Constitution afforded them the right to belong to any political organization. They cited the actions of the committee as a violation of their civil liberties, as the First Amendment to the U.S. In 1950, ten individuals, known as the Hollywood Ten, defied HUAC and refused to cooperate with the investigation. During this time, there were few in the press willing to stand up against Senator Joseph McCarthy and the anti-Communist hunt he led.

In the 1950s, anyone suspected of communist sympathies was thoroughly investigated with no mind paid for the personal damage such an investigation may have caused. The Creative Environment During the Cold War The term McCarthyism came out of this period and is now used more broadly to describe unfounded accusations of one group or political party against its opponent, particularly in discussions of patriotism and integrity. Among those blacklisted were composer Aaron Copland, writers Dashiell Hammett, Lillian Hellman, and Dorothy Parker, playwright Arthur Miller, and actor and filmmaker Orson Welles. They banned the work of 325 screenwriters, actors, and directors*. Indeed, in October 1947, members of a congressional committee, the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), began investigating members of the movie industry who they suspected were communist sympathizers.

government was, in some cases, just as fearful as it was about foreign threats-especially when it came to the Hollywood crowd. When it came to its own citizens, the U.S. In 1934, he enrolled in the University of Michigan and spent much of the next four years learning to write and working on a number of well-received plays.īy Claudia Adrien, MaThe Cold War was an era clouded by persistent paranoia, not only between the United States and the Soviet Union. After graduating from high school, Miller worked a number of jobs and saved up the money for college. Witnessing the societal decay of the Depression and his father’s desperation due to business failures had an enormous effect on Miller. By 1928, the family had moved to Brooklyn, after their garment manufacturing business began to fail. His probing dramas proved to be both the conscience and redemption of the times, allowing people an honest view of the direction the country had taken.Īrthur Miller was born in Manhattan in 1915 to Jewish immigrant parents. Profoundly influenced by the Depression and the war that immediately followed it, Miller tapped into a sense of dissatisfaction and unrest within the greater American psyche. In the period immediately following the end of World War II, American theater was transformed by the work of playwright Arthur Miller.

Arthur miller on death of a salesman