Jolly Emily Jolly Professor Lindsey American Lit.

5 April 2011 How are the Salem Witch Trials an allegory for McCarthyism? During the 1600s the Salem Witch trials occurred, but as one might say history repeats itself because in 1950s McCarthyism took place. The Salem Witch Trials and McCarthyism favor in many ways, continuous accusation, leading politicians and the reaction to Satan and

communism. Innocent people of Salem and Americans died because of the false accusations. The list of accusations grew as more people accused others for personal reason. Many people were terrified who might accuse them next; you never knew who your friends were and who to trust. In 1600s the Salem Witch Trials took place, numbers of innocent people were accused for practicing witch craft and worshipping Satan. There were many trials and court case that arise, many of the women that were accused just came out and yes I am in on it just to avoid the death penalty. The first case of the Salem Witch Trials was a woman named Tituba, the Reverends housekeeper. Some of the girls in the town calmed that she was casing spells and had bewitched them. They would complain of getting pitched and scratched. Tituba had a questionable reputation she was quite and kept to herself. When the case was took to court and to avoid death, she accused others in the town which caused them to accuse others. This led to where everyone was accusing everyone and you never knew if you were next. Later in the 1950s McCarthyism was inflamed, you would say it was like a wild fire tearing apart a nation.

Jolly In the 1950s McCarthyism was the new Salem Witch Trials, but instead of people practicing witchcraft it was people being undercover communism. It was called the red scare. Better dead then Red was a popular slogan. President Truman went along with the anticommunism policy because it was popular among the US voters. The begin the Federal Employee Loyalty Program, in 1947 this combating security the risks of communists from working for the Federal Government. Every new person taking any new job in the civil service or government would be investigated first. Which the congress set up the House Committee on UN- American Activates that investigates communist involvement in the film industry,

education, unions and the government. If a person was accused they would either get jail time or be blacklisted which meant they could not get jobs. In 1948 a man named Alger Hiss, a former official of the US state department foreign affairs was accused but a former communist of handing over 200 secret state documents it him and being a communist. He denied all charges, but was sent to prison for 5 years for perjury, but never convicted for being a Russian spy. He was not a spy but however it added to the Reds under the Beds hysteria. In 1950, McCarthy, a republican senator, claimed he had a listed of 205 members of the communist party in the US, who worked for the State Department. He had no evidence he just waved his listed for the cameras. McCarthy bullied threatened and abused witnesses while he accused them of communist. Soon however people started to turn against him. The made a outrageous claim that the army was filled with communists. When this went on televise, he came across as a bully and a liar. In 1954 he was pushed out of the public life and became an alcoholic, which he died from three years later. The effects of McCarthyism were 9,500 civil workers were dismissed and 15,000 resigned; 600 teachers lost their jobs and many fine actors and scriptwriters were unable to work again. McCarthyism turned the world upside down in a blind of an eye.

Jolly The Salem Witch Trials and McCarthyism are both alike in simpler ways. They are both two tragic invents in American history and both show how accusing someone for something can cause many terrible things to happen and many lives lost as the end result. The unfortunate situations had shaped and formed American to what it is today. Many American want to sweep this under the rug and forget it ever took place, but think to yourself what would America be like today without mistakes.