Comparing The Salem Witch Trials And The Red Scare

Is it possible for history to repeat itself? This seems like an unlikely concept, but it is not as far-fetched as it may seem. There have been many times throughout history that things have seemingly repeated themselves. One of the best examples of this is the Salem Witch Trials in the 1690’s being repeated in the form of the Red Scare of the 1950’s. The Red Scare is reminiscent of the Salem Witch Trials in that people were accused of doing something they did not do, they were only given the choices of condemn or confess, and more harm was done than avoided as a result of the scares.

Of the many similarities between the Salem Witch Trials and the Red Scare, one of the most obvious examples of these similarities is that people were accused

In the case of the Salem Witch Trials, those who were saved were the ones who confessed. If anybody tried to oppose the courts and try to prove they were innocent, they were immediately thrown in the slammer (Miller). This same type of treatment can also be seen in the Red Scare. Professor Richard A. Schwartz also gives insight into this idea. He uses the example of the Hollywood Ten, who were all blacklisted because they refused to show up for their congressional hearings. Since these ten people did not confess, they were condemned. “We should be skeptical of confessions when the confessions are the result of torture or when the person has a self-interest in confessing.” This quote by Douglas Linder of the University of Missouri shows why the trials in both the Red Scare and the Salem Witch Trials were flawed in their approach. By only listening to the confessions and dismissing the truth as lies, people give the courts names so they could save themselves. None of the people named were ever guilty of anything, but the ignorance of the courts resulted in these long lists of people that they would bring in and lead them on wild goose chases to dead ends. When people are only given the options of confess or face condemnation, nothing good can result from that

The educational website Shmoop, which has many contributors with Ph.D.’s and Masters from top universities, states that, “Fear- utterly justifiable fear- transformed American Communists from a minor nuisance into a national obsession.” America was fine with the idea that there may have been witches or Communists in their country, but it was when the leaders blew the issues out of proportion that it created widespread fear of not only the communists and witches, but also of being accused of being one of the wrong-doers. In addition to the constant, widespread fear, those who were accused had their lives ruined in the blink of an eye. While the people who were blacklisted during the Red Scare may have had it worse than the accused during the Salem Witch Trials, the people in Salem still had their reputations hurt by their connections to the trials. Professor Schwartz pointed out that during the Red Scare, the filmmaking studios relied on bank financing, but the banks were reluctant to give the studios the money because of their “communist ties.” This crippled the movie industry because they did not receive their funding and the banks were hurt because they were losing big customers. Since many of the important American companies were affected by the scare, the economy also took a hit. In 1690’s Salem, the following chart