The McCarthy Hearings

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Throughout the 1940s and 1950s America was overwhelmed with concerns about the growing threat of communism in Eastern Europe and in China. One senator in particular, Joseph McCarthy took this one step further and made more than two-hundred accusations against these supposed communists, one of these people being Arthur Miller. Miller dared to stand against McCarthy and used The Crucible as a way to show McCarthy’s flaws without approaching him directly. The Salem Witch Trials and the Scares in the Mid Nineteen hundreds both remind us that no man is perfect, and we do make mistakes.

Both the people accused in Salem and during the McCarthy hearing were convicted with such little evidence it would be thought the cases would be easily dismissed. However, due to what is often referred to as the “scare factor” these cases were thought more serious and often looked into further. With the fear of the spread of communism on their mind, this began a series of communist hunts in which many people only believed because they were scared. The same thing goes for what happened in Salem. A group of children were acting unusually and this scared many people into going along with whatever was being said in order to alleviate their fear of the unknown. Because of the peoples fear, whenever a source for the problem was suggested, people were quick to support it.

Another reason for the source of support in both cases was the “everyone is doing it” factor. Because it is just human nature to follow what is going on, the people of Salem followed their leaders and the rest of their fellow townspeople in the witch hunt. Those who disagreed were considered witches and prosecuted. People were watching out for themselves, and because of their ...

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...lf. One can only succeed through dedication and honesty and not by taking advantage of the weaknesses of the time.

Tactics such as blackmail are still used by those trying to better themselves through others mistakes, and only show the signs of someone trying to cheat their way through life and coax along on other peoples misfortune. Greed is one of the most powerful human emotions, and it can get the best of anyone. However, it only through the use of rational thinking, and common sense that we ourselves can help to prevent events such as the Salem Witch Trials and the McCarthy hearings from happening. There will be countless other human mistakes in the future but we must remember that we are only human and are bound to make these mistakes. We must persevere through our mistakes and remember that no man is not perfect, and we are bound to make mistakes.

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