Compare And Contrast Salem Witch Trials And Mccarthyism

A well renowned founder of western philosophy, Socrates stated, “False words are not only evil in themselves, but they infect the soul with evil” (Socrates). This quote relates to the evil that Senator Joseph McCarthy and antagonist of The Crucible Abigail Williams brought to their time. Abigail used her opportunities to strike fear into everyone in her town.This resulted in, the Salem Witch Trials were a series of witchcraft cases brought before local magistrates in a settlement called Salem, which was a part of the Massachusetts Bay colony in the 17th century (History of the...,3). Also, Arthur Miller was one of the Hollywood 10 accused of being a communist and that affected his life which he wrote The Crucible to not only show the Salem Witch Trials but to give insight to the readers about the time during McCarthyism. Secondly, Senator Joseph McCarthy claimed that over 200 communist have infiltrated the U.S government, as a result the 1947 Taft-Hartley act had an anti-Communist clause that required union leaders to take an oath stating that they were not communists (Facts about McCarthyism, 6). McCarthyism and The Crucible were very similar in the way they were governed, their judicial systems and the way they blamed the people.

Even though McCarthyism is not as gruesome as the Witch trials, it did destroy people’s reputations, they were unable to get a job, and as mentioned before, it made it so people that were accused of being communist were not accepted in

The United States of America is filled with many historic events, enriching its history. Many events that occur are compared to past events in our history. In particular, the McCarthy Era in the 1950’s was compared to the Salem Witch Trials which occurred in 1692. This correlation was first made by Arthur Miller who wrote the play “The Crucible”. He connected the time period of McCarthy to where there was a hunt for communists, to the Salem Witch Trials where there was a hunt for witches. Following that, many comparisons and contrasts have been made between the two. The Salem Witch Trials and McCarthy Era are both similar, yet different.

To talk about McCarthyism we must first look at what was going on in the United States at the time. WW II had just ended a few years prior, and the cold war was in full swing. Following WW II, for the US Government to be able to spend so much of the taxpayers money on the cold war, the Government had to get the US citizens behind them. To do this the US government started a propaganda campaign to scare the public into thinking the communists were bad and very dangerous people. That the communist people, their way of thinking, and their type of government had to be contained. There were several things that happened to help in-force what the government was saying. First Czechoslovakia and China fell to communism.

The McCarthy hearings were trials in which Senator Joe McCarthy accused government personnel of being Communists. He exaggerated and exploited the proof and ruined many reputations. Blacklists were created and plenty of employers refused to rent the suspected or accused. (If they did then they might be accused.) Due to the exaggerated proof and the seriousness of the costs, the hearings struck fear in lots of human beings. Despite the fact that on

will show the similarities between the 1950s McCarthy hearings and the Salem Witch Trials in the

Many similarities can be found between the McCarthy period and the events of The Crucible. In the 1950’s, communists in America were sought after and punished for their beliefs. In The Crucible, women accused of witchcraft were sought after and, as a more severe punishment, killed for their actions. Senator Joseph McCarthy can be compared to Abigail from The Crucible because they both put forth many false accusations. McCarthy falsely accused over 200 government officials of being communists (McCarthyism). Likewise, Abigail accused many townspeople of being witches. In The Crucible, the government of Salem hung people simply for not admitting to being a witch even if it was a false statement. If someone was accused of being a witch however, they could lie and say that someone else was forcing their spirit on them and then the second person would be to blame. So, when Abigail was being accused of witchcraft instead of defending her innocence she blames other women for being with the devil so they would be punished instead of her. While being accused Abigail calls out the names of girls she does not like and says, “I saw Sarah Good with the Devil! I saw Goody Osburn with the devil! I saw Bridget Bishop with the Devil!” (Miller). The three women Abigail named were innocent and had to go through investigations after

     The ruination and deaths of various people of the McCarthy trials and the Salem witchhunt are appalling. Multitudinous amounts of people are affected by these trials. Over 2,000 people are accused and fired by their government positions by the end of the McCarthy trials. During the Salem witchhunt, at least twenty people are hung and 150 others are jailed. The lives of these people, being changed after the trials had to rebuild a new life for themselves. People's careers are destroyed and property is taken away, as a result. The ruination and deaths of various people are a result of Joseph McCarthy's and the girls' unfounded accusations.

