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Similarities between the salem witch trials and mccarthyism
Similarities salem witch trials and mccarthyism
Similarities between the salem witch trials and mccarthyism
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Both events created chaos by stirring up people's crazy fears. The "Red Scare" refers to the fear of communism in the 1950s. This was actually the second "Red Scare." This first took place earlier and referred to the fear that a Bolshevik revolution would take place in America. The second "Red Scare" was also known as "McCarthyism" due to its most famous supporter, a man named Senator Joseph McCarthy. After World War II, many people feared communism.
McCarthy accused the secretary of the army of concealing foreign espionage activities. The secretary discriminated by saying that members of McCarthy’s subcommittee staff had threatened army officials in order to obtain a certain treatment for an associate of the subcommittee that have been drafted recently. He accused some of the most well-known entertainers of the era, demanding the “naming of names”. Careers and lives were ruined by accusations, based on weak evidence.
In the Salem witch trials and McCarthyism were very similar. In the crucible, Abigail Williams and senator Joseph McCarthy both was popular at first, but after some events had happen and ended, they both lured out of the “spotlight” Abigail became a prostitute and senator McCarthy had really became a nobody.
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However, these trials were also a terrible event that scared many Americans, making them think that the Devil had taken over their society. Luckily, the only lasted about one year. In 1692, some young girls began acting strangely. It started in the home of a minister, the Reverend Samuel Parris. Reverend Parris had a slave from the Caribbean named Tituba. She and her friends had the reputation of dancing and screaming wildly. Their behavior started to spread to other girls. Many of the local ministers became afraid. Not even the local doctor could figure out what was going
The leader of this modern day witch-hunt was Senator Joseph R. McCarthy, who was a dishonest and corrupt man. “Although a junior senator, he refused to follow Senate rules and customs, specialized in malicious attacks on his colleagues, and frequently thwarted committee work by trying to inject trivial and extraneous matters into committee discussions,” Oakley says, describing McCarthy’s ethics. McCarthy worked his way up the political ladder not by honestly winning but with deceit.
In 1860-1960 there was lynching in the United States. When the confederates (south) lost the civil war the slaves got freedom and got rights of human beings. This was just to say because segregation wasn 't over in the South and didn 't go away for over 100 years. Any black person in the South accused but not convicted of any crime of looking at a white woman, whistling at a white woman, touching a white woman, talking back to a white person, refusing to step into the gutter when a white person passed on the sidewalk, or in some way upsetting the local people was liable to be dragged from their house or jail cell by lots of people crowds, mutilated in a terrible
The Red Scare was given its name because everyone feared the idea of communism (“Red”) in America. Fear, especially spread out among a group, is a dangerous and chaotic thing that can cause people to do things that they would not normally do. It can cause people to betray others close to them or not trust some people they would normally trust.
It was perceived that the threat was posed by the communists. Due to this reason, the hysteria adopted the name the “Red Scare”.... ... middle of paper ... ... However, the minority groups started fighting for their rights so as to enjoy their privileges as stipulated by the constitution.
The Red Scare happened during the Cold War when the US and Russia were threatening each other by trying to build more power than the other. At the time, Americans were very fearful of communists, so when one man named Joseph McCarthy, a Senator from Wisconsin, starting telling people that there were communists living among them, many people believed him (Westlund). The composition of The Crucible is about the Salem Witch Trials, but there are clear parallels that can be connected to the McCarthy Hearings. The people in Salem were afraid of witchcraft and many people believed accusations because they were afraid. The comparison was very controversial and ended up getting Arthur Miller accused of communist affiliation. The Salem Witch Trials and the McCarthy Hearings are compared in The Crucible and there are clear parallels seen in the story
One example of The Crucible being an allegory to the McCarthy Era is the similarity in the way people were accused. In both instances “Habeas corpus” and “Innocent until proven guilty” are not present. In The Crucible the accused entered the courtroom with a decided fate. To Judge Danforth they were guilty unless they could prove themselves innocent or confess and give him the names of other witches. Even though this was unfair, people were afraid that if they stood up to it than they too would be accused. In John Proctors case this was true. John Proctor goes to the courthouse to free his wife who has been accused of witchcraft. Slowly, Danforth and Hawthorn turn it against him and accuse him of witchcraft. All hell breaks loose in the courtroom and Proctor has an outburst.
The Crucible is paralleled directly to the Salem Witch Trials and indirectly to the McCarthy hearings of the 1950’s. The story of The Crucible takes place against the background of the Salem Witch, trials but the themes lie much deeper. The main themes expressed in The Crucible relate to the events that occurred at both the Salem Witch Trials and during the McCarthy era. 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 was 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.
"The Red Scare: McCarthyism." Essortment Articles: Free Online Articles on Health, Science, Education & More... Web. 29 Dec. 2011. .
In 1692, everyone was sure that the Devil had come to Salem when young girls started screaming, barking like dogs and doing strange dances in the woods. The Salem Witch Trials originated in the home of Salem's reverend Samuel Parris, who had a slave from the Caribbean named Tibuta. Tibuta would tell stories about witchcraft back from her home. In early 1692 several of Salem's teenage girls began gathering in the kitchen with Tibuta. When winter turned to spring, many Salem residents were stunned at the acts and behaviors of Tibuta's young followers.
Authors often times have different reasons for giving their stories certain themes or settings. Arthur Miller is an American playwright who wrote The Crucible in 1952, during a time in which the United States was becoming significantly worried about the power of the Soviet Union. Worries that communism would infiltrate the United States led to a large amount of panic and paranoia in the American government. It is easy to see why Miller could comment on this situation in society by comparing it to the witch trials that happened in Salem two and a half centuries ago. Interestingly, Miller himself became a large target of one of these anti-communist investigations run by McCarthy. The Crucible, is a work of art inspired by actual events as response to moral and political issues.
In an interview with Bill Moyers, Margaret Atwood spoke about cultures and societies in history coming under stress. “When society comes under stress, they begin to look for somebody to put the blame on, they will always scapegoat a person or a group of people.” Texts that represent Atwood’s statement are shown in a drama called The Crucible by Arthur Miller and a drawing called "It's okay -- we're hunting communists" by Herb Block. Also, they’re shown in Atwood’s poem, “Half-Hanged Mary” These sources, and many others, demonstrate the wicked people in society when their reputation is tested or at stake.
The first Red Scare was after the Bolshevik Revolution. The Bolshevik became the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, in Russia in 1917 (ended in 1920). The second Red Scare was before World War II. It created the fear of the American Communist and created McCarthyism. It was significant because it came in the aftermath of the first World War and the Bolshevik Revolution. Furthermore, they showed an extreme fear that lead to the violations of individual rights.
In 1956 Arthur Miller was subpoenaed by HUAC (the House Un-American Activities Committee) and refused to identify writers that were believed to hold communist sympathies. Due to his refusal he was convicted of contempt of congress. The next year, however, the United States Supreme Court overturned this conviction. Under the leadership of McCarthy the committee had so much power that just knowing someone who was suspected of having ties to the communist party was a danger. The lives and careers of hundreds of Americans were ruined because of being blacklisted. Prison, bankruptcy, passport revocation, unemployment were threats made against people for them to testify and “name names.”
In 1956, Arthur Miller was denied to have a passport to Brussels, and he was called before the House Committee on Un-American Activities. This Committee wanted to defend and make the constitution better. The Congress asks Arthur Miller for the names of the people that he had been with in the Communist meetings, but he refused to tell the names. They wanted those names to put them on the blacklist.
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.