The Crucible > Salem Witch Trials Vs. The Red Scare 1950's
The Crucible was seen as a metaphor for a modern day witch hunt in the McCarthy time period. The word McCarthyism is know for ¨ the practice of publicizing accusation of political disloyalty or subversion without any evidence. The term
¨ McCarthyism " came from the senator Joseph R. McCarthy who at the time was making false accusations. While he was in office, he accused several people of being communism.
¨ McCarthyism " came from the senator Joseph R. McCarthy who at the time was making false accusations. While he was in office, he accused several people of being communism.
SimilarityThe Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, was an
comparison between the Salem Witchcraft Trials and the Communist Red Scare. But wasn't directly stated in his story. The events of the 1680's and 1690's witchery accusations were very similar to those of the 1920's Red Scare, communists accusations. There was a widespread hysteria in the late sixteenth century of witchcraft in New England. Communism is "a system of social organization in which all economic and social activity is controlled by a totalitarian state dominated by a single and self-perpetuating political party." Joseph McCarthy, the United States Senate in 1850, accused Dean Acheson, the U.S. Secretary of State, of knowing 205 communists in the State Department. He also stated that he himself knew of 57 communists in the department and called for an investigation. McCarthyism is know for "the practice of making accusations of disloyalty, especially of pro-Communist activity destroyed the lives of many innocent people as did the Salem Witch Trials." |
Differences Though the Red Scare and the Salem Witch Trials were both time periods of
hysteria, they had their differences. The most difference was their affected by these periods of hysteria. The Red Scare was something that was going on throughout the whole country. The Salem Witch Trials were limited to the town of Salem, Massachusetts. The Red Scare is said to be the most effected of World War I . Many of the communist and anarchist ideas were developed around and because of the war. The Salem Witch Trials didn't really have a cause and there were some reports of witchcraft in other towns but nothing to the extent of World War I. The trials expanded from a small idea and also The Red Scare developed from the main idea of World War I . Also the Salem Witch Trials were based around the accusations of a group of young girls. The majority of the town believed in everything that came out of these girls mouth. People's lives were taken and destroyed if these girl's decided to accuse them of witchcraft. During the Red Scare it was a larger group of people that were making accusations of people being communists. |
In this video below, You'll learn on how The Red Scare started and also understand it better.