Compare And Contrast Mccarthy And Salem Witch Trials

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.

In Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible” it tells the tale of the Salem Witch Trials. At the time of the play, the McCarthy trials, named after Sen. Joseph McCarthy, were underway. Though, instead of hunting for witches, they were hunting for communists. These two trials may have happened at different points in history, but were in many ways the same. Whether it was death to job loss a lot of lives were changed on account of these trials. “The Crucible” and the McCarthy trials have become historically important because they show the process of power, fear, and turmoil.

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.

"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."

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,

The first similarity between the Salem Witch Trials and the era of McCarthyism is that

Both events were influenced by the time and history of when they happened. In the Salem Witch Trials, Puritans feared the Devil would take over people. During the McCarthy era, Americans feared the dangers of Communism coming to the U.S. Another similarity was that people were afraid to stand up for the accused. They were afraid that similar unfound allegations would be made against them. Lastly, many people’s lives were ruined by allegations made by only a few people that were not true.

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.

Most of them faked it but majority didn’t. McCarthyism had to do with the army and somewhat the cold war. The army had always questioned McCarthy’s methods and credibility. McCarthyism went in effect during the 1950s. Trials in Salem were very short ones.

Are there any similarities between the Salem Witch Trials and McCarthyism? Both are well known, for a multitude of reasons. During the Salem Witch Trials and the era of McCarthyism mass hystaria conqored towns and spread throughout the United States. This essay will compare similarities and differences. The Salem Witch Trials, we’re a mass hystaria that hit the small Massachusetts Bay Colony of Salem, Massachusetts, in 1692 to 1693 (Blumberg,1).

One similarity of the Salem Witch Trials and McCarthyism is that there is no evidence for the crime that the victims are being charged with. The individuals were being punished without proof; by being judged solely off of what people believe could be the truth. The Salem Witch Trials executed innocent people based off an idea that they possibly could have taken

The fact that both events named off random people shows that the events went off the same idea and started the same way. During the Witch Trials two little girls named Abigail and Betty started having weird fits. When a doctor blamed the supernatural, Reverend Parris came in the investigation the girls. After a while of Parris talking to the girls they started to list off names. The names the two listed off were “Sarah Good, Goody Osburn, Bridget Bishop, George Jacobs, Goody Howe, Martha Bellows, Goody Sibber, Alice Barrow, Goody Hawkins, Goody Bibber, Goody Booth”. This started a witch hunt, they found these people and asked them if they knew anymore names of witches. In McCarthyism there was a Hollywood director named “Elia Kazan”. He was apart of the communist party for a while, once he was found out he was questioned about any

The Salem Witch Trials took place in Massachusetts 1692-1693. The Salem Witch Trials is where the citizens of Massachusetts started to accuse or get accused of doing witch craft. Since Witchcraft is thought of “devils magic” the citizens thought this would be terrible and the “the devil worshipers” must die.

McCarthyism, like the Salem Witch Trails can be unbelievable. It is, though, interesting to see how people thought and blamed each other. McCarthyism is an unfair public blame of treason without a large number of evidence. This campaign was started by Joseph McCarthy to expose communists. “McCarthy’s accusations were so intimidating that few people dared to speak out against him.” Citizens were scared to speak out about anything because they could be censured for being a communist for whatever reason. This made people scared of the Soviet Union as well. Over 2,000 people lost their jobs because of lack of proof of treason. The Salem Witch Trials are a good example of McCarthyism because anybody could be criticized for being a witch. They would

The Salem witch trials and McCarthy hearings were very similar events that took place in very different periods of time. They both involve numerous innocent victims who were accused of being something they were not. Both incidents were also very horrendous and shocking that they took place in the time periods they did. Many people’s lives were ruined because of some foolish girls and one selfish man. Their primary goal was to look good in front of others who did not truly have respect for them; only wanting said respect at the cost of other people’s lives. Both trials were deceitful, misleading, and overall unreasonable to those affected by them. Let us hope that history will not repeat itself again anytime