Salem Witch Trials During Mccarthyism

Personal Reflection “History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce.” – Karl Marx

This sums up my reaction because it’s true. First, during the Salem Witch Trials, people were accused of witchcraft and were being hung for it. During McCarthyism people were being accused for being communist and it was more of a game of accusing people than anything. Tragedy is described as an event causing great suffering, destruction, and distress, such as a serious accident, crime, or natural catastrophe. The Salem witch Trials were definitely a tragedy because all these people were killed without proper evidence. The court systems today are a lot different than they were back then. Today nobody can be accused of
a crime without the proper physical evidence, especially for a death penalty because of the Constitution. Back then they believed that the witches would not confess themselves to being a witch and the only evidence they had was someone saying they were attacked. During McCarthyism they never investigated before they went and blacklisted somebody and ruined their lives forever ("McCarthyism.”).
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
others. This quote best sums up my reaction because it’s saying that when something happens in history the next time it happens, it’s going to be more of a joke. The McCarthy era was just when Joseph McCarthy blamed people because they had hurt him in the past. They never were communist and they were all proven innocent. During the Salem Witch Trials, however, people were blamed and once they were blamed they were done. They had no right to a fair trial and 19 were hung. I think it’s important that we learn from our history and our mistakes and learn how to deal with present and future problems.