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Comparing The Salem Witch Trials And The Era Of Mccarthyism

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Have you ever wondered how fear and paranoia grip an entire community, tearing lives apart? The parallels between the Salem witch trials and the era of McCarthyism shed light on the lasting impact of hysteria. The Salem witch trials took place in the late 17th century in Massachusetts, where numerous people were accused of witchcraft and faced trials, while McCarthyism refers to the anti-communist investigations led by Senator Joseph McCarthy in the 1950s. In The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, the historical Salem witch trials parallel McCarthyism, examining how historical events can serve as an inspiration for the work of literature. The Salem witch trials, occurring in early 1692 to 1963 had a significant impact on society, which they were fueled by religious fervor and societal tensions. Moreover, it took place in …show more content…

In medieval times, there was a widespread belief among Christians and others that witches had made deals with the devil to harm people. This led to the execution of tens of thousands of suspected witches, with the majority being women. It caused a "witchcraft craze" across Europe, highlighting the influence of superstition and fear during that dark period of history (Blumberg). To add on, showing the impact of hysteria, one editor claimed that “many in the community who viewed the unfolding events as travesties remained mute”, they felt this way because they were “afraid that they would be punished for raising objections to the proceedings” (Wallenfeldt). This fear arose because if they were to be punished, they would be “accused of witchcraft themselves” and could be hanged as well (Wallenfeldt). As the trials occurred, several historical figures were present. For example, Elizabeth, also referred to as Betty, was the 9-year-old daughter of Reverend Parris, and his 11-year-old niece Abigail

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The Salem Witch Trials and the McCarthy Red Scare are historical events that occurred in different time periods of history. These events share many similarities such as mass panics, hysteria, paranoia, false accusations, and incarcerations. During the mid 20th century, the United States experienced the McCarthy era. This era was a period full of paranoia, fearing communists had infiltrated the US government and American society. According to “McCarthyism”(2022) “He declared that 205 Communists had infiltrated the U.S. Department of State.

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336 Words | 2 Pages

“I have here a list of names…” is a quote that is not only spoken in history during the Salem Witch Trials, but also in fairly recent history. Joseph McCarthy used this phrase to present his list of believed communists to the government, while Abigail Williams used a similar accusation for the witches in Salem. Matter of fact, McCarthy’s accusations have been called by many “witch hunts” as an allusion to the Salem Witch hunts that occurred hundreds of years before. The Salem Witch Trials shares many similarities with McCarthyism, however, with the similarities come several obvious differences.

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According to Roark, Johnson, Cohen, Stage and Hartman (2014), hundreds of people faced accusations of witchcraft, while dozens had to stay and suffer in jail for months without trials. This was known as the Salem Witch Trials. This signaled the erosion of the religious confidence and assurance. Witchcraft was defined as “entering into a compact with the devil in exchange for certain powers to do evil” (Sutter, 2000). During this time period, Puritans believed in witches and that they had the ability to harm others.

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609 Words | 3 Pages

Though centuries apart, the Salem witch trials and McCarthyism are very similar. The Salem witch trials in the 1690s are described in great detail within The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller. Many innocent people are charged with witchcraft and killed if they did not confess. McCarthyism started in the 1950s when Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy started accusing people of being Communists. If people did not cooperate, they could go to jail or be put on a blacklist.

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189 Words | 1 Pages

The Salem witch in 1692 and McCarthyism was during the 1950's. it was primarily due to Arthur Miller's The Crucible. Miller wrote the play as a response to what he thought was a modern day witch hunt. Joseph McCarthy, the House Committee on UnAmerican Activities, wanted to weed out and expose communist sympathizers in the U.S. Even though Miller researched several historical records of the 1692 trials.

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In the real Colonial America however, Abigail Williams was only 11 or 12 years old at the time of the trials. Also, Ruth, the Putnam's daughter, was actually not their only child. They had 6 living children. In the play, Reverend Parris tells Giles Corey that he is a "graduate of Harvard" when he did not graduate from Harvard, although he had attended the university for a while and later proceeded to drop out. This is a very small detail yet it could and did make a significant change to the plot and to the level of maturity of the play.

