The Crucible Dbq

One parallel between McCarthyism and The Crucible is that immense power was given to those who accused others. McCarthy’s unsubstantiated claims ruined the lives of many people living in America, and the girls’ unsubstantiated accusations ruined the lives of many people living in Salem. Both McCarthy’s actions and the girls’ actions led to increased hostility and hysteria. In both instances, the accusers could accuse anyone they wished to accuse, and they did not have to show much or any evidence; their claims were unreliable and erratic. This is portrayed in Documents B and C. In both of these documents, accusations are thrown with no evidence, and the accusations are very inconsistent. For example, in Document C, Joseph McCarthy originally accuses 205 people in the State Department of being members of the Communist Party, but that number soon decreases to 57, increases to 81, and finally falls to 10 people. In addition, in Document B, the girls unsystematically accuse 11 people of being seen “with the Devil”, with only their testimony as evidence. Both cases illustrate the unreliability of the accusers' claims. The unsubstantiated accusations of both McCarthy and the girls in Salem ruined the lives of many innocent people. With only the testimony of the accuser, the accused was jailed and/or killed. In Document

Joseph McCarthy was a United States Senator who gained fame through his accusations of communists in the State Department. Similarly, Abigail Williams was a character in the play, The Crucible, who gained recognition and power through her accusations of witchcraft in Salem. Both Joseph McCarthy and Abigail Williams tried to take advantage of a situation in a time of great fear by feeding the hysteria of people; they both tried to manipulate the beliefs of the common people by spreading hateful and false accusations with little or no