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Question: What was McCarthyism and how is it related to the Salem Witch Trials!?
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McCarthyism refers to the period from the late '40s through the late '50s when those in the federal government, particularly lead by Senator Joe McCarthy, instituted the second Red Scare (the first is less well know and followed WWI)!. The actual scare was the fear that Communists had entered the country and were spying on us while pretending to be regular citizens!. But the actual scare was a witch hunt!. You could be turned in as a communist or a communist sympathizer, and thousands were, for any kind of reason!. Maybe you were deemed not patriotic enough!. Maybe you'd been friends with the wrong people!. Maybe you said the wrong things!. It didn't matter, you came under suspicion and were investigated!. And depending on who you were that might have meant the end of your life (figuratively, though sometimes it might have ended up literally as some may have taken the law into their own hands)!.

The Salem Witch Trials were, quite literally, a witch hunt!. A group of girls began accusing men and women of being witchs and warlocks, even though there was absolutely no proof of such claims!. Sound a little familar!? You could be accused of something whether or not those accusiations were true!. And it could lead to the end of your life!. In the case of at least twenty five individuals, that wast quite literal (19 hanged, 1 pressed to death, and at least five died in jail)!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

The Salem witch trials and the Red Scare both involved ongoing accusations that led to numerous innocent people being accused!.
McCarthyism is a term describing the intense anti-communist suspicion in the United States in a period that lasted roughly from the late 1940s to the late 1950s!. This period is also referred to as the Second Red Scare, and coincided with increased fears about communist influence on American institutions and espionage by Soviet agents!. Originally coined to criticize the actions of U!.S!. Senator Joseph McCarthy, "McCarthyism" later took on a more general meaning, not necessarily referring to the conduct of Joseph McCarthy alone!.
During this time many thousands of Americans were accused of being Communists or communist sympathizers and became the subject of aggressive investigations and questioning before government or private-industry panels, committees and agencies!. The primary targets of such suspicions were government employees, those in the entertainment industry, educators and union activists!. Suspicions were often given credence despite inconclusive or questionable evidence, and the level of threat posed by a person's real or supposed leftist associations or beliefs was often greatly exaggerated!. Many people suffered loss of employment, destruction of their careers, and even imprisonment!. Most of these punishments came about through trial verdicts later overturned,[1] laws that would be declared unconstitutional,[2] dismissals for reasons later declared illegal[3] or actionable,[4] or extra-legal procedures that would come into general disrepute!.

The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings before local magistrates followed by county court trials to prosecute people accused of witchcraft in Essex, Suffolk, and Middlesex Counties of colonial Massachusetts, between February 1692 and May 1693!. Over 150 people were arrested and imprisoned, with even more accused who were not formally pursued by the authorities!. The two courts convicted twenty-nine people of the capital felony of witchcraft!. Nineteen of the accused, fourteen women and five men, were hanged!. One man (Giles Cory) who refused to enter a plea was crushed to death under heavy stones in an attempt to force him to do so!. At least five more of the accused died in prison!.
Despite being generally known as the "Salem" witch trials, the preliminary hearings in 1692 were conducted in a variety of towns across the province: Salem Village, Ipswich, Andover, as well as Salem Town, Massachusetts!. The best-known trials were conducted by the Court of Oyer and Terminer in 1692 in Salem Town!. All twenty-six who went to trial before this court were convicted!. The four sessions of the Superior Court of Judicature in 1693, held in Salem Town, but also in Ipswich, Boston, and Charlestown, produced only three convictions in the thirty-one witchcraft trials it conducted!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Umm isnt that McCarthy Guy some man from the 60's who belived that the comunist were invading America and every one was getting scared like what happend at the salem witch trials also the author of the book "The Crucible" which is about the salem witch trials actually used this communist scare as the insperation for his book!.

I think thats it idk im just trying to recall stuff from my memory!.

But for more details there is probablly sites online that will better explain it!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

McCarthyism occurred in the 1950's (I think), when Sen!. Joseph McCarthy started accusing individuals (a lot from the entertainment industry) of being communists!. Many of them got blacklisted from Hollywood!. He never had any proof or anything, just hearsay!.!.!.sort of like the Salem Witch Trials when people just started accusing each other of being witches!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Well, the major difference is that there was never such a thing as witches, but there sure as heck were Communists in Hollywood and the State Department!. Modern liberals/leftists/Democrats can't admit it, but McCarthy, for all his faults, has largely been vindicated : that is, he was largely correct about a "vast, left-wing conspiracy" to control the government and popular media of the US!.Www@QuestionHome@Com