Witch Hunts Essay, Research Paper

Imagine what it would be like to be labeled a Communist for the mere fact that

you happened to sport a goatee? It happened in the 1950?s McCarthyism period!

Doesn?t this sound strangely similar to the Salem witch-hunts? Perfectly

normal people accused of being witches just because they were seen dancing

strangely in the woods. McCarthyism and the Salem witch-hunts were both attempts

by power-hungry people to diminish their competition without any concrete

evidence. The causes of the Salem witchcraft trails and ?McCarthyism? were

irrational fears that witchcraft and communism were going to infiltrate society

if drastic measures were not taken. Once the idea that witchcraft might really

be going on got started, the behavior of normal citizens was open to suspicion

of witchcraft. Likewise, the real fear of a Communist take-over had Americans in

the 1950?s so frightened, some actually believed that there neighbors might be

spies because McCarthy was planting this suspicion so strongly into their minds.

Once the hysteria began, it snowballed out of control. In the Salem witch hunts

two young girls, Betty Paris and Abigail Williams, were exhibiting strange

behavior and were diagnosed to have been touched by the hand of the devil. When

pressured to reveal the witch or witches who had caused this, the young girls

named several outcasts of society. These accused witches were guilty until they

prove their innocence. Many were tortured until they confessed they were in fact

witches so they did not have to endure any more pain. A few who admitted their

guilt were spared, while the rest were quickly executed. These confessions

became the ?proof? of the existence of witches. The hysteria of McCarthyism

began when Senator Joseph McCarthy landed a series of highly publicized

investigations that intended to bring forward Communists in the State Department

and Hollywood. McCarthy eventually let his ?Red Scare? get out of control

and said the U.S. Army was concealing foreign espionage activities. His

accusations contained little evidence and McCarthy eventually fell into

disfavor. The Witch-hunts of Salem resulted in the execution of 20 individuals.

People accused of witchcraft were considered guilty until proven innocent, and

tests were devised to identify the guilty. Those who passed the treacherous

tests were considered witches and put to death. Eventually, the madness ended

but not before the slaying of twenty innocent people. The McCarthy Communism

scare turned very negitive toward Senator McCarthy when the hearings to

investigate whether the secretary of the Army was not cooperating to uncover

Communists in the U.S. military. These hearings were given a great amount of

media coverage and that did much to end the anti Communist ?witch-hunt? led

by McCarthy. A resolution of censure against McCarthy was soon introduced in the

Senate. On December 2, 1954, Senator Joseph McCarthy was condemned in a vote of

a special session of the U.S. Senate for his conduct in Senate committees.

Garraty, John A. ?The Rise of McCarthyism.? The Story of America.

Cincinnati, OH: Pantheon Books, 1990: 458-459. ?McCarthy, Joseph Raymond.?

Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia 99. New York, NY: Publishing, Inc., 1999. CD-ROM

?The Salem Witch Trails 1692.? 27 August 1997.

(14 October 1999).