The Crucible Red Scare Research Paper

Hysteria, it causes humans to afflict others by the guile of another. “As the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States intensified in the late 1940s and early 1950s, hysteria over the perceived threat posed by Communists in the U.S. became known as the Red Scare” (History.com, n.d., para.1). It was called the red scare because the reds were communists that were in allegiance for the soviet flag. America was finding communists in the country so they could keep it pure and this all started because of Joseph Mccarthy.(quote from the crucible). A similar situation happened three hundred years ago in the salem witch trials and a play named The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller.

People were labeled witches by little girls and they were either killed or they went to jail. These two events are very similar the red scare

labeled people as communists, the crucible made people witches, They gave similarities and differences.

The Second Red Scare started by Joseph McCarthy around the 1950’s and it was started by Joseph Mccarthy. “In 1947, President Truman had ordered background checks of every civilian in service to the government” (ushistory.org, n.d., para 2.). Many government officials were fired because of Mccarthy. He capitalized the countries paranoia and proclaimed that there were spies and he was the only way to save America from them. Mccarthy accused 81 officials in court and even went after important officials. Witch hunting was searching for communists and red baiters were the accusers.
They searched the picture industry, the army, and more. If you were considered a communist you were blacklisted if you were an actor, writer etc… If you were blacklisted you could no longer get a job in the entertainment industry, thousands of people had lost their jobs and their reputations were tarnished.
The Crucible had similar aspects to The Red Scare but was much harder on the people because the people were pious puritans that believed in witches.
The Red Scare led Arthur Miller to write The Crucible which is based off of the Salem Witch Trials in Massachusetts.

“Abigail, it may be that your cousin is dying Did you call the devil last night? I never called him! Tituba, Tituba …. She made me do it! he made Betty do it!” (Miller, 2007, p. 1283-1284). This girl named Abigail Williams was the accuser of the town for witches. If you were accused of being a witch it was very difficult to prove that you weren’t a witch. You had two choices if you were found guilty of being a witch you could either confess that you were a witch or, you would die if you didn’t confess. twenty five people died from this. The accusers were a bunch of little girls that used unseeable evidence on people that were innocent and the magistrates believed it. If you confessed that you were a witch you would go to prison and more than a one hundred plus people went to jail. The only people that were safe were Pastors because they could not be possessed and pregnant women because you couldn't kill the child inside of the woman. The Crucible and The Red Scare have many similarities but they also had many

differences.

The Red Scare had many differences from The crucible and likewise. insert quote from any web page for the red scare . For one huge difference that The Red Scare had was that they didn’t kill people for being a communist. If you were a communist your life was basically over though. The Red scare lasted for four years because the army got tired of Mccarthy’s crap, and the senate basically didn’t believe anymore. Eventually the reputations of those people were given back to them and they were able to live regularly again. Mccarthy turned to alcohol and he was in poor health and died three years later. Little girls weren’t the accusers here they had legit people for this and Mccarthy was the person to go to for this and no one was safe because he was the Judge and the executioner. The crucible also had many differences compared to the red scare.
Abigail Williams was the main accuser of the people in the witch trials most of the girls followed her lead. Abigail's downfall was when the Magistrates stopped believing her and the girls because people from other towns were coming and they would start accusing them. the people from the other towns though some were minister’s and they can’t be possessed by the devil. “There is news, sir, that the court - the court must reckon with my niece, sir, my niece - I believe she has vanished” ( MIller, 2007, p. 1346). Eventually Abigail stole her uncle’s money and left the town but the trials didn’t stop when she left. Seven more people had to die until these trials stopped. Abigail was never served justice for all the people she killed because she was just thirsty for John Proctor. Both of these events are similar and they have their differences but both are terrible.

Communists from Soviet Russia, Witches from Salem. The similarities between them. Probably insert a quote here but i don’t know if there are any that I can insert. The Red Scare promoted by Joseph Mccarthy was a hole in the government. The Salem Witch trials led by the main accuser Abigail Williams killed twenty five people. Both of these events ruined many people’s lives. Humans are always overcome by hysteria and it always leads to them hurting each other.