relate in depth the similarities between the salem witch trails and the mccarthyism trails?

Question

compare and contrast

Answer 1

They were both in their own eras witch hunts. In Salem, people who were accused of being witches, were arrested, given a quick trial, and then burned at the stake.

With Joseph McCarthy, people were accused of being communist agents, or sympathizers, and their lives were ruined, as they were blacklisted.

Those accused of being communist did not lose their lives to the state, however a number of them did commit suicide.

Just to show how far out McCarthy was, he actually accused Lucille Ball of being a communist, she was not, however some people did choose to believe it.
Desi was not one of them.

Answer 2

In the Salem trials, as in McCarthyism, the mere accusation was practically enough to secure a conviction. While it's true that those who were accused of being Communist sympathizers, unlike the victims of the witchcraft hysteria (and they were NOT burned at the stake in Salem, they were hanged, except for Giles Corey, who refused to enter a plea and was pressed to death, which saved his property from being confiscated and permitting it to go to his heirs) were not executed, one must consider the quality of life--many of them were writers, performers, and people who otherwise made a living by their talents. If that is your livelihood and you can't find work, you're in a bit of a bind (to say the least!).

A feature of both situations was the idea of "guilt by association"--if you had attended a meeting of the Communist party (or one of its "front groups"), it was assumed that you followed their ideology, and in Salem if you didn't follow the Puritan doctrine without question, you were assumed to be in league with the devil. This got really out of hand when the accusers started naming church members of excellent standing and reputation--Rebecca Nurse, for instance--and the judges took their word at face value, completely ignoring the lives of piety that these people had led in the past.

Both situations were often fueled by such venal motives as envy, revenge, or greed. In Salem, if you wanted a peice of property and the owner wouldn't sell, accuse him of witchcraft
--often the accuser was rewarded with the victim's land. During the McCarthy "red scare" it was enough to ruin a person's career with the accusation of Communist leanings, so if your political rival (or you were miffed with a fellow actor, writer--you see where I'm going with this) was a thorn in your side, just hint at leftist leanings and it would often take care of itself, with you coming across as the good, patriotic citizen.

Come to think of it, it's also reminiscent of the Reign of Terror during the French Revolution, only minus the bloodshed!

I'd recommend that you read, or better yet, see a performance of, Arthur Miller's play The Crucible. It's based on the Salem Witch Trials (and quotes extensively from the actual trial records) and is a commentary on McCarthyism.