Comparing the Salem Witch Trials and McCarthyism in America Essay

McCarthyism is used to describe accusations of treason without evidence. Back in the 1950’s, with the spread of communism across China and in Eastern Europe, people were afraid that communism could influence American’s minds. As the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States intensified, people were engulfed in fear and started to suspiscion evevrybody with difference political belief. In The Crucible, Salem established itself as a religious community, in which the government was based on the Puritan religion. Similar to the fear of communism, in the Salem town, the Devil appeared to be what created the panic of the townspeople. Fear is definitely plays an important role in both of these events. Fear oftens caused by physical and emotional danger, anxiety for oneself or another, or feeling of dread.

Imagine you are called in by an official of your government. He sits you down in a chair and informs you that you have been accused of something terrible, something that everyone in your city fears. You defend yourself and tell him that you had nothing to do with this crime. The official says he believes you, but in order to let you leave, you have to give him the name of someone you know who has committed this crime. You know of no one who would commit such a heinous crime, but the official refuses to let you go until you give him a name. One name. Any name.

The beginning of the Salem Witch Trials has begun, people being accused of witchcraft. These trials were held in a way where you are guilty till proven wrong. Witchcraft was a difficult thing to prove wrong since you can’t see it physically. This means that those who were accused, had to confess or be hanged for a crime they did not commit. This was alike the McCarthy trials, for it accused with the ‘guilty till proven’ system.

McCarthyism was about finding out who was involved with communism and Joseph McCarthy was trying to figure out what was happening on the inside of our Government. If someone was accused of doing witchcraft would be hanged or be questioned if anyone else was doing witchcraft. McCarthy had a list of people he was taken to hearings to find out what was happening, he had some people from his list that were spies from the Soviet Union and McCarthy asked very deep questions about what the individual did 10 years ago. McCarthy did not kill anyone or did what the Salem witch trials did they hang people for being blamed for doing witchcraft without hard evidence of that person actually committing the actual crime. When the Salem witch trials were happening there was no way of proving that those who were accused innocent it was hard to get by the people that were in charge of the town. McCarthy did his own thing with picking out big named people that he had thought were involved with having to do something with communism and McCarthy was the judge, jury, and executioner and that is was going to be hard for those who were being convicted of being apart of communism. When the Red Scare was happening the people being accused had a chance to fight what they were being convicted of but in Salem people had a hard time trying to

For many years, there has been tons of comparison between the Salem Witch Trials and McCarthyism. Why you might be asking? Well first if you have read The Crucibles by now, you would know that Abigail accused innocent people of being witches. Similar to how Joseph McCarthy accused many people of communism. Both sides brought a downfall on many people because everyone was afraid that they could get accused next.

During the Salem Witch Trials, the village of Salem used religion as the medium to justify their irrationality and pure skepticism of the "different" practices that seemingly invaded their quaint, conservative society. Consequently, the village claimed that these "different" individuals were deviating from and/or betraying God's teachings, to fuel their contempt and justify their "cleansing", despite there being no true correlation. In contrast, the foundation of the McCarthy Era was based upon political conflict, in which the extremely different ideologies of democracy and communism clashed in a brutal war, both physically and socially. The newly founded communist ideology received much criticism and raw hate as it was attributed to despised enemy nations, such as Russia and China. However, despite the overwhelming abhorrence towards communism, some covert individuals in America were quite intrigued and accepted the ideology. As a result, a "witch hunt" was ensued to expose and maraud these individuals that have accepted this "different" ideology, using political patriotism to power their discriminatory cause. Overall, this social difference between the Salem Witch Trials and the McCarthy Era lends itself to the perspectives and social structure of their respective time

In conclusion, the Salem Witch Trials and McCarthyism both accused numerous people based on ambiguous evidence. In “The Crucible,” the Salem Witch Trials illustrated the gullibility of American society at the time. Similarly, Sarah Good and Miller were accused of crimes they never committed based purely off of spectral evidence. From these accusations, Miller’s passport was confiscated and Sarah Good was executed. Therefore, “The Crucible” served as a mirror reflecting McCarthyism in

During the 1690’s people had to deal with the Salem witch trials and during the 1950’s they had to live in the McCarthy Era. Despite the time difference, both correlate with each other. The Salem witch trials are hearings that were conducted in several towns in Province of Massachusetts with little or no proof. McCarthyism is accusations of treason without proper evidence. In The Crucible, Arthur Miller creates a story about McCarthyism, Puritan lifestyle, and witchcraft that can only exist with the historical time period of 1690’s.

