Similarities Between Mccarthyism And Salem Witch Trials

2048 Words5 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Salem witch trials vs McCarthyism

Alyssa Zito Ms. Bowman Honors American History 23 October 2014 McCarthyism and the Salem Witch Trials McCarthyism and the Salem Witch Trials are two points in American History when citizens were accused by other people out of a fear of something they did not have an explanation for. Widespread, irrational fear during both these times played on the American psyche and caused mass panic. These were horrible times in history and resulted in many different thoughts that played on people’s brains and caused issues throughout the country. The Salem Witch Trials took place in Massachusetts in 1692. This time in our country was ruled by Puritan ideas. Everything you did, you did for God so that you could go to Heaven and not be damned …show more content…

Innocent people were being killed all because of a fear that had evolved. During the Salem Witch Trials, many people were hanged for being accused as witches, some even killed on the spot. During the time of McCarthyism people were detained and ostracized because they were accused of being a Communist or involved with Communism in any way. During both instances, there was no true evidence that supported the accusations. Nevertheless, because the people who were making the accusations were so influential, the general public began to believe them without them needing to prove …show more content…

The national fear during both these times played on the American psyche and caused mass panic. In an effort to make up for their insecurities (The Puritans protected themselves from being damned to hell and during the “Red Scare” to protect themselves from becoming overruled by Communists) they accused other people of their biggest fears. In both of these instances the hysteria calmed down because there were not facts to support the accusations. This resulted in having the American mind think differently and caused people to do irrational things, such as accusing innocent people of being witches or

Show More
Related

  • Compare And Contrast Salem Witch Trials And Hysteria

    572 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Salem Witch Trials demonstrated a hefty fear onto its residents because of their melodramatic belief that Satan was among their adolescents and themselves.(Salem Witchcraft) During both instances, when a group of people acts irrationally regarding the subject the event symbolizes, it would eventually ignite a spree of illegitimate accusations among others and slander.(Salem Witchcraft) A dread that could arise would be of the fact that your whole essence could be diminished because of a substantial accusation of being involved with Communism.(Red Scare) According to History.com, it states “Americans also felt the effects of the Red Scare on a personal level, and thousands of alleged communist sympathizers saw their lives disrupted.”(Red Scare) This would motivate such a fear that it would arrive in everyone’s lives at that time, especially government or popular figures.(Red

    Read More

  • A Historical Comparison of the Salem Witch Trials and the McCarthyism Era

    1232 Words  | 3 Pages

    Throughout history , it has been shown that, history has a tendency to repeat itself. In 1692, men and women were accused of witchcraft whether they were guilty or not. The place that this was occurring was, Salem, Massachusetts, a city full of puritans who came from Europe. Witchcraft was the among the worst crime any individual could do. This often times led to people being hung or exiled from the church. Many people were hung, even though they were innocent. Many years later during the WWII era, there was a lot of speculation about communists and their impact in America This era was known as the McCarthyism era, because, Sen. McCarthy was the leading America into a anti -communist state. In one case in particular was of a U.S AIr Force Lieutenant, Milo Radulovich, who was released from the Air Force due to the fact that his father, read a newspaper which was from Serbia, because he has a Serbian background, the Air Force believed his was pro-communism, since the newspaper favored communism. The Air Force also believed Milo was pro-communism because, his sister peacefully protested outside of a hotel which didn’t allow a communist member to stay at . Milo was born and raised in Michigan, he also dedicatedly served his country, he had no form of favor in communism. but was automatically placed under the notion that he supported communism and was fighting for them because his dad read a newspaper from a different country and his sister protested for equal rights. Neither Milo or his family did anything bad. Assumption thinking leads to stereotypes.

    Read More

  • Similarities Between The Holocaust And Salem Witch Trials

    794 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Salem Witch trial and the Holocaust were very similar event because the people in both of these event were oppressed and were treated under harsh conditions, but the people that were affected by the Salem Witch trials were in better conditions than the people living during the Holocaust and the concentration camps. During the Salem Witch trials, the people involved it were given proper living conditions, while in the Holocaust, they were unbearable for most people.

