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Salem Witch Trials Research Paper

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During the spring of 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts, a group of young girls believed they were possessed by the devil. This became the start of what is known as the Salem Witch Trials. The witch hunts originated in Europe and was spread to the New England colonies by the 17th century. The trials were a time of mass hysteria where many people of the village were suspected to be practicing witchcraft and afflicting others. The Salem Witch Trials lasted less than a year, but has made a significant impact on American society. The trials ended with many people being executed and arrested because of being found guilty of practicing witchcraft. Even though the trials ended in 1692, there are similar historical events throughout many countries that involve …show more content…

Hitler blamed the Jews for the economic crisis in Germany as well as losing World War I. However, Hitler did not have evidence proving that the Jews were to blame. The trials in Salem started similarly to the Holocaust because the trials began from a couple young girls blaming others in their village of witchcraft without any evidence to prove they were telling the truth. During Hitler’s reign, many of the people of Germany believed he would bring the country back from a depression and World War I. As stated in Cowen’s article, many Germans followed Hitler because he “gave them huge tax breaks and introduced social benefits … he also particularly pampered soldiers and their families, offering them more than double the salaries and benefits that American and British families received.” From a German’s point of view during a time of economic depression, Hitler’s views on how he would improve Germany became enticing and they whole-heartedly believed he would be the best choice. Soon after World War II started, Hitler kept the promise he made to the Germans by deporting the Jews to concentration camps. Notwithstanding that the Jews were being taken to concentration camps such as Auschwitz to be killed, the Germans still agreed with Hitler that the Jews were to blame for their country’s problems. When Hitler first proposed to the public that Jews were responsible …show more content…

McCarthyism, like the Salem Witch Trials and the Holocaust, targeted a specific group of people and was caused from one person blaming others based on suspicion. Senator Joseph McCarthy rose to power because he “capitalized on national paranoia by proclaiming that communist spies were omnipresent and that he was America’s only salvation” (U.S. History, “McCarthyism”). Since there had already been cases where government employees were convicted of being spies for communist countries, fear and panic struck Americans quickly which caused them to turn to Senator McCarthy for safety. During the 1950s, Americans had a logical reason to fear communism because they were at war with other countries that have a communist government. This fear was rooted from the belief that if the United States lost the war, the Americans would lose their freedom of speech, not have their own religious beliefs, and lose their land (“Why did Americans fear communism”). Now that America has been an established federal government, the McCarthyism era is seen as an unnecessary part of United States history because thousands of people lost their jobs based on little to no evidence of committing espionage. The same accusations made by McCarthy are extremely similar to those from Abigail Williams and Elizabeth Parris in the Salem Witch Trials. In both the McCarthyism Hearings and the Salem Witch Trials, the

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