McCarthyism and the salem witch trials Although many people in 1692 were presumed to be good Christian people they had many faults, along with government officials were expected to be honest people. The McCarthy
Hearings in the 1950’s was similar to the Salem Witch trials in 1692. In these cases people were wrongfully accused without evidence, both were unfair trials, and the communities reacted similarly.
In
Salem Massachusetts
, the accusations started when the father of a small child noticed unexplainable behavior in two of the towns younger girls. The two girls blamed a black slave woman named Tituba. She was already questionable because of her ethnic background therefore it was easy to take her into custody to be tried without any real evidence.
McCarthyism began when a man named Joseph McCarthy came to office. He had an unsuccessful first term in the senate, and he was trying to ensure his position so he resorted to corruption. He accused government employees of being communists. This created fear for many americans many of the accused were put on blacklists and were not hired by many companies. Evidence was exploited and was very exaggerated. Just like how Tituba was presumed to be a witch, the men and women that McCarthy accused of being a communist we're clearly wrongfully accused.
The First Salem Witch trial took place in June, Bridget Bishop was tried and found guilty. Tituba confessed and went to jail. One hundred and fifty other Salem residents were also incriminated both men and woman. Children were the most common of people to accuse these people. In 1950, McCarthy accused over 205 people of being a communist or being involved in communism. McCarthy pushed his way to the top of the investigation just like
Abigail Williams did. In the witch trials she blackmailed people to keep her name intact end.
McCarthy continued to keep accusing innocent people of being a communist. After two years of this the investigation began to be known as the witch