History Repeating
The Salem Witch Trials and
McCarthyism
Salem, 1692
Massachusetts charter revived in 1692
after 8 years of infighting with local
Indians
 New governor, William Phips, sworn in
early that year
 Political confusion and unrest created
uncertain judicial environment
 Separate church congregation of Salem
(independent theocracy)

17th century Christianity

Puritanism:
 Predestination
(group of “elect” will go to
heaven; no way of knowing if you are)
 God and angels live in an invisible world
 Church ruled in all civil matters

Cotton Mather, Memorable Providences
Relating to Witchcrafts and Possessions
 Malleus Maleficarum (1486)
17th century Feminism
Women were supposed to be subservient
in all matters
 Children were seen and not heard; girls
trained to be servants to fathers,
husbands
 Women were considered lustful by nature
and more likely to join the Devil’s service
 Secrets were poorly kept in the small
community and gossip taken as fact

The Beginning

Abigail Williams (11) and her cousin Betty
Parris (9), the niece and daughter of
Salem’s Reverend Samuel Parris, began
experiencing fits:
 “The
girls screamed, threw things about the
room, uttered strange sounds, crawled under
furniture, and contorted themselves into
peculiar positions. The girls complained of
being pinched and pricked with pins.”

No physical explanation for the symptoms
The Accusations
More girls began experiencing afflictions
 Three women accused of bewitching the
children:

 Sarah
Good: A poor beggar woman
 Sarah Osborne: Rarely attended church and
had married her indentured servant
 Tituba: Caribbean slave of Rev. Parris

62 accusations by end of May, 1692
The Trials

Reliance on spectral
evidence; testimony
of the girls


Spectral evidence:
Witch sent her spirit to
torment her accusers
Women often failed to
make their cases as
the girls’ screaming
overtook the court
The Executions




Witches were hanged if
convicted.
150 people arrested, 29
convicted, 19 hanged
Giles Corey was pressed
to death for refusing to
enter a plea
At least five died in prison
The Aftermath
State of Massachusetts issued a formal
apology
 Salem Witch Trials memorial park built
 Medical Theories:

 Bird-borne
encephalitis
 Claviceps purpurea fungus
 Modern historians focus less on the medical
theory and more on social factors
Anti-Communism
In the 1940s and 50s, anti-Communist
feeling ran high in the US
 Rise of the Soviet Union, Allied victory in
WW2 and suspicion of atomic bombs
 “Red Scares” beginning in 1917-20, people
suspected others of being Communists
and testified against each other

Joseph McCarthy
Lincoln Day Speech, 1950: Claimed to
have a list of known Communists in the
government
 Rose to power as the leader of the House
Un-American Activities Committee
 Worked closely with FBI’s J. Edgar Hoover
to expose Communists in government

Communist Trials
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg (1950): Charged
with stealing atomic bomb secrets and executed
 Alger Hiss (1950): Guilty of espionage, perjury
 Klaus Fuchs (1950): Admitted to spying for USSR
while working on the Manhattan Project
 Hollywood Blacklist: Actors, producers, directors,
etc. who were not able to find work because
they were labeled Communist sympathizers


Arthur Miller and his Crucible cast were on the list
Similarities
Both trials based on
flimsy evidence
(primarily testimony)
 Both targeted
prominent members
of society in the end
 Both exploited the
collective fears of a
community
