Compare And Contrast Salem Witch Trial And Mc Mccarthyism

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.

A review of A Fever in Salem: A New Interpretation of the New England Witch Trials, by Laurie Winn Carlson, Ivan R. Dee, Chicago, 2000; 224 pp. $14.95 Paperback. ISBN: 1-566633095

The McCarthy Trials on Communism were similar to The Salem Witch trials because in both cases people were wrongfully accused, and hurt by the accusations. The trials are different because The McCarthy Trials on Communism happened in the 1950s and hurt people’s jobs, while the Salem Witch Trials happened in the 1690s and innocent citizens of Salem were executed because people believed the devil was possessing women and men in the town. In the McCarthy Trials, McCarthy was a politician who promoted his own campaign by using biased information and accusations of the opposing candidates. Later in his career when he was running for re-election, his close friend Edmund Walsh suggested a crusade, or an organized campaign concerning a social, political,

This occured in the 1950’s, when various Americans were questioned before a congrssional panel.(McCarthyism, 1) Senator Joseph McCarthy was to blame for this incedent.(McCarthyism, 1) Safegaurds promised by the Constitution were destroyed(Skohrecker 1). McCarthy made himself seem like America’s only salvation against the communist spies that were said to be among the United States Army.(McCarthyism, 1) In the after war years America was in fear of the communist. On February 9, 1950, McCarthy gave a speech and proclaimed there was 205 card-carrying members of the communist party who worked for the U.S. McCarthy accused and questioned very important people.(McCarthyism, 1)

McCarthyism is the practice of making accusations of disloyalty, subversion, or treason without proper regard for evidence (SOURCE). McCarthyism is a form of witch hunt. Witch hunt and McCarthyism have the same basic definition; an effort to discover disloyalty or dishonesty with little to no relevant

Certainly there are many parallels between the Salem Witch Trials and the McCarthy era. The events leading up to the

The Salem witch trials and the story of Joseph McCarthy are very similar; they both accused innocent people of doing things that were “bad” at the time. The Salem Witch trials were persecutions of men and woman on account of performing witchcraft. Two girls accused a woman of doing witchcraft and then the accusations continued, people accused other people to relieve their own punishment in a last ditch effort to save their lives, but it was in vein. After the witch trials were over “19 had been killed and an elderly man pressed to death under heavy stones”(Linder). “Some accused of witch craft were burned at the stake all in the name of justice”(Brown). Others were finally let out of jail after being in imprisonment for months at a time.

Many people in this world are accused of crimes so absurd that when put to trial, they name others of the same crime to redirect the focus from them to others like it happens in the actual day, every year, with minor cases. McCarthyism was one of those cases that changed history, likewise the Salem Witch Trials. McCarthyism had the same effect on people, people who were accused of communism blame others to lessen their penalty like in the Salem Witch Trials, so how the Salem Witch Trials and the McCarthy Era can connects although the great difference in time?

"The McCarthy Era of the 1950's and the Salem Witch Trials of the 1600's were major events in American history that destroyed the lives and careers of many innocent victims. These tragic events were similar in that they demonstrated how hard times lead to society's need to find a scapegoat. They also show the shame and regret that take place after the bloodbaths occur. The parallels between these two events, which took place almost 300 years apart, are remarkable."

Many people often question what McCarthyism is and what it stands for but today there will be light shed on the subject and they can figure out how real it was. In the first place, The definition of McCarthyism is, “The practice of making accusations of disloyalty, especially of pro-Communist activity, in many instances unsupported by proof or based on slight, doubtful, or irrelevant evidence”(McCarthyism). The practices of McCarthyism were very unjust and many people were wrongfully accused of

McCarthyism arose in the 1950s. “It originally intended to criticize the anti-communist views of U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy. People were afraid of Communism influencing America 's companies and the Soviet Union spying on them. It took on a more broad but similar meaning over time and was eventually used to describe an unsubstantiated accusation of someone.” ("McCarthyism")

The horrors of history are passed on from generation to generation in hopes that they will never happen again. People look back on these times and are surprised at how terrible the times were. Yet, in the 1950s, history repeated itself. During this time Joseph McCarthy, a United States senator from Wisconsin, began accusing people of being Communists or Communist sympathizers, which is like the Salem witch trials in the late 1690s when innocent people were accused of practicing

If one observes the past, they will notice that history is inevitable to repeat itself, and that throughout time there have been several events that shape how we live today. Two examples of those are the Salem witch trials and McCarthyism, both of which were a string of trials that charged people with being things they were not. The trials took place in Colonial Massachusetts from 1692 to 1693, while McCarthyism lasted from 1950-1957. The Salem witch trials involved accusations against alleged witches while the era of McCarthyism consisted of investigations held against alleged communists. Despite the two being over two hundred fifty years apart, they were still caused by the same basic reasons. The Salem witch trials and McCarthyism also had many resemblances. These included false accusations against citizens, unfair trials without any substantial evidence to prove a person’s innocence or guilt, and a widespread fear in the society against the people accused of the supposed crimes.

McCarthyism, named after Joseph McCarthy was a period of intense anti-communism, which occurred in the United States from 1948 to about 1956. During this time the government of the United States persecuted the Communist party USA, its leadership, and many others suspected of being communists. The word McCarthyism now carries the suggestion of false, hysterical accusation and large scale attacks on a minority. This anticommunist crusade stumbled in 1954, when the hearings were televised allowing the press and

Numerous things in history can apply to one another in different aspects. The comparison between the Salem Witch Trials and McCarthyism is a credible example of events in history that parallel one another. With an analysis of these two historical events, it can be seen that panic and chaos were ever-present in these times. It is evident that this chaos ruined the lives of many people, as people were accused of being witches and communists without reason. The Salem Witch Trials and McCarthyism held wild fears that witchcraft and communism would suppress society if drastic changes were not made. The Crucible by Arthur Miller is an allegory in relation to McCarthyism.