Similarities Between Hysteria And The Red Scare

Mass hysteria has been part of history since the beginning of time. It happened in the United States the years 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts. In Salem, two young girls were responsible for starting mass hysteria by showing erratic behavior and accusing other people of witchcraft. This resulted in the death of over 20 people. Salem citizens were very confused and scared because they were never sure of how secure they actually were. Another reason Salem citizens were nervous was because, if their fate was put to the test, it would be in the hands of an unreliable court. Another event that involves mass hysteria was the one known as “The Red Scare”. The Red Scare was a variety of actions that led to an enduring episode of fear and hostility through the years 1940s and 1950s. The Red Scare was caused by a series of threats towards America. The Red Scare had many figures but two that were exemplary to others were Hoover and McCarthy. These men stirred up the environment with more problems than it had before. Citizens of America were surrounded by many threats especially their homes being corrupted by the pressure they were surrounded by. Politics played a very keystone part in The Red Scare because it was the fuel to the fire. Families and friends were being separated since

During both the devastating Holocaust in the Germany and the tragic Salem Witch Trials in the small town of Salem, innocent people were brutally killed, causing hysteria among the people. Both groups of people endured hardships because of the hysteria that occurred among them. This hysteria caused people to react in ways that they would not usually act. Both of these events are very historical and help The United States of America be a unified and prosperous country that it has grown to become today. Hysteria is defined as an uncontrollable outburst of emotion or fear, often characterized by irrationality, laughter, weeping

127) Fear is the most primal instinct. It causes people to do and act in certain ways in which they are not accustomed. It can turn brother against brother, neighbor against neighbor, politician against politician, and country against country. Fear instigates panic. It was that panic that prompted the Palmer Raids. The Palmer Raids were started by A. Mitchel Palmer. He felt that in order to keep the American values in tact communism had to be out of the picture. Palmer believed that communism was "eating its way into the American workman". He thought it was the root of all evils in his society. Palmer felt that communism was "seeking to replace marriage vows with libertine laws, burning up the foundations of society". In December of 1919, in their most famous act, Palmer's agents seized 249 resident aliens. Those seized were placed on board a ship, the Buford, bound for the Soviet Union. Deportees included Emma Goldman the feminist, anarchist and writer who later recalled the deportation in her autobiography. Another reason for the Red Scare was the strike held by mine workers. They were thought to be making threatening moves against the Capitalist system through subversive Socialist organizations. These strikes were part of a series of events taking place in 1919. This strike,

The Red Scare and The Salem Witch Trials were both events that left a mark in American history. The Red Scare began in 1917 and took place across the United States. The Red Scare was known as the widespread promotion of anti-communism. The Salem Witch Trials began in 1692 and took place in Salem, Massachusetts. The Salem Witch Trials were various court hearings and prosecutions of people in Salem accused of Witchcraft. Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible, a play about The Salem Witch Trials, to send a message to Senator Joseph McCarthy, the face of The Red Scare. Even though both of these events took place at completely different times their connection remains profound. The Crucible and The Red Scare have various similarities and allegories

    What is The Red Scare? The Red Scare is fear resulting from communists wanting to control citizens. From 1919 to 1921, The First Red Scare occurred in which Americans feared the Soviet Union’s idea of communism spreading to The United States. After this panic was resolved, there was another epidemic of fear called The Second Red Scare. This lasted from 1947 to 1957 and was driven by the panic of communism growing and spreading in The United States. The Second Red Scare was perpetuated by international events and dismay such as the Korean War and fear of the Soviet Union’s nuclear weapon capabilities. From this, the House Un-American Activities Committee was formed. The committee’s purpose was to investigate alleged communists and infiltrators within the government, subcommittees, and Hollywood. “Americans also felt the effects of the Red

The Red Scare represented the widespread concern that Americans had developed over the fear of communist subversion within society. Americans believed, especially during the Cold War, which was a period of tension between the United States and Soviet Union, that communism was attempting to infiltrate every aspect of their lives. While this is not necessarily the best analogy, you can relate the widespread fear of communism during the Cold War as being similar to the heightened alert Americans had toward terrorism and suspected terrorists during the beginning of the modern century.

