Arthur Miller
- Born in Harlem, New York City October 17, 1915
-His father, Isidore Miller, was an illiterate Jewish immigrant from Poland
-Best known for the play Death of a Salesman (1949)
-Once married to Marilyn Monroe from 1956-1961
-One of the best-known American playwrights after WW II
-After graduating from a high school in 1932, Miller worked in automobile parts warehouse to earn money for college
-After reading Dostoevsky's novel The Brothers Karamazov Miller decided to become a writer
Other works (especially Death of a Salesman)
- Brought Miller international fame
- One of the major achievements of modern American theatre
-1949 Miller was named an "Outstanding Father of the Year"
-The FBI read his play The Hook, about a militant union organizer, and he was denied a passport to attend the Brussels premiere of his play The Crucible (1953)
-A View from the Bridge were successfully produced in 1955
- Kazan's film On the Waterfront(1954)
His beliefs/political outlook including communist connections
-1965 he was elected president of P.E.N., the international literary organization
-1968 Democratic Party Convention he was a delegate for Eugene McCarthy
Arraignment by the House Un-American Activities
-The Crucible is often seen as a denunciation of McCarthyism
-1952 testified and identified members or former members of the Communist Party
- Under some suspicion of being a Communist or sympathizer himself
- Convicted of contempt of Congress
New England in the 1690's
What type of people settled Massachusetts?
-Puritans settled in Massachusetts to escape religious persecution in England.
-Including Plymouth (1620), Massachusetts (1628), New Hampshire (1629), Connecticut (1633), Maine (1635), Rhode Island (1636), and New Haven (1638)
How did they survive?
-The Puritans believed that they should live by Gods Word or they would be punished. They worked throughout the day and always studied the bible during their free time.
-They believed they were the Chosen People of God destined to found a New Jerusalem
What were their main fears and anxieties?
- People of New England mainly feared the devil and witchcraft-They believed that if you were a witch that you sold yourself to the devil.-That the devil fought his war with heaven by using humans -Feared the devil and his demons, including a small, hairy creature called an imp. An imp was a witches familiar who would suckle from their bodies. It would aid in the devil's work by hurting and tormenting innocent people
-Feared religious uprisings from the Baptists and Quakers, attacks from nearby Native American villages and the divine wrath of God for misbehavior
What can you find out about their social structures/hierarchies?
-Establishing a government was the first issue that the Puritans faced after they reached religious freedom.
-male adults led the town through meetings and authority.
-militia and elected leaders defended the colony, all of which were men.
-men gained their rankings through positions in church
-religion was the center of life during this period, and the Congregational Church was the center of every Massachusetts town
-Mandatory primary education was in effect, and Harvard College, founded in 1636 by the Puritans, was available for enrollment
-Massachusetts minted its own currency, constructed a British military port in Boston, and collected local and colony taxes
McCarthyism and the crack-down on communists in the 1950's
What was the Cold War?
-The cold war was a war between the United States and NATO against the Soviet Union and Allies. It was consider the cold war because there was no large fighting against the two sides. It was just a high level of tension between the them.
What was McCarthyism? Who was Joe McCarthy? What were his aims? methods? Who were his victims?
-McCarthyism is an act that people participated in during the late 1950's that represented the anti-communist movement. Joe McCarthy was a US Senator from Wisconsin, he was the first to speak openly and accuse many US politicians and others inside and out of the government. His goal was the eliminate all forms of communist in the nation he lived in. McCarthy's methods of elimination were attacking people who shared their beliefs and spreading fear throughout the people of the nation. He did not only put down the people who came forth about being communist, he also tortured and persecuted those who appeared to be but did not admit it.
What lead to his eventual downfall?
-McCarthy's downfall was forced upon him by himself. He was televising his trials on the people who were thought to be communist. The people and professionals who witnessed these trials saw them as unfair and McCarthy doing nothing but bullying the people on the stands.
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