In 1692, a group of girls living in Salem, Massachusetts fell ill. Suffering from seizures and hallucinations, in extremely religious Puritan New England, the only cause seemed to be the work of the devil or his minions. The disease ignited a fear of witchcraft, and it was only a matter of time before not only the girls, but many other Salem residents, began accusing the other villagers of conspiring with the devil and casting dark magic. In August 1962, nineteen people were executed by the religiously influenced Massachusetts government and justice system. This series of events later became known as The Salem Witch Trials. In the early 1950s Arthur Miller, who became a national sensation with Death of a Salesman, composed The Crucible, which was directly inspired by the witch hunts of 1692. Parallel to this came the rise of Senator McCarthy whose venomous views and Anti-Communist accusations pushed the United States into a theatrical and sensitive anti-Red state during the turbulent early years of the Cold War. At the time of The Crucible's first performance in 1953, many viewed it as a direct attack on McCarthyism, the policy of sniffing out communists in a similar way to the way the "witches" of 1692 were discovered. Favorite targets on McCarthy's radar they were writers and entertainers. Through highly controversial and evidence-free investigations intended to root out communist sympathizers in the United States, suspected parties were told that if they wanted to escape punishment, they would have to confess and identify other communist sympathizers. This structure has led to a wave of accusations, increased hysteria, and the blacklisting of three hundred and twenty promising careers. There are many sit... middle of paper... and told, no actual witches or devil worshipers in Salem, and there were definitely some communist spies, including Julius Rosenberg and Alger Hiss. These idolized victims of McCarthyism at the time proved less innocent than those of the Salem witch trials, such as Rebecca Nurse or John Proctor. Miller was not interested in one man's consensus and his calculated and dramatic attacks on an idea, but rather in the American people themselves. They began to revel in fear, which was used to rule their minds, causing them to abandon the virtues of loyalty and honesty. This key theme doesn't just apply to the narrow scope of McCarthyism, and it's what makes The Crucible a great example of a well-written American drama. Works Cited:1. Bowers, Kristen. The Crucible by Arthur Miller: A Guide to Literature. San Dimas, CA: Secondary Solutions, 2006. Print.