Similarities Between Salem Witch Trials And Mccarthyism

     The Salem witchcraft trials are very similar to the McCarthy trials in three aspects: unfounded accusations, hostile interrogation of numerous innocent people and the ruination and death of various people's lives. Mass accusations are made for personal gain and no good has resulted from these

Mc McCarthyism and the Salem witch trial is alike because people were able to accuse people without out any evidence .people accused innocence

Sundstrand states that The Crucible was written during the period of McCarthyism, a period where US officials were being accused of being a communist by Senator Joseph McCarthy. He states guilt was an accusation to McCarthyism. I completely disagree with him when he states this, I believe it is jealousy that started McCarthyism and fear is what kept it going. Sundstrand then states the similarity between McCarthyism and the Salem Witch Trials. I agree with him when he says "In both..., people were summoned before an unchallengeable authority, interrogated, intimidated, and frequently coerced into the betrayal of others in order to escape being persecuted themselves," because everyone was keeping up the lies because of their fear of being named

The first key difference between McCarthyism and the Salem witch trials is their accusations. When analyzing the history of these two events, one can see that both accusers falsely accused innocent people of two different things. Ann Putnam had accused villagers of being involved in witchcraft, and Joseph McCarthy had accused innocent government officials of being involved with the communists in Russia. Most

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.

Everything’s not what it seems. Some people can not handle the ugly truth. A man named Arthur Miller expresses the Salem witch trials that occurred in 1692, with a play that was produced 1953, during the era of McCarthyism. What similarities came about when miller's play about Salem was produced? McCarthyism and The Crucible have multiple parallels due to these similarities: Naming names, lack of proof, and resistance.

Throughout history, there have been many examples of cruelty within a society. Often Times, this cruelty come with fear, suspicion, and ignorance. Within the Article “Mccarthyism” by Arthur Miller, readers can see examples of suspicion. Likewise, the text “The Crucible”. supports cruelty caused by ignorance , and “Japanese-American internment camps demonstrates how Fear can destroy a society.”

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?

n the time of being treated like nothing, there were multiple things that made people feel that way and were brought to light. McCarthyism and The Crucible were examples of horrifying events in history that gave a whole new meaning to unfair trials. For witches, if they were found guilty, their life would be spared. If they chose to stay with God, they were killed for choosing the right choice. The Crucible and McCarthyism are very alike and different because of the way Arthur Miller made people feel based on assumptions.

Another similarity between the two events is the fear of the unknown fear that swept through America during these two time periods. In the 1600s, the people of Salem believed that they were besieged by the devil, and became so scared of that possibility they began to see things from a perspective that led them to believe that all things that happened that were not of a good nature were of the devil and caused by a witch in the village. This movement reappeared in the McCarthy era, when people began to see others spying, sending money, and supporting communism when, in fact, they were totally against communism. Perhaps these people needed to read The Crucible and see how much they resembled the girls in Salem on their witch-hunt.

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 is the practice of making accusations of subversion or treason without proper regard for evidence (“McCarthyism”). The Salem Witch Trials was when more than 200 people were accused of practicing witchcraft and 20 were killed because of these accusations (Brooks). During the Red Scare like there are accusations of people committing treason during the Red Scare. In The Crucible people are accused of being witches during the Salem Witch trials. There are many similarities and differences between the Red Scare and the Salem Witch trials. These similarities and differences were that, during those times many people were afraid of Communism. The Soviet Union was becoming more powerful and there was the threat of a nuclear disaster. Europe had become a mixture of Communist groups. The Chinese and Americans began to feel that were being threatened by the Communists (“Red Scare”). In The Crucible Salem established itself as a religious community in the midst of evil. The Puritans considered the forest the domain of the devil. Salem was surrounded by forest. Paranoia ensued (Brooks). The differences were, in the Red Scare no one was killed if they were accused. Instead most of them committed suicide. In The Crucible if you were accused of being a witch and didn’t confess to it then you were killed. If you confessed to being a witch, then you were killed. Either way you were killed if you were accused of being a witch.

The Salem Witch Trials show a lot about how this world’s beliefs grew and developed in early America and Europe. Much of the prosecution of witches started because of the Roman Catholic Church; they created the belief of witches that led to the Salem Witch Trials. The Trials in Salem were a time when the people were scared of magic and what it could do, that led to the deaths of multiple people. The McCarthy Trials also show a resemblance to the witch trials in Salem as the idea of what happened was similar. All the ideas that were used then can be found in America through some way shape or form. That leads to the idea that people have always worried about the

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.

First of all, in order to compare these two culturally influential people, I am going