... the United States history. In the article, "Why I Wrote The Crucible,- originally published in The New Yorker, Miller explained how he came to write the drama: "The Crucible- was an act of desperation. Much of my desperation branched out. I suppose, from a typical Depression "era trauma "the blow ... American psyche I had read about the witchcraft trials in College, but it was not until I read a book published in 1867 "a two volume, thousand page study by Charles W. Upham, who was then the mayor of Salem "that I knew I Had to write about the period . I visited Salem for the First ... an...

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• Grade Level: High School