1630 - 1700Puritanism

“A City Upon a Hill”

The Puritans sailed to the New World in 1620 in hopes of establishing a model city patterned after God’s word.

View of ManMan = evil

(original sin)Man < Society.

View of SocietyValued hard work ,

community work

Based on a theocracy (government guided by God)

Model “city upon a hill”

View of Nature

Nature was a threat to man - the forest is the devil’s place of refuge

Divine intervention - God’s anger reflected through nature

View of God

A wrathful, Old Testament punisher of wrong

A “fire and brimstone” picture of hell

Key Words

The Elect: selected by divine will for salvation

believed that the fate of individual souls was predetermined by God

there were signs that indicated that one had received God's grace, most notably a personal experience of conversion.

Key Word

Utilitarian Plain, practical, and useful

homes, dress, and literature. No drinking! No singing! No dancing! No improper

fornication!!!!!!!!!

Puritans

Focus: GodForm of Government: Theocracy—Divinely

appointed governmentThe American: a hard worker, faithful,

spiritual and family-orientedThe American’s values: based on his

relationship to God and his family.Truth: Acquired through emotional

experiencesLiterature: religious, personal texts, poetry

based on God and family

Introduction to The Crucible

The Crucible

Witches, Communists, Playwrights, oh my!

Let’s take a look at the history behind our next reading, but first…let’s ANTICIPATE!

1. You can always rely on religious leaders to do what is right. 2. If you commit a sin, you are a bad person. 3.   Even if it meant I might die, I would never tell a lie about a friend.

4. People are often motivated by greed and jealousy.  5. If a woman is not a good wife, her husband has every right to cheat on her. 6. If a man cheats on his wife, he should never be forgiven. 8. If you try hard enough, you can be perfect. 9. A life lived as a hypocrite is not worth living. 10. I would rather die than confess to a heinous crime I did not commit.   

Anticipation Guide

The Crucible

A play written by Arthur Miller, based on the 1692 Salem Witch Trials, the play was political outcry against the blacklisting of Miller’s left wing friends and reflected the era of McCarthyism/fear of Communism.

Arthur Miller WROTE the play in 1953 but the EVENTS of the play (which are based on actual historic events) occur in 1692.

It’s an Allegory!

A symbolic work: a work in which the characters and events are to be understood as representing other things and symbolically expressing a deeper, often spiritual, moral, or political meaning. Example- Lord of the Flies (an allegory for WWII)

Let’s Begin with Communism…Let’s Begin with Communism…an economic and social

system envisioned by the nineteenth-century German scholar Karl Marx

In theory: collective ownership of property and organization of labor for the common advantage of all members.

In practice: system of government in which the state plans and controls the economy and a single, often authoritarian party holds power, claiming to make progress toward a higher social order

Why Should I Care?

Until the Cold War, Communists never made much of an impact on American life.

Their dream of leading a proletarian revolution in the United States seemed so far-fetched that it bordered on the unthinkable.

Most Americans despised the Communists, but weren't particularly preoccupied with them. (Sound Familiar?)

http://www.shmoop.com/mccarthyism-red-scare/

Then…Then, a few years after World War II, the

United States found itself locked in potentially mortal confrontation with the Soviet Union.

Suddenly American Communists, that tiny fringe of wannabe revolutionaries, came to represent a major problem in American society.

There still weren't many of them. They still had little power or influence. But….BUT….

I’m Scared!!

But… what if they were agents of the Soviets, boring from within our open society to destroy us?

What if they were spies? What if they were secretly seeking positions

of influence within our society, subverting the work of our government, mis-educating in our schools, propagandizing in our movies?

Can you spot a Commie?

McCarthyismMcCarthyismthe intense anti-communist suspicion in the U.S. between the late 1940s through 1950slead to the establishment of the House Un-American

Activities Committee (HUAC)

named after Senator Joseph McCarthy, who was the most public face in the “hunt” for communists in the U.S

consequences = loss of employment, destruction of career, and sometimes, imprisonment

primary targets of investigation = those in positions of power and persuasion…government employees, educators, union activists, and HOLLYWOOD

The Hollywood 10

In Sept.1947, the HUAC interviewed 41 people who were working in Hollywood. These people attended voluntarily and became known as "friendly witnesses". During their interviews they named several people who they accused of holding left-wing views.

