Differences between McCarthyism(The Red Scare) and the Salem Witchhunts?

Question

I have to make a venn-diagram. I need differences and similarities. THANKS!

Answer 1

This is a very interesting question. One of the best I have seen on Yahoo Answers in a while.
One difference between the two is the reasons why the victims were persecuted. The witches were condemned for religious reasons. Their powers were supposed to come from Satan. McCarthy's victims were prosecuted for political reasons. He accused them of belonging to the Communist party. A similarity is that in both the Salem witch hunts and the McCarthy trials, those accused were asked to give the authorities the names of people who had committed similar offenses. In short they were expected to snitch.
Another difference is that the Salem Witch trials were directed mainly against women. Whereas McCarthy targets were mainly government employees, those in the entertainment industry, union leaders and activists There was no sexual bias. Another similarity in both instances was that the evidence presented was often flimsy and based more on heresay and suspicion rather than hard fact.

Answer 2

Witches were hung/banished at a time when banishment usually meant death.

McCarthyism punished people by taking their living and their identity away from them