In January 1692, Parris’ daughter Betty and his niece Abigail suddenly erupted into hysterics of screaming and alleging “bewitchment” (Mark Perry). There is much debate over why they began to do this; however, one of the most popular opinions is by Stacy Schiff in her book The Witches, Salem, 1692. In the book Schiff stated that Betty and Abigail were showing signs of conversion disorder and she theorizes that others acted the same way for the benefits of “bewitchment,” such as getting out of chores (Stacy Schiff). The McCarthyism Era was a result of the fear of Communism that followed World War II. Of course, there are other contributions, like the Berlin Blockade, the Iron Curtain, and Soviet Union spies that added to this fear (Sam Nekrosius).

The Salem Witch Trials and the McCarthy era were dark times in American history. During the Salem Witch Trials in 1692, a group of young Puritan girls in Salem, Massachusetts claimed to be possessed by the Devil and accused several women of witchcraft. Hundreds of people were accused and about 20 of them were put to death. Fear and hysteria mounted as outlandish claims were made by the young Puritan girls at the trials. The McCarthy era was another time of paranoia and hysteria in the U.S., but during the 1950s. The term McCarthyism comes from Joseph McCarthy who was a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin. He spearheaded a drive to defeat the infiltration of Communism in the U.S. He claimed over 200 Communists had infiltrated the U.S. but offered no evidence to prove it. There are important learnings from the Salem Witch Trials and the McCarthy era that are applicable

In order to be accurate in accusing someone of a crime, you must have the appropriate evidence to back up your story. In The Crucible, many people were accused of practicing witchcraft. The ones who confessed, were sentenced to jail and the ones who denied it, were killed. The only way they had to prove what was being done, was spectral evidence. Therefore, the only person known to tell the truth was the victim. McCarthyism involved communists, like The Crucible, those who were accused were sentenced to jail time. The parallels between The Crucible and McCarthyism are naming names, the lack of evidence, and rebellion against the government in which they served.

The evidence of witchcraft and related works has been around for many centuries. Gradually, though, a mixture a religious, economical, and political reasons instigated different periods of fear and uncertainty among society. Witchcraft was thought of as a connection to the devil that made the victim do evil and strange deeds. (Sutter par. 1) In the sixteenth, seventeenth, and twentieth century, the hysteria over certain causes resulted in prosecution in the Salem Witch Trials, European Witchcraft Craze, and the McCarthy hearings. These three events all used uncertain and unjustly accusations to attack the accused.

Republicans willingly used the fear of the people to take control of congress and the government. Once people were accused of being a communist they would have to testify in front of organizations such as the House of Un-American Activities Committee. This committee would do what ever necessary to prove someone guilty. They would use the smallest evidence against u to prove you guilty. Despite someone being able to claim their Fifth Amendment right to avoid self-incrimination, the accused would lose their jobs. All the people that the were accused of being communist were put on black lists created by the House of Un-American Activities Committee. One of the most popular of these lists was the Hollywood ten lists. It contained a list of some screen writers who went against HUAC in 1947. Important industries in the United States of America contained some of these black lists of people who were believed to be communists or communist sympathizers. Because of that fact anybody on these black lists could not get a real job to support them. The people on these black lists were accused of being communists based on no real solid information that the United States government really had. About 20 percent of the people affected were college faculty or graduate students. (Anne Marie Hacht and Dwayne D. Hayes 3) By the republicans having control of Washington this would ironically be the end of McCarthyism. He was unable to make up tales of communist

McCarthyism is an indirect event that is related to the one in The Crucible. It all started with Joseph Raymond. He “was one of the most controversial figures in American politics” (McCarthyism 331). He started this incident that is very like the Salem witch trials. By allowing the McCarthy Era to occur it shows that we did not learn anything from the Salem experience. Two hundred sixty years between the two episodes and yet it still happened again.

This fear led to the McCarthy Era where something similar to a witch hunt for communists in America takes place. The few Americans that did not completely support the anti-Communist movement in America, were scared into changing their thoughts. The