Similarities Between Salem Witch Trials And Mccarthyism

In history there have been many past events that convinced American citizens to change the rights of individuals who accuse those who are guilty in court. Many of these trials recorded can easily be differentiated or compared to one another by a professional. Some professionals have developed a conspiracy that McCarthyism and the Salem witch trials share similarities to one another. However, despite their similarities both trials also have their differences. Although the Salem witch trials and McCarthyism can be easily compared, the two events can still be contrasted through their processes of accusations, beliefs, and prosecutions. The first key difference between McCarthyism and the Salem witch trials is their accusations. When analyzing the history of these two events, one can see that both accusers falsely accused innocent people of two different things. Ann Putnam had accused villagers of being involved with witchcraft, and Joseph McCarthy had accused innocent government officials of being involved with the communists in Russia. Most
Americans had different beliefs back then than they did in the 1950’s. In 1692, Puritans believed that they needed to reform the church into something pure. They believed that villagers that performed witchcraft were not only an abomination to the church, but also satanic. Most Puritans believed that all witches were possessed by the devil and a threat to society. This made it easy for Ann Putnam to falsely accuse villagers. She believed that people would pay attention to her if she over exaggerated Tituba’s stories of witchcraft. In similarity, Joseph McCarthy also desired the public’s attention. He abused his power as a Senator to accuse the authorities of being a communist. He believed that by accusing people he would get promoted in office. Therefore, Joseph McCarthy’s main focus was towards politics, whereas Ann Putman’s main focus was towards