Both witch hunts in Salem in 1692 and McCarthy's search for Communists in the 1950’s are similar they both involved conflict and superstition. William had 205 people on his list of people who are communists. Just like in the Salem Witch hunt they didn’t have proof that the where witches other than that they were acting up but that didn’t show that they were witches. McCarthy didn't have proof that the communist that where on the list, he didn’t have proof if they were communists or not. With McCarthy looking for communists, surprisingly more than 2,000 employees lost their jobs. In the Salem Witch Hunt a lot of people were accused and they didn't know if the people who were accused where witches or not instead of people losing their jobs, people…
Act Three Questions Directions On a separate sheet of paper, please answer each part of each question asked below. Please use complete sentences and please answer the question as asked. 1. As the act opens, who is being interrogated and on what charge Martha Corey is being interrogated by Judge Hathorne on the charge of telling fortunes (witchery). 2. What is interesting about the dialogue at the beginning of this act What was Miller trying to suggest about the tone of the legal proceedings to follow This indirect dialogue (off stage / only heard, not seen) suggests that although people will talk / be heard, the truth will not be seen / acknowledged. 3. What is Mary Warren now prepared to tell the court Mary Warren is prepared to the court that the girls have only been sporting, or pretending. They honestly have never seen or known a witch and theyve only lied to protect themselves by throwing suspicion on others. 4. What two facts about John Proctor does Ezekiel Cheever feel compelled to reveal to Danforth Ezekiel Cheever feels compelled to tell Deputy Governor Danforth that John tore up the arrest warrant for Elizabeth when Cheever served it and that Proctor sometimes plows on Sunday. 5. What compromise, or deal, does Danforth offer to Proctor What is Proctors response Why does he respond this way Because Elizabeth claims that she is pregnant, Danforth offers to not try her until after shes delivered her child if Proctor will drop the charge against the court that the proceedings have been unjust. Proctor said that he could not accept that plea because his friends wives, who are also innocent, have been charged and they need to be freed. He feels that the truth needs to come out to protect all of the innocent people. 6. How do Hathorne and Parris persuade Danforth to respond to the deposition that lists ninety-one supporters of Rebecca, Elizabeth, and Martha Corey Hathorne and Parris persuade Danforth that all of the ninety-one supporters must be…
The Salem Witch Trials are known as a series of people being accused and prosecuted of witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts beginning in February 1692 until May 1693. The trials began after a group of girls claimed that they were possessed by the devil. Several local women were accused of witchcraft and this began the wave of hysteria that would forever haunt Salem and leave a painful legacy for a long time to come. Nearly every major school of historians has attempted to explain the answer to the mystery of the trials, trying to understand why they occurred. From Marxists who blame class conflict, to Freudians who believe in mass hysteria, the more ecologically based historians who put the blame on hallucinogenic ergot fungus, and now more…
The infamous witch hunt in 1692, regarded as the Salem Witch Trials, occurred in Salem Massachusetts and resulted in mass hysteria. Tension had been building for quite some time but had exploded when a group of young girls were caught dancing in the woods with a slave from Barbados. These girls took part in this act as a form of escapism, namely due to the fact that the society in Salem greatly oppressed the traits that made humans human. For instance, the lifestyle was very demanding, strict, and rigid; all citizens were expected to work hard and subdue all emotion and opinions. Conformity was required, despite the fact that all humans have their differences. In the play The Crucible, …
In Arthur Miller’s article, “Are You Now Or Were You Ever?,” Miller identifies many similarities between the issues during the “Red Scare” and the events in Salem. One similarity that really stands out is Miller’s point that, “Both had the menace of concealed plots, but most startling were the similarities in the rituals of defense, the investigative routines: 300 years apart, both prosecutions alleged membership of a secret, disloyal group.” Miller’s points are very accurate and perfectly depict life for those in 1692 and the 1950’s. The “Red Scare” and Salem are dreadfully alike because of their similar processes. Salem in 1692 was a place of hysteria. People were accused of being witches. The people who were accused did nothing to bring on the accusations. People were accused strictly based on what others claimed to see, hear, and feel. Those accused in Salem were not respected, trusted, or treated fairly. People were accused of sending their specters upon others. In the court spectral evidence was used and believed to be reliable. At the time all accused were considered guilty until proven innocent. They could not stand up for themselves and fight their accusers. Once accused there were two options. One was to admit to witchcraft then turn around and accuse others. The second option was to be hanged for those who would not admit. Many were hanged in Salem. The “Red Scare” was similar to the events in Salem. Those accused during the 1950’s did nothing wrong. A group of people, known as the “Hollywood Ten,” was accused of wrongdoing and there were no real reasons for the accusations. Many others were blacklisted because they would not give up names of people they believed were guilty of communistic acts. Those who were blacklisted could not find work and were frowned upon in the community. The lack of evidence, proof, and reason is parallel to the events in Salem. In the end few were actually killed during the “Red Scare”, but like Salem there were executions.…
Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, depicts the Salem witchcraft trials of 1692 but is analogous to the McCarthy trials of the 1950s. In both situations, widespread hysteria occurs, stemming from existing fears of the people of that particular era. The Salem witchhunt trials parallel the McCarthy era in three major aspects: unfounded accusations, hostile interrogation of numerous innocent people and the ruination and death of various people’s lives.…
Those involved in the McCarthy witch hunts and those in The Crucible are mainly motivated to condemn others for personal gain or out of sheer panic and hysteria. Many--if they did not share views of the general population--are openly condemned in both the McCarthy era and in “The Crucible.” In both instances, regardless of the amount of evidence present, people were suspected of witchcraft/communism and consequently condemned. The many claims of witchcraft made by characters in Miller’s “The Crucible”--lacking sufficient evidence--share great similarities with the communist “witch hunts” of the McCarthy…
The Salem Witch Trials has been a debatable topic for many historians enamored by its deviation from the normal as seen in Europe or other European Colonies in North America. As presented in Bryan Le Beau’s book The Story of the Salem Witch Trials, the story of Salem is unique in that it is centered primarily around the communities incapability to harmonize with one another. In the first two chapters, the book introduces its readers to a brief history of witchcraft trials, including how they began in Europe and followed colonists to the New World. In chapter three, the book describes Salem as it was before the trials and its ultimate path to the devastation it eventually created. It describes the division of the community and how that led to “…the point of institutional, demographic, and economic polarization” (p.50). Le Beau’s thesis is that “New England communities…suffered from the economic, social, political, and religious dislocations of the modernization process of the Early Modern Period, but to a greater extent than others,” he believed, “Salem village fell victim to warring factions, misguided leadership, and geographical limitations that precluded its dealing effectively with those problems” (p.43). The chapters following Le Beau’s thesis chronologically present the Salem Witch Craft trials and what was left in the wake the realization that followed.…
Society has been affected by religion ever since mankind existed. People’s values and morals could be altered from the belief of any religion because religion sets rules for one who chooses to believes it. If a rule were to be broken, a sin is presented upon the person. Society back in Salem Massachusetts of 1692 believes there are witches among the town. Anyone who doesn't believe there are any is automatically assumed to be working with the devil or is a witch. Religion may or may not be a big factor in the results of the Salem Witch Trials. Religion has not only been part of the Salem’s government system, but it has also been affecting the decisions of society.…
Would the Salem Witch Trials have occurred if the Bill of Rights had existed at that time?…
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 initial accusations and labeling of people as “witches” during the era of the Salem Witch trials was a product of fear. When Abigail and her friends become caught dancing…
It has been said many times that if people don't learn from their mistakes they are doomed to repeat them, such is the case throughout history. There are many different examples of this, but one example is the blatant similarities between the witch trials in Salem, Massachusetts and the era of McCarthyism. When considering the nature of these events, it is hard to believe that they could have actually happened, not would only once, but twice. If one would take the time to compare these events he or she will be able to see numerous similarities between them. In The Crucible Miller relates an analogy of the witch trials in Salem to the investigation of communists by Joseph McCarthy. There are many similarities between these two events in history.…
The belief in witchcraft, or supernatural actions and the devil’s ability to give certain humans the power to harm others, in return for their loyalty, had been a part of traditional village culture in Europe since the 14th century. (history.com) The Salem witch trials took place between 1692 and 1693 in colonial Massachusetts. Two hundred people were accused of witchcraft and twenty people were executed. (smithsonianmag.com)…
Breaking the law was no joke back in colonial times. Punishment were extremely harsh. The convict will be punished by physical pain or sometimes death. Do to the poor judgment from the court's most of the accused were innocent. Even the defendants of the accused were punished, if the accused were proven guilty. One of the crimes that were taken really seriously was Witchcraft, which was punished by death. A lot of innocent women died during those year in Salem. The punishments for crime in colonial times were not fair.…
