual trial… too confusing for the stage. • The play changed the ages of many characters for reasons of acceptance. • Dates of execution were changed to increase the drama. • Events were altered to add to the dramatic effect.

9. Puritanism History and Beliefs

10. History • Only about 27 of the 100 people aboard the Mayflower were Puritans. • Puritans thought of themselves as soldiers in a war against Satan – the arch enemy who planned to ruin the kingdom of God on Earth. • They saw no hope of reforming a national church so they formed their own church.

11. History (cont.) • 1608 – The Puritans left England and moved to Holland because King James (King of England) was an enemy of Puritanism and they faced persecution. • They began to fear that they would eventually lose their identity as a religious community living in a foreign land, so they applied for a charter to settle in the Virginia plantation – a large area of land that included what is now New England.

12. History (cont.) • They sailed from Southampton, England in September 1620. 66 days later, taken by strong winds much farther north than they had anticipated, they landed at Cape Cod and established their first colony at Plymouth. • Puritanism lasted only about a century in America. It was revived briefly in the 1740s, but had mostly disappeared by the time of the American Revolution.

13. Beliefs • GRACE • An experience God granted some people which allowed them to love truly. • Spent a lot of their lives looking for signs that they had been granted “grace.” • PLAINNESS • Everything in Puritan life was very simple – their homes, their clothing, and their furniture did not have a lot of decoration. • Their churches were very simple square wooden buildings, painted white, and stripped of ornament such as decorative altars and stained glass windows.

14. Beliefs (cont.) • PREDESTINATION • Believed that God had decided if you were going to heaven or hell before you were born. People would be given ‘signs’ such as wealth to show they were going to heaven and poverty for hell. • DIVINE MISSION • Believed that God led them to the New World to be an example to the rest of the world.

15. Beliefs (cont.) • OTHER • Feared God’s wrath • Feared Hell • Believed the devil was very real and would try to lead them away from God. • Believed we are all inherently evil and sinful because of Adam and Eve (Original Sin).

16. Puritan Living • Wore heavy black clothing because that was the only thing they had. • Would occasionally drink beer and celebrate, but otherwise no dancing, partying, etc. • Arrogant about their lifestyle and religion- proven through the treatment of Native Americans.

17. THE SALEM WITCH TRIALS 1692

18. Salem Village, Massachusetts • A group of young girls began to display bizarre behavior (convulsive seizures, blasphemous screaming, and trance-like states). • Doctors could not find a medical cause for it. • People in the community decided it had to be the work of Satan. • In February, the village began praying and fasting in order to rid itself of the devil’s influence.

19. The girls who were affected were pressured to reveal who in the community controlled their behavior. • Three women were identified and examined. • One woman, Tituba (a slave), confessed to seeing the devil and said that a conspiracy of witches lived in Salem. • In March, the afflicted girls accused Martha Corey. The three women accused before this were not highly regarded in the community, but Martha Corey was different. She was an upstanding member of the community.

20. She was found guilty which made the people of Salem believe that Satan’s influence reached to the very core of the community. • During the period from March into the fall, many were charged, examined, tried, and condemned to death. • The hangings started in June with the death of Bridget Bishop and continued through September. • In October, the colonial governor dissolved the local court of inquiry. The convictions and condemnations for witchery stopped.

21. BY THE END, 19 VICTIMS OF THE WITCH HUNT HAD BEEN HANGED, ONE CRUSHED TO DEATH UNDER THE WEIGHT OF STONES, AND AT LEAST 4 DIED IN PRISON AWAITING TRIAL.

22. The Trials • There was no physical evidence to prove whether or not someone was a witch. • The courts believed the afflicted girls over the accused people. The girls were very convincing and the courts believed that witches would obviously deny witchcraft.

23. If you were accused, you had two options: • Confess to being a witch, give the courts the names of other witches and be labeled as a witch for the rest of your life. • Deny being a witch and die by hanging.

24. Problems with confession • According to Puritan beliefs: • Lying = Going to Hell • Also, if you confessed, you had to name other witches which meant you would be sending other people in your community to die. • This was a small village and people did not want to accuse their friends and neighbors. • People had a lot of self-respect and pride. • Witches could not own land, so you would loose it. • Your families name would be destroyed.

