The Crucible

A Brief Introduction to the Puritans

The CrucibleThe Crucibleby Arthur Millerby Arthur Miller

Topic:

The Salem Witch Trials of 1692

Time:

Published in 1953

The Puritans

Question 1: What doesthe word Puritan remind

you of?

• The Puritans began as a faction of the English Church.

• Groups of Puritans came to New England in the 1620-30s.

• Hoped to cleanse their culture and religion of impurity and corruption.

• Believed that government should strictly enforce public morality by prohibiting vices like drunkenness, gambling, ostentatious dress, swearing, and Sabbath-breaking.

PredestinationPuritans believed that:• All people are innately sinful (because of Adam and

Eve).• God would spare a small number of elect individuals

from the eternal hellfire that all mankind, owing to their corrupt natures, justly deserved.

• The elect group of "saints" would be blessed, at some point in their lives, by a profound sense of inner assurance that they possessed God's "saving grace."

• God decided who would be elect before human history began; in other words, your fate was

PRE-DETERMINED• You could not get “extra-credit” by doing good things

during your life.

Why DID the Puritans believe in predestination?

Change and uncertainty made people seek a certainty and stability in themselves and in their religion that was missing from the outside world!

Question 3: How do you think that Puritans would act due to the fact

that they believed in predestination?

• Strove to lead godly and disciplined lives—but not because they hoped that such righteous behavior would earn them salvation.

• Believed that their very ability to master their evil inclinations provided some evidence that they ranked among the elect of saints.

• In other words, the Puritans did not regard leading a godly, moral life as the CAUSE of a person's salvation, but rather as an encouraging sign of the EFFECT of being chosen by God to enjoy eternal bliss in heaven.

The Red Scare

Propaganda

Ideas or accusations spread to help one’s cause or damage the other side’s cause

Communism 101

• Communism is an economic system.• BUT, historically, Communism has been

linked with dictatorships• After World War II ended, the United

States entered the “Cold War” with the Soviet Union Both sides had nuclear technology, so the threat was HUGE

• The Soviet Union was Communist, SO Americans regarded Communism as something evil

1949-1950

• The Soviet Union tested its first nuclear weapon (1949)

• It also invaded mainland China (1949)

• Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were accused of stealing nuclear bomb secrets from America and selling them to the Soviet Union (1950)

SENATOR JOSEPH MCCARTHY

"I have here in my hand a list of 205 — a list of names that were made known to the Secretary of State as being members of the Communist Party and who nevertheless are still working and shaping policy in the State Department."

What do you think happened after McCarthy revealed that

he had a list of 205 Communists?

The Witch Hunt• House Un-American Activities Committee• 109 investigations (1949-1954)

• Wiretaps, burglaries, and opening mail

Video Clip-McCarthy

"Are you now or have you ever been a member of the

Communist Party of the United States?"

Video Clip—2:36-4:30, 12:35-14:15

Hollywood and Communism

BLACKLISTS

People Affected by McCarthyism

Langston Hughes

W.E.B. DuBois

Charlie Chaplin

Orson Welles

ARTHUR MILLER

Arthur Miller• January 22, 1953 – The Crucible opens on

Broadway• June 29, 1956 – Miller marries Marilyn

Monroe• Just before his wedding, the HUAC calls

Miller to testify• Miller admits to his Communist activities,

but he refuses to name names• Thirty days prison, denied passport• Conviction overturned in 1958

"I could not use the name of another person and bring trouble

on him."

Video Clip