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The Salem Witch Trials And The Blacklisting Of Americans During The 1950s

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Is the difference between right and wrong clear? The answer to this question is yes, and no. Depending on the situation, the answer can be a blur and cannot be determined very easily. For example, look at the incident called “The Salem Witch Trials”, and “The Blacklisting of Americans during the 1950s”. During the time of early European settlers in America, people were very religious. These people would spend their whole Sunday in church. Since everyone had much faith, when they saw people who acted strangely or skipped church, it was a bad sign. The people who acted suspiciously were assumed to be possessed by the devil, which then leads us to “The Salem Witch Trials”. Those “possessed” by the devil were usually women, although not all, were called witches. These “witches” were put on trial by the townspeople and …show more content…

This event was later named “The Blacklisting of America”. After World War II, Americans were terrified because of high tensions with Russia. Russia, or the Soviet Union at the time, spread Communism to China, North Korea, and Vietnam. Because of this, Americans were cautious of communists in the United States. They started questioning many people during this time to see if they were communist or not. Most people who were accused of being communist were in reality innocent. Because of these blacklistings, the accused communists lost their jobs, credibility, social status, etc. This event probably sounds familiar or similar to another. The Blacklisting of America and The Salem Witch Trials are often compared because of the similarities of the two. History often repeats itself, and thus, it happened again. Did these people believe they were right to accuse others of being communists? Yes they did. Were they actually right? No, they were very far from it. This again proves how it is immensely difficult to tell the difference between right and wrong depending on the

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Hundreds of Americans were being accused of being communists during this time. Plus, many of these people were government employees in the entertainment industry, educators, and labor union activists, who were suffering loss of employment or destruction of their careers some of them even suffered

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The foundation of angst and trepidation during the Witch Trials in 1692 Salem and the Red Scare of 1950’s America was not exceptionally impacted by substantial reasons, but by the mentality of the self-perceived conclusions the citizens brought forth during the two time periods, thus leading to a series of mass hysteria. Prior to the events that happened in 1692, Britain imposed a new charter in which they forced the Massachusetts Bay Colony to accept. The charter united Plymouth and Maine to form a new colony – the Massachusetts colony, and stated that church membership was no longer required for voting, for the colonists had contravened several of the charter’s rules which included basing laws on religious affiliations, for the Puritans

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Imagine the wicked House of Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) arrest an innocent man. The HUAC does not arrest the man because he has committed a murder, but because he is a communist. Many communists became victims of HUAC in the Red Scare crisis of the 1950s. These communists made the right decision to speak out for their freedom and against injustice. These communists also spoke out for their freedom of different beliefs.

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However, newly released archival materials such as the Venona intercepts show the extent of Communist subversion in pre- and post-war America. There were indeed hundreds of Communists working for Moscow, directly or indirectly, in the United States during the Roosevelt and Truman administrations. The problem that plagued Joe McCarthy was that by the time he surfaced with his accusations in the 1950’s, the key Soviet spy networks had all been closed down. For decades, many people believed that anyone who was accused of being a spy for the Soviets in the '50s was in fact just another innocent victim of the McCarthy’s witch hunt. Although it is true that McCarthy’s witch hunt did ruin the lives of innocent people, the fact is there were witches to be hunted and there had been a threat national security presented by communist spying and subversion in the 1940’s.

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The Salem Witch Hunt and the Internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II The Crucible is a play written by Arthur Miller, which is based on the events of the Salem Witch Trials. In the play, a girl accuses innocent people of witch craft, and many people died because of the misunderstanding that it was all a lie. There are many historical events that are similar to the Salem Witch Trials, such as the internment of Japanese-Americans during WWII. In this event, Japanese-Americans were put into internment camps, which were solitary camps made to separate these people from the rest of the U.S. The bombing of Pearl Harbor by Japan caused the distrust of Japanese-Americans similar to those accused of witch craft in the Salem Witch

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McCarthyism is the practice of making accusations of subversion or treason without proper regard for evidence. This term was coined to criticize anti-communist pursuits of senator Mccarthy. During the Salem Witch trials, victims were often accused of being a witch based on someone's word no one had actual proof that these victims had actual powers from the spiritual world or so called satanist they were demeaned too. Coming back to the reality of accusing with no tangible evidence.many tactics were also brought upon this idea of fear many civilian and townspeople were burdened with the idea of guilt and fear of what would happen to them if they didn't partake in these so-called “witch hunts” of Mccarthy and the governing court of Salem.

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“The infamous Salem witch trials began during the spring of 1692, after a group of young girls in Salem Village, Massachusetts, claimed to be possessed by the devil and accused several local women of witchcraft.” Along with many citizens falling ill and failing to improve, village doctor, William Griggs, diagnosed these women and men as possessed

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Can the similar type of instinctive prejudice and panic that seized a small Massachusetts settlement more than 300 years ago take over the thoughts in the prevailing society triggering “witch hunts”? The goal of these actions was to alienate particular members of our civilization, and arouse condemnation of those who may have diverse beliefs, attitudes and practices. Citizens of this community began to establish separate policies and condemnations of hostility for any person who does not go along with the existing social behaviors and trends. To get a better view on the matter, I would like to go review four separate eras in our history. The Salem Witch trials, the Holocaust, The Red Scare, and current Middle Eastern terrorist groups.

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People thought that because the Russian czar had been overthrown and executed by strikes that the labor unions of America were being taken over by Communist immigrants with the same goal in mind. Soon, people became obsessed with the Communistic threat coming from Russia following World War II which led to violence and disregard of civil liberties. “The U.S. government, mainly the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) led by Democratic congressman Martin Dies, Jr., had launched an investigation designed to target suspected Communist Party members in all areas of life, including government, educational institutions, labor unions, and the entertainment industry. The repression engendered a climate of fear throughout the country, as people were afraid to speak out as the accused found their names on blacklists, which hindered their employability and ruined many lives.” (Travino, Marcella Bush. "

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You never knew whether individuals were coming clean or simply making up a lie since they didn't care for that individual, so they attempted to cause that individual harm, Amid the Salem Witch Trials many individuals were (accused of a wrongdoing) of conversing with the fiend. As indicated by Congressperson Joseph McCarthy began the frenzy/exceptionally compelling feeling that occurred after the second Red Startle and (accused of a wrongdoing) U.S. individuals (who legally live in a nation, state, and so on.) of being communists. These Announcements (that somebody has accomplished something awful) spoke to Midwestern Americans who found that hostile to socialism was to battle against liberals and internationalists. It assumed control over the

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With all of the accusations going around, people were forgetting that everyone can have their own opinion. Edward R Murrow, a television host of See It Now bashed McCarthy by saying “’We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty’” (Roberts, 2). Murrow was saying that just because a person disagrees with what the president or a government official says, does not mean they are a communist. The United States has freedom of speech, and citizens can say whatever they want about the government.

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The main accuser during this time was Joseph McCarthy. The people who were accused were just everyday people. Joseph McCarthy said that he knew people who are members of the communist party working for the government, he may have done this because he didn’t like those people. This scared everyone, primarily because during the years that followed WWII everyone feared communist. So after McCarthy made these statements, it almost made like a ripple effect by having everyday people, being accused of people that “suspected” that they were communists as well.

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David Merrill says, "If he wants to call you a commie, he doesn't have to back it up" (Winkler). At this point, the fear was so high that many people were accepting the reality of what was happening. Even though it is not true that some people are communists, and even if they were, it's not illegal to be one, people's lives have been ruined by this occurrence. "You end up guilty by suspicion" (Winkler). Even though people are not guilty whatsoever, they are still convicted and lives are ruined.

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