McCarthy made it clear to the witnesses that the only way of showing that they had abandoned their left-wing views was by naming other members of the party.

One of those named, an emigrant playwright, “named names” and then left for East Germany; 10 others refused to answer any questions, citing their 5th Amendment rights. All were imprisoned.

“The Hollywood 10” Effect

Others, seeing the treatment of the Hollywood 10, came forward to testify against others in hopes of saving their own careers and reputations

Those named who refused to testify were jailed or blacklisted

One man who came forward, Elia Kazan, was a friend and co-worker of Arthur Miller; the two broke ties when Miller refused to testify and was himself blacklisted

Lee J. Cobb was one of those who was originally blacklisted but eventually agreed to do a deal with the HUAC:

“When the facilities of the government of the United States are drawn on an individual it can be terrifying.”

Dalton Trumbo, one of the Hollywood 10, in a 1970 speech:

…we’re all victims because almost without exception each of us felt compelled to say things he did not want to say, to do things that he did not want to do, to deliver and

receive wounds he truly did not want to exchange. That is why none of us - right, left, or center - emerged from that long nightmare without sin.”

The Crucible & McCarthyism

Because it was considered “Un-American” to publicly protest the actions of the HUAC, Miller voiced his opinions on the “witch hunt” tactics by penning the play the Crucible

Based on the 1692 Salem witch trials, the play was political outcry against the blacklisting of his left-wing friends and reflected the era of McCarthyism

Historic parallels between accusations

FEAR

Fear…

Turns a “nuisance” into an “obsession” Fear created McCarthyism, an intense effort

to root out Communists from every corner of American society by any means necessary—even if those means violated traditional American values: Due process. Civil liberties. Constitutional rights.

But…

But the culture of fear also WORKED The Communist Party USA disintegrated. Soviet spies were brought to justice. Leftists were even purged from Hollywood.

WAS IT WORTH IT?

“Are you nowor were

youever

a

Communist?”

On its most universal level “The Crucible” is about:

-- community hysteria-- fear of the unknown-- the psychology of betrayal-- the mindset that insists on absolute truth and resorts to fear and violence to assert it

-- the cruelty of oppression Perhaps most importantly, “The Crucible” is about the fortitude it takes to protect the innocent and resist unjust authority.

The old nativist impulseXenophobia

StereotypingScapegoating

American history includes not only Salem and McCarthyism but the Alien and Sedition Acts, No Irish Need Apply, Jim Crow Laws and many more.

FEAR of Immigrants

FEAR of AIDS

FEAR of Global Warming

Consider America since September 11, 2001…Are we the same country? The same people?

ORANGEALERT

Homeland Security

Arab terroristsAl Qaeda

The Shoe Bomber

Airport Security

GUANTANAMO

Jihadists

Domestic Spying

Warrantless Wiretapping

TORTURE

ANTHRAX

Unprotected Ports

Lessons to learn from “The Crucible”:

Be aware.Be wise.Stay informed.Ask Questions.

• Are fears being exploited for political purposes?

• Who stands to gain from this ____?

Do not succumb to man’s universal fear-- that which we can not understand or control.

HOMEWORKHOMEWORK

Find an article or a website with information about a modern day “witch hunt.”

a simple Google search should provide many options

Write or type the following:1. Name of the article or webpage2. Author or website creator3. Date of publication (if stated)4. The URL address where you found the article or

webpage5. A summary of the information presented

(1/2 page minimum)

POP QUIZ!!!

1. What was more important to the Puritans – man or society? WHY???

2. What is McCarthyism, in your own words?

3. What is Communism, and how did many people in the United Sates feel about it?

4. What is the connection between the events in Salem and the era of McCarthyism?

5. List at least 2 of the lessons that Miller is trying to teach readers of The Crucible.