    Read More

  • Comparing the Salem Witch Trials and McCarthyism in America

    615 Words  | 2 Pages

    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. Joseph McCarthy was the U.S senator for the state of Wyoming from 1947-1957, the year that he died. McCarthy became the most visible face in public during the time of the cold war in America. “McCarthy pursued unnecessary investigations, imprisonments and unprovoked acts to those who were being accused of being a communist”(Glitterrich). The term McC...

    Read More

  • How the Red Scare Created a Hollywood Blacklist

    915 Words  | 2 Pages

    McCarthy conducted “witch hunts” in an effort to seek out and eliminate suspected Communists. Congressional hearings were in effect, not hearings, but trials for crimes that were not really crimes, with congressmen serving as prosecutor, judge, and jury. Unable to deprive a person of their life and liberty, they deprived him of his livelihood. If the person refused to give the names of other Communists, he or she would automatically be considered guilty. Witnesses at the trials were immediately classified as either friendly or unfriendly.

    Read More

  • Salem Witch Trials V. The McCarthy Hearings

    457 Words  | 1 Pages

    similarity to the Salem witch trials. The McCarthy hearings are trials in which Senator Joe McCarthy accuses government employees of being Communists. He exaggerates and exploits the evidence and ruins many reputations just as the girls do in the Salem witch trials. The accused, in both cases, are used as scapegoats for society’s problems and the only way to escape direct punishment is to admit to guilt.

    Read More

  • Taking a Closer Look at The Salem Witch Trials

    900 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Salem Witch trials were when hundreds of citizens of Salem, Massachusetts were put on trial for devil-worship or witchcraft and more than 20 were executed in 1692. This is an example of mass religion paranoia. The whole ordeal began in the home of Reverend Samuel Parris. People soon began to notice strange behavior from Parris’s slave, Tituba, and his daughters. Many claimed to have seen Parris’s daughters doing back magic dances in the woods, and fall to the floor screaming hysterically. Not so long after, this strange behavior began to spread across Salem.

    Read More

  • The Salem Witch Trials and the Red Scare

    1072 Words  | 3 Pages

    During the 1950s, the United States was afraid of the communist party. This caused the U.S. to quickly judge anybody who was assumed to be a communist. A similar story was the struggle John Proctor had. John Proctor lived within a super proper society, with many of the people in it being superstitious with the Witch Trials going on. The Salem Witch Trials were filled with the lies of people being witches that would eventually destroy their reputations.

    Read More

  • The Crucible Wiccaphobia

    1396 Words  | 3 Pages

    During the 1690’s in Salem, Massachusetts, one of the most disgraceful events in American history took place. 20 innocent people were sentenced to death on charges of witchcraft (Kortuem). At the time there was a witch scare sweeping across the North East of America in a time we know today as the Salem Witch Trials. The witch trials was one of the most shameful events in American history. In fact, it was compared to another event by a man named Arthur Miller. Arthur Miller was a playwright from New York who wrote many famous plays like Death of a Salesman, All my Sons, and of course The Crucible (Kortuem). In The Crucible, Miller was comparing the McCarthy Hearings at the time to the events hundreds of years earlier in the

    Read More

  • Hysteria in The Crucible by Arthur Miller and in the Red Scare

    1670 Words  | 4 Pages

    At the Salem Witch Trials, one hundred fifty people were accused of practicing witchcraft and nineteen of those were convicted and executed. The evidence against these people is hardly substantial. At the McCarthy hearings, thousands of people were “blacklisted.” Anyone who tried to oppose the accusations was also viewed as a Communist. No one was convicted due to the more advanced legal system; still, that did not erase the fear that was instilled by the allegations.

