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Alfred Dreyfus Wrongfully Accused Research Paper

680 Words3 Pages

Brandon Pacente
Wrongfully accused research paper
Topic: Alfred Dreyfus Like many, Alfred Dreyfus was wrongfully accused for a crime he did not commit. He was charged with treason in September, 1894. He was accused when French Army Intelligence was found with other papers taken from a German military officer’s office. A quick investigation convinced an anti-Semitic chief Col. Sandherr that Dreyfus was the one who betrayed the French. Other than a somewhat similar hand writing style there was no solid evidence yet on October 15th he was arrested. His hearing was December 19-21; the court found him guilty and charged him with a life sentence. He was then sent to Devils Island to serve his sentence. Some were convinced that he was innocent …show more content…

So they accused him thinking they found the right guy. They weren't trying to turn his life upside down, they were just trying to do what they though was right. And after people like Picquart found more information that proved Dreyfus's innocence the court still would not change their mind and admit that they were in the wrong. They felt justified in their actions because the army did not want to look weak, and look like they made a mistake. So instead they shortened his sentence which in their minds justified their …show more content…

From one point people were wrongfully convicted of crimes they didn’t commit. They then had to serve the punishment which for Dreyfus was a sentence on Devils Island, but for people in the Crucible most of them were hung. A similar situation occurred in the crucible when Hale, and Parris admitted to Dansforth that they could have made mistakes, and the accused might not actually be witches. Hale said “there is blood on my head”. But Danforth did not want to look weak so he stayed true to his word. This is like Alfred Dreyfus’s situation, evidence was found that proved him innocent but the court would not change their ruling they only shortened his sentence, this is similar to the Crucible because they would not exonerate the accused but would allow them to confess to gain their freedom. The Alfred Dreyfus case is similar to the Crucible in many ways; these two cases are also similar to many other cases because people are wrongfully accused

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