In Arthur Miller book, “The Crucible” the government accused people of McCarthyism and during the red scare people were accused of communism. During the years of 1692-1693 people accused of witchcraft were hung by the jury with no remorse. The comparison between the two is that Arthur Miller wrote a play to compare to the Salem Witch Trials. Within The Red Scare if people were accused of being a communist then they would be blacklisted. When blacklisted you would lose your job and become pretty much an outcast.

The best well-known literary work dealing with McCarthyism is the Arthur Miller drama, The Crucible. In many ways the story of the Salem Witch Trials began in Europe; historian Brian Levack explains that the great European Witch Hunts stretched from the 1450’s to the 1750’s. During the McCarthy Era in America, fear, and anxiety grew over the goals and tactics of international communism. The term McCarthyism has become synonymous with “witch hunts” it describes the techniques used in the early 1950’s by Senator McCarthy, the committee conducted public hearings on supposed infiltration by communists of the United States government especially the State Department, and the entertainment industry. There are many similarities between McCarthyism

Today there are kids and adults that wonder why the events of the Salem witch trials actually happened because everyone was blamed for no reason and all people did was make excuses. Those types of people also wonder how the people back then were tricked into believing that witches existed and they had to deal with everything that happened in a harsh manner because everyone was in a “I can’t get in trouble let me blame someone else” type of attitude. There are many beliefs today that witches like things in the past. Many people would agree that they are no longer existent today; however Arthur Miller, author of the play, The Crucible, shows the audience that people have not progressed that far from those days when people believed during the Salem witch trials. A common belief is that witches hunt for things in the past. Many people would agree that they no longer exist today; however Arthur Miller, author of the play, The Crucible, points out that society has not come very far from the days of the Salem witch trials. All throughout this play, Arthur used the trials to parallel to the McCarthy Era because he noticed that the events were the same from the late 1600’s. Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible to help everyone today notice that people back then weren’t going crazy they were just believing what they heard and they were all man for themselves attitude.

During times of distress, we look for someone to blame. Whether we blame witches or whether we blame communism, there is always going to be insanity. In Arthur Millers The Crucible, we witnessed a town stuck in the thought of witchcraft. In the 1950s we witness a similar event of communism. The events of McCarthyism enhanced the readers understanding of The Crucible, in many instances the accusations of the United States communism and Salem were a lot alike, people were scared, puzzled, and without much reason.

People will do almost anything to take down the person they believe to be the cause of their problems. McCarthyism blew up in the 1940’s when America and Russia (a communist country) had a race with technology. With this McCarty saw his opportunity to take down his competition by accusing them of being a communist; which at the time, was seen as being a large threat to the American government. Sense that Russia was a communist country, and threatening war against America, being a communist was punishable by incarceration. While with the Salem Witch Trials of sixteen-ninety two the court and townspeople were pushed into unthinkable things by their own fears of few people. In The Crucible (written based off of the records Miller read when he visited Salem) Abigail was determined to get what and who she wanted, and in trying to achieve that goal Abigail accused women in the town of witchcraft to protect herself. Being accused of witchcraft in Salem was the equivalent of being accused of being a communist in the nineteen-forties. Miller wrote the Crucible to point out the underlying ridiculousness that sparked real fear in both the time of McCarthyism and the Salem Witch Trials; McCarthy and Abigail protecting themselves, punishment being the best option, and having no proof but still ruined people 's lives.

The Salem witch trials and the McCarthy Era may have quantities more in common with most current events way more than people realize. They all begin with the same mistakes and end with the same injustice. It all begins with the loss of trust and false accusations and all end with blacklisted and damaged reputations.

During the witch trials, almost two hundred innocent people were convicted of consorting with the Devil and practicing witchcraft, and a surprising twenty people were hanged for their lack of confession. The source for this mass hysteria, was nothing more than the silent influence of eleven young girls ranging from the age of nine to twenty-five. They began to accuse their neighbors of witchcraft, gaining them the blessings of those that remained unaccused, and a position in court. Many people began to fear their neighbors. Speaking their minds or varying their opinions from others, due to the fact that they might be sentenced to hang for being innocent. A similar issue occurred during McCarthyism and the Red Scare, when Senator McCarthy began to suspect Communists in the American Government. During the Salem Witch Trials, the court systems were influenced by eleven young girls, who began to accuse people of witchcraft, similarly in the Red Scare, McCarthy was influencing the court systems to accuse people unfairly of Communism. The Red Scare, and the Salem Witch Trials prompted people to begin to accuse one another for being outcasts in their society or simply for their own personal gain. Both of these situations, required the court systems to unfairly look at evidence that would be considered faulty and unreliable. The Salem Witch Trials and the rise of Senator McCarthy gave power to