The Salem witch trials and the era known as McCarthyism have many similarities as well as differences, both reveal times in history when the people weren’t united as one. These two events are hundreds of years apart but reflect so much similarity. Both very tragic but these type of things have to happen so we can learn from them and try not to repeat them in the future. The Salem witch trials occurred in the late 1600’s, it all began with people accusing one another of being a “witch” or being possessed by the devil.
When in fact no one was actually a witch. They took witchcraft extremely seriously and the accused were jailed and then hanged if they did not confess to being a witch. One might think this isn’t a big deal, just confess and no one will be hanged. For someone back then to confess to being a witch was a huge deal. Pride and ego’s often got in the way and people would not confess. If they confessed they would be thought of as lesser and would never be looked at the same in society.
Some might even call them cowards. Over 100 people were accused with many resulting in death; women, children, elderly, it didn’t matter. McCarthyism occurred in the mid-1900’s when random people, many holding government positions, were accused of being communist. The definition of McCarthyism is “the practice of making accusations of disloyalty, subversion, or treason without proper regard for evidence. ” During this time period those people who were suspected of being communist were blacklisted.
The Term Paper on Middle Ages Witchcraft Witches People
'Europeanwitchcraft was a unique phenomenon which differed from European high magic from the low magic or simple sorcery' (Russel 658). 'High magic and simple sorcery differ however in methods and motivation' (658). High magic was astrology and alchemy (658). Sorcerers are usually people that are motivated by strong feelings of jealously, revenge, malice which are experienced by everyone (Marwich ...
They would lose their job and be looked at as lesser. Over 320 people were accused. The witch trials and McCarthyism were almost repeats of each other. When someone would accuse someone else they had no real proof, just suspicion. If someone was holding a grudge they could accuse the person they didn’t like and get them hanged or blacklisted. Those who were believed to be witches or communists were feared and essentially their lives were ruined just because of an accusation.
Something very interesting that I discovered was Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible during McCarthyism. In conclusion, the Salem witch trials and McCarthyism both reveal times in history when there wasn’t order. From both of these events we learn that history usually repeats itself and if people can be aware of what’s happening we can stop it from repeating. Innocent people were convicted of something they had no control over. All they could do was suffer the consequences.