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269 Words | 2 Pages

The word hysteria defines an exaggerated or uncontrollable emotion among a group of people. “Paranoia breeds paranoia,...” a famous quote from Arthur Miller’s essay that alludes to the use of mass hysteria that struck fear to the bourgeois of two eras that stained the face of American history. By creating and exploiting public hysteria as a means to obtain power and manipulate people as seen through the Salem Witch Trials of 1692 and the McCarthy Era which lasted a little under a decade. Both calamitous events shared common factors that contributed to their beginnings as well as helping them retain momentum.

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People were so full of fear that they would do anything to eliminate their anxiety. The McCarthy hearings of the 1950s reenacted the hysteria of the Salem witch trials of 1692 by spreading mass fear of prosecution, creating false accusations, and blacklisting people. The Salem witch trials were considered to be America 's most notorious episode of witchcraft hysteria. Many innocent people were killed as a result of false accusations, and many other women were put through trials to determine if they were witches.

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The 1600’s and 1950’s are two completely discrete generations, but they are more alike than people would think. The church is meant to heal, not to kill. The government is meant to provide for their people, not to turn them against one another. Both the Salem witch trials and McCarthyism were bizarre events that frightened people to the point of extreme panic. Arthur Miller believes that the witchcraft trials in 1692 and the effects of Communism in the 1950’s are greatly similar because they both contain the themes of hysteria, accusations, and penalties.

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From Salem to McCarthy: How Arthur Miller's "The Crucible" highlights the dangerous consequences of fear and political hysteria. McCarthyism and the Salem witch trials are two significant events in American history, separated by over 200 years. However, they share many similarities in terms of their impact on American society and culture. Both events involved accusations of wrongdoing without sufficient evidence, leading to the persecution of innocent people. In the Salem witch trials, people were accused of practicing witchcraft, while in McCarthyism, people were accused of being communists.

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A Link Between Time People are odd in that they hold grudges against each other and when the opportunity arises they will abuse any situation to take vengeance on those who afflicted them. This happens to come up often in society and in history. A few key examples of people taking advantage of such a situation are the Salem Witch Trials in 1692 and the McCarthy Fiasco over Communism in the 1950’s. Arthur Miller, a well known playwright, wrote the play Crucible in response to McCarthyism in the 1950’s in which he allegorically connected the infamous Salem Witch Trials to Joe McCarthy’s hunt for communists. Miller was very successful in connecting the Salem Witch Trials to McCarthyism because of his narration, the characters and the allegories

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849 Words | 4 Pages

The Salem Witch Craft was one of the main themes in the play “The Cruicible” by Author Miller. Injustice, inequity, and fear were experienced throughout colonial Massachusetts, between February 1692 and May 1693. The Salem Witch trials consisted of a series of hearings and prosecutions towards people accused of practising witchcraft. In order to survive; one would blame others for something they have not done. While the witchcraft was the biggest topic in the seventeenths century, McCarthyism was in the twentieths.

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790 Words | 4 Pages

Hysteria, paranoia, and delusion was what drove the Salem Witch trials in 1692. Many people were executed by decision of the court because it believed in absurd false allegations. Justice in the court was perverted by fear and delusion (Johnson 9). In the 1940s and 1950s, many people in the United States were living in fear of communism; similar to those who feared “witches” in Salem. In the 1953, Arthur Miller came out with a play: The Crucible based on the Salem Witch Trials tackling McCarthyism; accusing others of being communists trying to overthrow democracy in the United States (9-10).

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1920 Words | 8 Pages

Salem witch trials: A period full of lies, false accusations, and hasty generalization. Many were blamed for their witchcraft or association with the Devil. Others were condemned out of the belief that they were witches. Reasons, regarding the illogical accusations made, rooted in the overwhelming hysteria and fear that dispersed throughout the village of Salem, fear that later rendered irrational conclusions, and scapegoating the innocent, which escalated to the unfair execution of blameless individuals, notably John Proctor, Mary Warren, and Tituba. The start of the witch trials is a controversial topic, yet the book “The Crucible” by Arthur Miller does a fantastic job of not only depicting the beginning of the witch trials, but likewise

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608 Words | 3 Pages

In history there have been many major events that have shaped the times we live in. Two of the major events of our time are the "witchunts" of the Salem Witch Trials and McCarthyism. The Crucible is a 1953 play by American playwright Arthur Miller. It is a drama and fictional story of the Salem Witch Trials that took place in the Massachusetts Bay Colony during 1692-1693. Miller wrote the play as a parable for McCarthyism, when the United States government ostracized people for being communists.

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