The Communist Hunt and the Salem Witch Hunt

There have been cases in human history where neighbors were bitter enemies and the lives of innocent people were permanently ruined! Two well-known cases occurred in 1692 and in the 1950's. In 1692, a team of adolescent girls inspired an all-out witch hunt in their town of Salem, Massachusetts. In the 1950's, Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy incited a Communist hunt in the United States. McCarthy's Communist hunt and the Salem witch hunt resembled each other because these hunts had similar origins, interrogation methods, societal effects, and conclusions.

Origins

McCarthy and the Salem girls began these hunts out of fear. In May 1950, Senator McCarthy feared he would be defeated in the upcoming election for US Senate. Likewise, in February 1692, a few young girls from Salem, MA, feared they would be punished for dancing since their community believed dancing was directly linked to witchcraft. To resolve their problems, McCarthy and the Salem girls began accusing people whom they thought were linked to the issues of their respective times. They believed that their deeds would make them heroes and give them the power and popularity needed to eliminate their fears. Communist infiltration into the United States was the largest national issue of the 1950's, so McCarthy claimed he knew the names of 57 people in the US Department of State who were Communists ("Joseph McCarthy"). Similarly, in Salem, there was this "conspiracy of witches whose aim was to bring down the rule of the Church, of Christianity", so the young Salem girls accused people of being witches (Miller xv). These accusations brought by McCarthy and the Salem girls were the official beginnings of the Communist hunt and Salem witch hunt, respectively.

Interrogation Methods

McCarthy examined the accused Communists. The local magistrates of Salem examined the accused witches. McCarthy and the magistrates pressured suspects to confess the crimes they were accused of committing. The suspects were encouraged to name anyone else associated with Communists / witches. Although all suspects in either hunt were bound to receive some sort of punishment, the ones who named other people received less punishment.

Societal Effects

These hunts brought fear into the people of the US and Salem. As a result, many people feigned respect for McCarthy and the Salem girls because the few people who publicly doubted the hunt of their time were immediately ostracized by society. Since anyone had the ability to call someone else a Communist or a witch, people living during either hunt were frightened that even their closest friends could accuse them! Thus, very few people trusted each other; neighbors became bitter enemies; and calling someone a "Communist" or a "witch" became the new method to tarnish one's reputation - to seek revenge.

Conclusions

McCarthy's Communist hunt and the Salem witch hunt ended when the majority of the US and Salem residents disapproved of these hunts. In October 1953, McCarthy's harsh treatment of Military General Ralph Zwicker during televised military investigations caused many of McCarthy's supporters to see McCarthy as "bullying, reckless, and dishonest" ("Joseph McCarthy: Biography"). Similarly, by the autumn of 1692, doubts in Salem were rapidly developing as to how so many respected people were found guilty. The official end of McCarthy's Communist hunt came in December 1954, when the Senate voted to censure McCarthy by a vote of 67 to 22 ("Joseph McCarthy"). The end of the Salem witch hunt came when Governor Phips of Salem, influenced by the writings of Salem's educated elite, rejected the use of spectral evidence in courts and released the remaining accused witches from prison (Linder). In the Communist hunt, many suspects permanently lost their jobs. In the Salem witch hunt, nineteen suspects were hanged (Miller vii).

McCarthy's Communist hunt of the 1950's was almost an exact duplicate of the Salem witch hunt of 1692. Both hunts had similar beginnings, procedures for questioning suspects, effects on society, and endings. After 1692, history repeated itself in the 1950's. Will the world experience another hunt?

Works Cited:

"Joseph McCarthy." Spartacus Educational. July 2007. 30 July 2007.

Joseph McCarthy: Biography. 21 April 2003. Appleton Public Library. 30 July 2007.

Linder, Douglas. "The Witchcraft Trials in Salem: A Commentary." Salem Witchcraft Trials1692. March 2007.

Miller, Arthur. The Crucible. 1953. New York: Penguin Books, 2003.