The Red Scare is the rounding up and deportation of several hundred immigrates of radical political views by the federal government in 1919 and 1920. Certain causes that led up to this event was the fact that the United States feared the fact that certain immigrants embraced communist, socialist, and anarchist ideology. The Red Scare later led to the impact of the fear of communism. Today this event is remembered all over the world for is impact that it made on every person society.

Arthur Miller wrote the Crucible which involved people being ridiculed during a mass hysteria called the Salem Witch Trial. The Salem Witch Trials were devised to rid Salem of people who were suspected of witchcraft . The 1940s and 50s had a similar hysteria problem called the Red Scare, basically the Soviet Union and the U.S. had a fallout , the effect was the U.S. going periods and trying to round up all of the communist they could find as it is stated that “Communists are the evil that is a great danger to this country and the people In it.” Same was similarly said in Arthur's story as all the suspected witches were rounded up with the prosecutors saying “ There is an evil in Salem and his calls himself the devil.” “ We must rid Salem of these witches for they do the devil's work.” Arthur made it clear in his story that what was happening in America at the time, many innocent Americans had their lives destroyed , nobody was safe from this nation wide hysteria, even the kindest people where not safe.

In 1938, HUAC was started with a purpose to find and get rid of un-american behavior. At this time, the idea of communism was also on the rise and it became more and more popular in some countries. This caused many people to worry that the Communists would take over America. In the same way that people were scared of Communists taking over during the Red Scare, people were scared of the devil taking over during the Salem Witch Trials. The Salem Witch Trials Hysteria began in 1692, when young girls from Salem Village, Massachusetts, claimed that they were possessed by the devil. Then, they accused several local women of witchcraft. This began the trials and the executions and hangings of the accused witches.

The first and second red scared really instilled the fear of communism. And Joseph McCarthy has something to do with it. Joseph McCarthy is infamously known for making unsupported accusations against people as far as saying they’re communists; his false accusations started what soon became one of America’s largest periods of mass hysteria.

The Red Scare, also known as, McCarthyism started in the early 1950’s. It got the name McCarthyism from Senator Joseph Raymond McCarthy. McCarthy started The Red Scare. It was very similar to a witch hunt but, it wasn’t witches they were hunting for. They were searching for communist. The Red Scare was a horrible and cruel period during the early 1900’s.

Imagine the panic when there is the possibility that anyone around who looks no different than everyone else is relaying information to the enemies. Having no idea if the neighbors who have lived there for 15 years are actually spies. Having no idea if there was a real threat of danger right around the block. This is the type of concern spread by Senator Joseph McCarthy, in his hunt to blacklist and profile as many “communists” in America as possible. Abigail Williams, in The Crucible by Arthur Miller, plays a similar type of role as she starts the wave of accusations against nearly every female in town. The

Out of this spiral of fear and insecurity came the witch scare in Boston in the 1680s and the far more terrible outbreak in Salem Village in 1692, which shook the Massachusetts Bay to its foundation. The

The year was 1692 when people called Puritans who believed in spreading their beliefs, in which witchcraft is forbidden. Anyone accused of being a witch was hanged, 20 people died. It all ended after the goner of Salem’s wife was accused. The Salem witch trial hysteria of 1692 was caused by being accused of being a witch which also was a crime worthy of death and being possessed by the devil.

Two similarities that were the driving force of both accounts in history, were the collective hysterical atmosphere of the population at hand, and the fear of one specific entity; in Salem that entity was the devil, and in the McCarthy era in was communism. During the witch trials, most residents believed in, and were in fact, terrified, of witchcraft, spirit conjuring, and spell casting. The overwhelming force backing all this, was the fear of the devil. Puritans were still very common during this time, and thus took being affected by the devil very seriously. It is because of this mass fear of the devil, that the residents of Salem were so easily frightened.