The witch trials in Salem, Massachusetts in the 17 th century was a time of uneasiness and suspicion.

Anyone could easily turn in his or her neighbor on the ground of witchcraft. Someone could merely say their neighbor's spirit had attacked them during the night, which no man can prove. Arthur Miller wrote his play, The Crucible, a story about the Salem witch trials, and the panic resulting from it, as an allegory to show people the insanity of the McCarthy hearings after world war 2nd. He wrote it as an allegory so that, if tried by McCarthy, he could say, "it's just a play about the witch trials in Salem. How do you get this communist idea from it?" The story illustrates how people react to mass hysteria, created by a person or group of people desiring fame, as people did during the McCarthy hearings. Arthur Miller, acting as a great visionary, warned us that if we did not become aware of history repeating itself, our society would be in danger. At the same time, he had to do this in a matter that would not get him arrested, hence the witch-trial mechanization. On February 29, 1692, the first three warrants for arrest of the accused were issued. Three women were accused of witchcraft. After their confession, many others were named and arrested. Before the trials were over, nineteen people and two dogs were hanged for witchcraft. It created a panic and state of doubt about the integrity of authority, undermining the validity of the trials. The Crucible by Arthur Miller was actually written during the McCarthy era by Arthur Miller to show how history repeats itself, and illustrate how inane the McCarthy trials were. This play depicted the similarities of the two historical events, such as the intimidating and hostile manner in which the accused were questioned, a disregard for the legal rights of the accused, and the blacklisting of those involved. The similarities, however, continue throughout the play. The Salem witch trials were tragic occurrences in history signifying the Puritan way of life, and providing parallel for this seventeenth century jurisdiction failure to more recent incidents such as the McCarthy era and Japanese Internment. Occurrences from the McCarthy era, a metaphorical "witch hunt" in the twentieth century that involved Senator Joseph McCarthy's obsessive quest to uncover communist infiltration of American institutions, most mirrors the Salem witch trials. The Crucible, a fictitious historical account of the witchcraft trials in 1692 by Arthur Miller, was inspired by the belief that the hysteria surrounding the witch trials paralleled McCarthyism. Miller paired the two historical incidents, exposing the similarities of both trials, such as the hostile, inquisitorial manner in which the suspects were questioned, the disregard for legal rights of those who had been charged, and the blacklisting of those involved. The courts utilized by the Puritans were those of old England, not modern America. The accused were not allowed to have a lawyer, testify, or make a case for themselves. The most distinguishing characteristic of the Salem court system was the biased judges and the hostile, intimidating, accusatory, and condescending manner in which they were questioned. Judge Danforth even interrogated John Proctor, who was resistant to the judge's power. "What are you? You are combined with antichrist, are you not? I have seen your power; you will not deny it! What say you, mister?...Will you confess yourself befouled with Hell, or do you keep that allegiance yet? What say you?" Senator Joseph McCarthy questioned his suspects of communism in a similar hostile and inquisitorial manner. Similar to the trials in Salem, numerous charges of Communism were made during the McCarthy era, usually with little or no evidence. During his investigations McCarthy demanded answers to impeding, often irrelevant questions, much like the judges in 1692 did. McCarthy's committee relentlessly displayed a disregard for legal rights. The rights of the persons on trial in Salem were also habitually ignored. Of these excluded rights most disregarded by Salem judges was the state of being innocent until proven otherwise, and guilt by association. Unless a citizen had a full understanding of the court proceedings and judicial system in Salem, their rights were rarely observed. Giles Corey, a veteran of the courts, insisted to the judges: "I know my rights and I will have them," (Miller, 1227). McCarthy's disregard for his suspects' rights was perhaps a more serious offense because the rights of those on trial were clearly defined in the Constitution. While McCarthy denied those on trial the right to counsel, he also practiced guilt by association. People who were accused in either trials often suffered blacklisting, though in different manners. Much like the Salem trials, no one was immune from the accusations of McCarthy in the 1950s. McCarthy's allegations affected, among others, librarians, college professors, entertainers, journalists, clergy, and politicians. These suspects, who were usually well known, were often refused jobs by certain firms. Other employees, in order to keep their jobs, were ordered to take an oath to the government. Likewise in Salem, no one was hidden from the

waving finger of accusation. Witches, whether found guilty and hanged, confessed and released, were usually denied the rights to their land. Even if they were executed their property was confiscated, its decline after 1954. After this decline, McCarthy lost most of his support and was condemned by the Senate for "contemptuous" conduct. Likewise, Salem judges soon lost their popularity and credibility after the first hanging. The hysteria in both incidents was strengthened by current events. In the modern case the public was wary of communism because of the Korean and Cold Wars. The citizens of Salem were on the lookout for followers of witchcraft because of the outbreak of witches in nearby towns, such as Andover. The staunch similarities in the two historical incidents, the McCarthy era and the Salem witch trials, confirm Franklin D. Roosevelt's statement, "We must study the mistakes of the past so we can be sure not to repeat them," The most important scene in the play was act two, scene three, where John Proctor is able to talk with his wife, Elizabeth, one last time. He decides that he will "confess" to the crime of witchcraft, thereby avoiding being hung. However, to accept what he said, the judge also requires him to sign a written confession which states that he confessed to the crime of witchcraft. Judge Danforth would post it on the church door, to use Proctor as an example to get other people to confess. That upset Proctor greatly, because people would look down on him with disdain, and it would blacken forever his name. What was most important to him was to make a stand against the insanity of the town, for himself and for God, and using that as a last resort to make people aware of what was happening. This last stand for righteousness is an example of proctor's great character and rationale.