The Powerless- Analysing Mccarthyism Vs. The 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.

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.

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.

In the Salem Witch Trails 20 people were hung because the people in town (mainly woman) would accuse others of being a witch. More than 20 people were accused, it all ended when the mayors wife was accused of being a witch. So what caused the hysteria surrounding the Salem Witch Trials? The Salem Witch Trials In the Salem Witch Trails 20 people were hung because the people in town (mainly woman) would accuse others of being a witch. More than 20 people were accused, it all ended when the mayors wife was accused of being a witch. So what caused the hysteria surrounding the Salem Witch Trials? The Salem Witch Trial hysteria of 1692 was caused by the fear of being accused and hung for a witch the beleife people could be a witch, the belief people could be a witch, and the parranoia of being a witch.

"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 Salem witch trials and the McCarthy hearings have many parallels including destroying livelihoods and causing mass hysteria throughout both of the communities.

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 beginning of the Salem Witch Trials has begun, people being accused of witchcraft. These trials were held in a way where you are guilty till proven wrong. Witchcraft was a difficult thing to prove wrong since you can’t see it physically. This means that those who were accused, had to confess or be hanged for a crime they did not commit. This was alike the McCarthy trials, for it accused with the ‘guilty till proven’ system.

In effect of the Salem witch trials, the thought process of the society changed to, "First they came for the Communists, - but I was not a communist so I did not speak out.Then they came for the Socialists and the Trade Unionists, - but I was neither, so I did not speak out. Then they came for the Jews, - but I was not a Jew so I did not speak out. And when they came for me, there was no one left to speak out for me." (Martin Niemoller ), meaning no one stood up for the accused. With Salem being in a small village in Massachusetts, a place populated with mostly Puritans, any sign, word, or even thought of the devil was considered wrongful. One evening, multiple girls from the town were found dancing, some naked in the woods, with evidence of worshipping the devil. When people found out about this the girls were accused of practicing witchcraft. With the rumor of witches in Salem, it spread like wildfire through the strict Puritan

The myth about history repeating itself is true. History repeats itself because in most past and present events, nobody wants to be associated with the persecuted group. Society always has a group that people oppress. The reason that there is always a group being persecuted is because nobody wants to be a part of the victimized group. The Salem Witch Trials, McCarthyism, and today’s events with ISIS are all similar because in all of these situations, people live in a state of fear and suspision.

The United States has obtained a respectable and honorable reputation, in which other countries have a tendency to envy. However, certain events embedded within the nation’s past, such as the Salem witch trials and red scare, are often overlooked. These events symbolize times of despair, weakness, and slander, to which the essence of the events is nearly identical. The Salem witch trials can be closely compared to McCarthyism and the red scare, based on the similarities of suspicion, accusation, and prosecution. Despite the difference of roughly two hundred and sixty years, the outcome of such uprisings has remained unchanged. The morals discovered during the Salem witch trials failed to reach the minds of those behind the House of Un-American Activities, and other political figures, such as Joseph McCarthy. The fundamentals of suspicion sparked such events of terror and inhumanity.

The start of Witch Trials first took place in Europe in the 1300’s. However, in the year 1692, the Witch Trials had made their way into America; changing history forever. The Witch Trials took place in a town named Salem, Massachusetts. The idea of witchcraft feared many of the townspeople because they thought that the devil gave power to the witches as a reward for staying loyal to him (“The Salem Witch Trials”).

Several themes I predict to see in this play are prejudice (especially against women) and widespread terror. Based on my previous reading of the Salem Witch Trails, the accused followed a certain pattern. Many were middle aged women who mainly were widows. These widows either had recently inherited or were soon to inherit their decreased husband's property and thus, would have gained more economic power and independence. The accused were charged without any reasonable evidence and these "witches" had to either wrongly confess, blame someone else, or die. By the end of the 17th century, people came to suspect the claims provided by the accusers, which brought an end to the Salem Witch Trails. The situation regarding McCarthy and alleged communists

“The hunt for a scapegoat is the easiest of all hunting expeditions,” Dwight D. Eisenhower. You can distinguish from this that he is trying to relay the message that when you’re pursuing someone to blame, there are many people to cast it on. This concept is pertinent to the Salem Witch Trials and the McCarthy trials because the supposed “witches” and “communists” were just scapegoats for the fret that the common man had. In the Witch Trials, there were 19 people hung, guilty of not confessing and naming names of other people commit witchcraft. Joesph McCarthy of McCarthyism blacklisted hundreds of Americans, those who decline to name names were later accompanied by unemployment.

In Rosalyn Schanzer’s Witches! The Absolutely True Tale of Disaster in Salem, the town of Salem, Massachusetts, falls into a desperate frenzy of witchcraft accusations. During the cold winter months of early 1692, two young girls became afflicted with an unknown, dread disease. With a lack of technology and an abundance of superstition, they are diagnosed as bewitched! Desperate for a cure as the illness spreads, the townspeople embark on a witch hunt. In the end, twenty-five lives were lost due to the hysteria. However, the lessons learned during the Salem Witch Trials have helped to shape the modern American legal system for the better. For example, the trials changed the lack of defense provided to the accused, the protocols and policies