Pros And Cons Of The Salem Witch Trials

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Cons of Salem Witch Trials, World War II, and McCarthyism
False Accusations
From the Salem Witch Trials of 1692 to McCarthyism in the 1950s, many negative effects were brewed by hatred and discrimination against the innocent population. All of these incidents occurred as the public was influenced by authority positions. “The McCarthy Hearings were referred to as "witch-hunts" because of their similarity to the Salem witch trials” (The McCarthy Hearings and their relation to the Salem Witch Trials). Both events struck fear into the victim because of the “guilty until you confess” (The McCarthy Hearings and their relation to the Salem Witch Trials) attitude that dominated the courts as well as the public. Abigail Williams and Joseph McCarthy both used “witches” and “Communists” as a …show more content…
As a result of the Salem Witch Trials, “One to two hundred people in the Salem area [had] been imprisoned. Twenty-four died and fifty-five falsely admitted to witchcraft” (The Salem Journal: The Aftermath). When Betty Parris and Abigail Williams “began having fits, including violent contortions and uncontrollable outbursts of screaming, a local doctor, William Griggs, diagnosed bewitchment, [as] other young girls in the community began to exhibit similar symptoms” (Salem Witch Trial). Because of this one theory, the entire community started blaming innocent women as witches, usually women lower on the social class. Along with the unreliable accusations, the methods in determining witches were very skewed as it didn’t prove anything. Because of this, innocent people faced consequences they didn’t deserve and “The aftermath of the Salem Witch Trials plays a big part in life even today. It shows us how much is yet to be learned, and ways in which we can prevent future happenings similar to these” (The Salem Journal: The Aftermath). As the court
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