    Read More

  • The History of the Salem Witchcraft Trials

    2587 Words  | 6 Pages

    During the time of the Salem Witchcraft Trials of 1692, more than twenty people died an innocent death. All of those innocent people were accused of one thing, witchcraft. During 1692, in the small town of Salem, Massachusetts many terrible events happened. A group of Puritans lived in Salem during this time. They had come from England, where they were prosecuted because of their religious beliefs. They chose to come live in America and choose their own way to live. They were very strict people, who did not like to act different from others. They were also very simple people who devoted most of their lives to God. Men hunted for food and were ministers. Women worked at home doing chores like sewing, cooking, cleaning, and making clothes. The Puritans were also very superstitious. They believed that the devil would cause people to do bad things on earth by using the people who worshiped him. Witches sent out their specters and harmed others. Puritans believed by putting heavy chains on a witch, that it would hold down their specter. Puritans also believed that by hanging a witch, all the people the witch cast a spell on would be healed. Hysteria took over the town and caused them to believe that their neighbors were practicing witchcraft. If there was a wind storm and a fence was knocked down, people believed that their neighbors used witchcraft to do it. Everyone from ordinary people to the governor’s wife was accused of witchcraft. Even a pregnant woman and the most perfect puritan woman were accused. No one in the small town was safe. As one can see, the chaotic Salem Witchcraft Trials of 1692 were caused by superstition, the strict puritan lifestyle, religious beliefs, and hysteria.

    Read More

  • Compare And Differences Of Mccarthyism And The Crucible

    968 Words  | 2 Pages

    Events have played out in history that made people realize the inhumane acts of people and the Salem witch trials and the McCarthy era were two of them. The Salem witch trials in 1692 were almost 260 years before the McCarthy “witch hunts” in the 1950s yet there are similarities between them. The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller in 1953, is about the Salem witch trials and is an allegory to the practicing of McCarthyism during the Second Red Scare in the United States, which Miller was a victim of. Although there may be differences between “The Crucible” and McCarthyism, ultimately the anger, lack of evidence, and the people were alike in both events.

    Read More

  • Causes of the Salem Witch Trials

    2019 Words  | 5 Pages

    From the beginning of time there has been conflict between the views of different people and their different groups. Conflict has brought prejudice and fear into communities around the world. As conflict is an inescapable part of any society, it can be expected to extend to the greatest impact possible. The Salem Witch Trials are one such conflict. This conflict caused many to be accused, arrested, and killed. Because of social, economic, religious, and physical problems within the community, Salem Village was present with prejudice and panic causing the Salem Witch Trials.

    Read More

  • Cause Of The Salem Witch Trials

    774 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Salem Witch Trials took place in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1692. At this time there appeared to be an outbreak of witches. This started when the children of the Goodwin family begin having mysterious fits. The doctors, not knowing what had happened to the children, blamed it on witchcraft. From that point on many people were accused of being a witch and were killed. This occurred for many different reasons; either they were hanged for their crimes, crushed by stones for refusing to stand trial on their cases, or from waiting in the jail for so long before their case came up. As people began to investigate the Salem Witch Trials further they came up with two explanations; either the people of Salem were begin acted through by the devil or

    Read More

  • Mass Hysteria

    1218 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...ations were accused without solid information that could not be proved in any way. These events in history affected people by basically destroying their lives. McCarthyism affected people that were put on those black lists. Once they were put on those black lists it was almost impossible for them to get a job that would help support them and pay for all of their bills that they had. During the Salem witch trial the event destroyed john procter’s family and forced his children to live without a father. Although McCarthyism was mostly bad the good was that the idea of McCarthyism destroyed it self and ended the rise of communism in the United States of America. Due to hysteria in the 1950’s America and the Salem witch trials both resulted in corruption and the destruction of people’s lives. “The Crucible” was written in response to this hysteria in the 1950’s.

    Read More

More about Similarities Between Mccarthyism And Salem Witch Trials

Open Document