The McCarthy hearings went on during the years of 1950 - 1954. Joseph McCarthy was a U.S Republican Senator from Wisconsin and he started aggressively investigating claims that there were Communist and Soviet spies inside the federal government. The Cold War was during the 1940s and it started getting very rough between the United States, Soviet Union, and the Peoples Republic of China. The U.S went through a period of anti-communist tension and suspicion. Many were convicted of being Soviet spies, Communists, or Communist sympathizers. McCarthy accused and made public attack on peoples character and patriotism. This period in time was very similar to the Salem witch trials because many innocent people were also being accused of something they did not do, there was one person who started the whole dilemma, and people did not know who to point fingers at or who to trust.
During the Salem witch trials in 1692, Abigail Williams and other girls were said to have been bewitched. Abigail and the girls would accuse innocent people in the town of Salem, saying that the persons bewitched the girls or that a spirit was making them do things. During the McCarthy hearings Joseph McCarthy accused innocent people saying that they were Soviet spies or Communists, which was not the case. Joseph McCarthy would point out the people that he thought had something wrong with their character or patriotism, when they were really just like any other person. Abigail Williams also convicted innocent people that had not done anything wrong.
In the Salem witch trials the person who started the accusations was said to be Abigail Williams. If Abigail had not accused anyone or blamed innocent people for a the lie saying that they were sending spirits on her, the ones accused would not have accused other innocent people. Abigail had a kind of power over the people where she made it so they couldnt not believe her because she was looked at as young and innocent. McCarthy had power because he was senator, therefore people would listen to him if he had made accusations on people. Both Abigail and Joseph McCarthy had power, this made is so they could accuse people of doing something and it could be believable to people.
Hysteria is emotional excesses or an unimaginable state of mind. Joseph McCarthy pointed out innocent people saying that they were Soviet spies and Communists, this built up hysteria as did Abigail. Once people in Salem started hearing that there were witches in town, no one could trust anyone which led to people making up rumors, false statements, and judging people who were accused but really innocent. The McCarthy hearings also caused the problem of no one being able to trust anyone. Hysteria was a problem in both cases because with the Salem witch trials people would do anything to get themselves out of trouble. In the McCarthy hearings people were just accused by Joseph McCarthy without anything they could do, it was just a matter of who he looked at as patriotic or had a good character.
Arthur Miller writing The Crucible seems like a very accurate reaction to the McCarthy hearings which dominated the country from 1950-1954. Both the Salem witch trials and the McCarthy hearings had a person that started the dilemmas, people did not trust other people which caused hysteria, and many innocent people were accused. I believe these periods in history will always be compared to each other. Both cases deal with the same problem of false accusations and unfairness. It seems almost impossible that these two events in history, which happened in different time periods can be so alike.
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