25. Problems with denial • If you denied being a witch, you kept your pride and dignity, but you died. • You abandoned your friends and family. • The good thing was that you had a chance at going to heaven.

26. The Salem Witches&Their Witchcraft

27. When accused of witchcraft, the suspect was searched for … • Witches’ Teats- a ‘witch’ would have extra nipples for Satan to ‘suck’ from. Any questionable brownish mark • Devil’s Marks- spots were Satan brands his followers with a blue or red ‘bite’. • To check for these marks a silver needle was inserted into the spot. If it did not bleed you were a witch… duh!

28. If it was difficult to determine whether someone was a witch they would … • Perform a swimming test. • Sprinkle the suspect with holy water. • Tie his left thumb to his right big toe and tie his right thumb to his left big toe. • Fasten a rope around the suspects waist. • Dump them into a body of water. • If they floated they were a witch; if they drown they were human

29. Various torture techniques were used to get the suspects to admit: • The Rack: a bed of nails or stretching device. • Thumbscrews: placing the suspects thumbs under great pressure. • Water: water was funneled into a suspects swelling body.

30. Serious tortures that were inflected on those who confessed or did not confess: • Strappado- being suspended from the ceiling by arms and then having weight added to the legs. • Red-hot pincers- to tear flesh • Severing limbs • Iron Chair- a fire was created under the victim’s iron chair. • Tongue- a victim’s tongue was torn out.

31. WICCA The real witches

32. THERE ARE NOT WITCHES SUCH AS THOSE BELIEVED TO BE IN SALEM. • THERE NEVER WERE. • THERE WERE NO WITCHES IN SALEM.

33. Wicca is a religion in which the members sometimes call themselves witches, but they are much different than the witches we think of at Halloween. • Wicca is an earth-based nature centered religion. • It is centered around the use of positive thought, positive action, and love of nature in order to create an atmosphere of positive energies.

34. According to Wicca, there is a higher power. Some believe in one god or goddess. Some believe in many gods and goddesses. • According to Wicca, the goddess is always attainable because she is everywhere (in the tree, the leaf, the ant, within ourselves, etc.) • The central law of Wicca is “And it harm none, do what ye will.” This means that you can do anything as long as it will not hurt anyone or anything (including yourself). • The second major belief is that “Everything you put out comes back to you three-fold.” This applies to both good and bad things.

35. The ‘Cult Effect’ • Cults are formed and led by individuals or small groups who ‘believe’ in a ‘non-popular’ ideologies. • Cults are bonded through their beliefs and strange attitudes or bizarre behavior. • The Salem Witchcraft Trials produced its own cult in the group of teenage girls who all believed they were being controlled by witches.

36. Persuasion Techniques Used By Cults: • Hyperventilation: continuous over breathing would cause dizziness, light headedness, panic, muscle cramps and convulsions. Cults have members do loud shouting and chanting to produce this state. • Repetitive Motion: constant swaying, clapping, chanting can produce a dizzy or altered state. • Body Manipulations: leaders would force eye reactions and ear buzzing through pressure.

37. Psychological Techniques Used By Cults: • Trance & Hypnosis: used to alter the mind of a subject done through chanting, meditation and phrase repetition. • Guided Imagery: telling a long, detailed story can place people in a trance like state.

38. Persuasion Tactics… • Bandwagon Technique- If one person is doing it, everyone else should. • Propaganda- Materials used to lure or persuade people into doing something or believing something. • Fear- scaring people into doing something. • Authority- using your position to push someone into something.

39. Persuasion Tactics continued… • Testimonial- having an expert or member/ product user speak about the topic. Their ‘good’ experience may help convince others. • Spokesperson- generally a well known person/ celebrity who tells of a products/ groups positive qualities. • Snob Appeal- everyone else is doing it. • Debate- showing the pros/ cons of a situation.

40. The Crucible:What you need to know so you are not confused while reading it…

41. A couple of things… • The word Goody replace Ms.. • The events and people, for the most part, are actual history. Our country really did do this. • Salem is not the only example of the trials. They were occurring in many towns and cities throughout the world. • When referring to the action of having a rope tied around your neck for death… it is always hanged and never hung.