In neither McCarthyism nor the Salem witch trials were real evidence put forth to prove the guilt of the accused. Instead, people readily agreed with the accusers, having to assume that they were telling the truth. In the fifties, with the war going badly in Korea, the communists were making advances in China and Eastern Europe, which caused the American public to be scared of communists infiltrating the U.S. government. Hundreds of people- actors, government workers, and even military personnel, were accused by McCarthy (Joseph McCarthy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia). Some admitted to being affiliated with the communist party, and lost their jobs. In 17th century Salem, the girls would completely fabricate evidence against the witches.…
June 10, 1692 Bridget Bishop , a young women from Salem, was hanged to death. Bridget Bishop what hanged for witchcraft. Two little girls from the town accused Bridget Bishop of making them act weird . At the trial when she was shaking her head to answer the question the girls started to shake and fall onto the ground. They later accused her that her body movement influenced them to shake so she was hung to death. What caused the mysterious superstition of people being witches? one possibility is that Teenage girls accused older woman . Another reason is that little girls were drunk with power and the last one is that poor people were jealous of the rich.…
The witch trials of Salem represent the anti-communist witch hunts. Numerous things coincide when the hunt for witches and the hunt for anti-communists are compared…
In the witch trials and McCarthyism both had innocent people that were wrongly accused, had their reputations ruined, put in jail, or worse. The accused had a very little choices after being accused. In both theses cases, many people were also wrongly accused of being a witch or being a communist. Stated in ‘The Crucible’ Abigail and Betty were accused many of being “with the devil”. Once one person accused another it started, “whole country’s talkin’ of witch craft!” Mccarthy was one that accused others of being communist to help stop the fear of communist, to stop uprising against then government, and to stop espionage. The choices were to: one to confess, and live and not be jailed, two to name others, or three be silent and be put in jail…
guiltless individuals were subject to witchcraft, that resulted in 19 men and women hung to…
Witchcraft is understood by being a religion that includes reverences for nature, and belief in rights of others and includes own spirituality. People that practice witch craft now focus on doing good things and helping others. They also refuse to be connected to the devil. Their beliefs go back to ancient times, long time before the advent of Christianity. In current culture witches have been confused with the belief they have black pointy hats, green faces with broom sticks. This is often how witches are portrayed in movies and…
It was the same way in the Salem Witch Trials except it had a more serious effect. McCarthyism was more of a joke because it never went as far as putting someone in jail for life or giving them the death penalty but it did ruin lives. During McCarthyism nobody was convicted because they had the right to a fair trial because of the Constitution. The Constitution was not around during the Salem Witch Trials so the girl’s word was all they had. In both instances people were blaming others to make themselves look better and to gain respect of others. All of the people blamed during McCarthyism were people who diminished McCarthy in some way in the past (" The Contrast of the Salem Witch Hunts and McCarthy Hearings). The girls during the Salem Witch Trials blamed people because they needed to take the pressure off themselves. Abigail Williams blamed Goody Proctor because she had a love for her husband, John Proctor and the affair they had once had. For this reason she did not like Goody Proctor and wanted her gone. Just as in the Salem Witch Trials, none of the 205 people accused during McCarthyism were guilty. In both instances people lost their good reputation for the pride of…
In this research paper, I plan to discuss how people believed that witches completely disregard the logical side of it. Like how they tied weights to people and throw them into a lake to see if they would sink or float. The whole idea that people would ignore logic and intellectualism and instead of believing in fictional things.…
In January 1692, A hysteria developed in a Salem Village located in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The beginning of the Salem Witch Trials started when two girls, Betty Parris, 9 years old and Abigail Williams, 11 years old began acting strangely. They began by having “fits” that could not be explained by the local doctor. The doctor who had no explanation for the fits or convulsion like symptoms deemed it witchcraft. This was the beginning of the hysteria that developed in the village and the beginning of the Salem Witch Trials.…
In witch hunting’s people were blamed for others misfortune. For instance Bridget Bishop was charged with different losses sustained by her neighbors of their pigs, poultry, and overturning their carts. She was accused in the death of William Stacy’s child, the death of Samuel Gray’s child, and the illness of Samuel Shattuck’s child. (Nelson 1997, p.81) During the McCarthyism era thousands of Americans were accused of being communists and were subjected to harsh investigations and questioning by the government. Many of these Americans were imprisoned, and loss of employment, even thought the suspicions of them being communists was inconclusive. Between witch hunts and McCarthyism it basically seems that whoever was wealthier or had more power had the ability to accuse or blame people that were less fortunate for their…
Massachusetts bay colony 17th century, those who were under suspicion of consorting with the devil were examined as a felon and sent to Jail then there would be a trial. When the outbreak broke out everyone was so scared and just started to accuse people in the village if they did one wrong move. There were more people getting charged and going to jail then there was of people getting sent to the gallow’s. When it all broke out it scared people, the aftermath was sad for families who were in it and the possible causes of why it started all line up.…
Bryan F. Le Beau. The Story of the Salem Witch Trials Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1998.…
In 1692, what is currently known as Danvers, was actually known as Salem Village. Salem Village was located in Massachusetts. At the time, Massachusetts was not a state, but it was actually an English colony. (Yolen, 2004) Life in Salem Village was most certainly a difficult one. There was no electricity, running water, or any form of motorized transportation. (Martin, 2005) In the year of 1692, the winter was terribly bitter. Several people were getting sick and some were even dying from smallpox. Smallpox is a serious, contagious, and at the time was a fatal infectious disease caused by a…
One similarity between McCarthyism and the Salem Witch Trials is that “everybody is doing it mentally.” The lives of the innocent people were ruined in both eras because of all the accusations and punishments. Both the people accused in the Salem Witch Trials and the people accused in The McCarthy hearings were found guilty with such little evidence. There were so many uninhabited accusations, with little to no proof. During the Crucible time period, those accused of being witches were sometimes sentenced to be tied to…
The Salem witchcraft trials were a horrific set of events that caused harm to many people, but it was essentially bound to happen. That is not to say that that exact thing had to happen, but due to the society of the day, a conflict of some sort was basically guaranteed. Because of everything going on with politics and religion, combined with the way of society, it was something of a powder keg where no one could guess what, but it could be seen that something bad was bound to happen.…