Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Parallels between the Salem Witch Trials and the McCarthy Era

Faith, Freedom, and Fear;

Parallels between the Salem Witch Trials and the McCarthy Era

By Molly Miller


February 1 2008



Just as faith was central to the government of Salem in 1692, the foundation of the government of the USA in 1947 was freedom. Both faith and freedom are personal and vary on the individual, yet both were judged and, in an effort to control its people, the governments of both times tried many people and accused them of horrible things. In Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible” Miller makes reference to these parallels, showing how the events leading up to the trials were parallel, the trials unjust and biased, and the punishments harsh.

In “The Crucible” the case of witchery within Salem was brought up when two of the village children became ill. The two little girls fell sick after observing the older girls from Salem dance in the woods; a practice that was forbidden by the church. They were, in their sickness, described as asleep and could not be wakened. Fearful for their children, the adults of the Salem community cried out against those whom they thought caused the illness.

Likewise, the United States citizens looked at Russia and saw the ‘illness’ that lay within it. A lot of what Americans looked to in Russia was how their children were treated. In one of the trials, Ayn Rand (being from Russia) criticized a movie’s portrayal of Russian children because of their nice clothing and smiling faces. She said “I don't know whose children they are, but they are really happy kiddies. They are not homeless children in rags, such as I have seen in Russia.” And then later, when asked if Russian children smiled at all she replied “Well, if you ask me literally, pretty much no.” (CNN.com)

Because of the view that the people in Russia were suppressed and their children suffering, Americans became afraid for their own children and began searching out the “witches” of America; the communists, who were to blame for Russia’s unhealthy conditions.

Once the people of Salem were convinced that witches were to blame, they stopped at nothing to find out who was “in contract” with the devil and purging Satan out either by public confession or death. They did this by holding “trials” in which the accused were not able to defend themselves, but rather, were given the choice to either confess or die. Many witnesses were called against the accused, but none dare defend them.

In America, the trials were much alike. There was often more effort to prove the accused guilty than there was to prove innocence. That is because none dare stand up for the accused, for fear of being accused themselves.

What did they have to fear? Shouldn’t the truth weigh more than the punishment? Well in this case, the punishment for those found guilty could be very severe. In Salem, the punishment was death. If there was someone who was accused and did not confess to being so, it was thought that they (and Satan with them) must be purged from the community.

It was very similar in the McCarthy era. Those who were Communists, the Americans thought, needed to get off American streets. So a system was set up where, if a person was labeled as a Communist, their name would go on the “black list” which was set up to warn people against hiring them or affiliating with them. If those Communists weren’t lucky enough to get by with being put on the “black list” they would be arrested, tried and thrown in jail. In New Rochelle, New York all known Communists were required to register with the police, pay $100 in fines and serve a 180 day sentence in jail for every day they remained in town. (“The Age of McCarthyism”)

With such unfair trials and harsh punishments in both times, it’s no wonder so many people did everything they could to avoid being accused, even if it meant snitching on their friends or putting the blame on others to distract from themselves.

Certainly there are many parallels between the Salem Witch Trials and the McCarthy era. The events leading up to the trials, the unfair and biased trials, and the harsh punishments are only a few links between them; there is one more I’d like to talk about briefly and that is the lesson we can learn.

We can learn the same lesson from Salem and America. What is that lesson? We shouldn’t let our fear blind us towards humanity. In Salem they should have remembered that everyone has doubts in their faith once in a while (it is part of being a sinful human) and that, because we fail in that area as well, we are not to judge each other’s faith. In America, we should have looked past what “party” someone belongs to and only concern ourselves if the individual’s actions were suspicious.

Either way, judging someone requires much more than a few quick snapshots or labels. We are all as human as the person standing next to us and we must always remember to treat each other according to how we would like to be treated. If you would not like to die, shamed, or even fined on another person’s accusation and fear, do not accuse them out of fear. “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” (Matthew 7:12)

Works Cited

CNN Interactive; Historical documents; episode 6: the Cold War. Ayn Rand’s testimony at the HUAC hearings. http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cold.war/episodes/06/documents/huac/

“The Age of McCarthyism; a brief history with documents. Second edition.” By Ellen Schrecker

http://books.google.com/books?id=Ysn9iZWJXKUC&pg=PA83&lpg=PA83&dq=jail+sentences+for+communists+mccarthy+age&source=web&ots=kZk7Y7vYsl&sig=IiKJqzXrqgKyoenctRG7OpyBSCc#PPP1,M1

Matthew 7:12 Quote by Jesus

The Bible

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