Englelhardt English III CP 12‚ March 2011 McCarthyism Vs. Salem Witch Trials What would your reaction be if you were accused of something and were innocent? This is what happened to many people in the Salem Witch Trials and in McCarthyism. Innocent people were being punished for crimes that they did not commit. Even though there was little evidence‚ they were being hurt simply because somebody didn’t like their personal beliefs. The Salem Witch Trials and McCarthyism are alike in many ways including their
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happened hundreds of years apart be strikingly similar? The themes and events of the Salem witch trails and McCarthyism era are very similar but still very different. The two events happened in the US history. The Salem witch trails happened in the year 1692 ‚ while the McCarthyism era was going on in the 1950-60 . The events happened 258 years apart. In both the witch trails and McCarthyism the accusations where based on pointless facts. “They be telling lies about my wife” (miller214). People
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It is common knowledge that Author Miller wrote The Crucible as a reaction to a tragic time in our countries history. The McCarthy hearings‚ as they came to be known‚ which dominated our country from 1950 to 1954‚ where hearings in which many‚ suspected of being related to communism‚ where interviewed and forced to give up names of others‚ or they where imprisoned‚ and their names were black listed. There are several parallels between the McCarthy Era‚ and the time of the Salem which trials. One
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To start off‚ the fear and paranoia of world destruction that existed in the McCarthy Era‚ was also clearly present in The Crucible with its deeply religious nature. American society during the McCarthy Era had a great fear of the Communists because they believed that the Communists wanted nuclear war‚ which meant the destruction of America and the rest of the world. On the other hand‚ communists did not yet exist in the time period that The Crucible took place in. Instead‚ the deeply religious nature
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Joseph McCarthy was a junior senator from Wisconsin who gave a speech in West Virginia in February 1950 in which he made the threat of communism clear to the people‚ “Today‚ only six years later‚ there are 800 million people under the absolute domination of Soviet Russia - an increase of over 400 percent. On our side the figure has shrunk to around 500 million. In other words‚ in less than six years the odds have changed from 9 to 1 in our favor to 8 to 5 against us” (Document G). The Soviet Union
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As a first generation Polish American‚ I grew up believing that medicine is untrustworthy. I was taught by the Polish community to avoid doctors and only went to a clinic when necessary. I have since abandoned this conviction and wholeheartedly accept the immense benefits of preventive care. However‚ a thought remains that haunts me‚ “Why is the Polish community so opposed to healthcare?” This question can be answered by looking to the past. During the communist era‚ the Polish medical system was
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Ogarek Period 5 "The whole past is the procession of the present." - Thomas Carlyle This statement coincides with the idea that history repeats itself. A perfect example of this is the similarities between the Salem Witch Trials and McCarthyism. The Salem Witch Trials were portrayed in the novel‚ The Crucible. Arthur Miller wrote this novel during the McCarthy era. Arthur Miller was put on trial for communism in the same fashion of many during the Salem Witch Trials. Many of the characters in Arthur
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Salem Witch Trials and McCarthyism Throughout history‚ society as a whole has experienced many different tragedies. All around the world negative events have taken place that affect large groups of citizens. Mass hysteria is one of many examples. Mass hysteria can be defined as a large group of people whose behavior exhibits overwhelming or unmanageable fear or emotional excess (Merriam Webster 613). Mass hysteria caused and contributed to many life changing events‚ including the Salem Witch Trials
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face a conflict of either blanketly removing the unacceptable or directly confronting and conquering the incorrect behaviors through allowing independent thought. Both McCarthyism and Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 manifest this conflict and ultimately realize that knowledge and independent thought need to prevail. In both McCarthyism and Fahrenheit 451 a higher power attempts to eradicate knowledge and independent thought through book burning. “In 1953 U.S Senator Joseph McCarthy recited before his
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McCarthyisms is the taking of countless innocent people and persecuting them by Joseph McCarthy’s aggressive tactics. McCarthyism is also known as “Red Scare.” Joseph McCarthy plays a part in the growing concerns that Americans had about Communism in the country by spending almost 5 years trying to expose communist
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