The Accusation

entirely, he decided to fight back by writing a book to shed light on the injustice McCarthyism yielded. Miller’s The Crucible uses false accusations, the lying within the dialogue during the trial, and Miller’s commentary to connect McCarthyism to the Salem Witch Trials. Arthur Miller most notably ties McCarthyism into the Salem witch trials using false accusations. For example, when Mercy, Mary, Abby, and Betty are charged with dabbling in witchcraft, they turn and accuse numerous other…

about the Salem witch trials, which was the accusations of several people involved with witch craft in Salem, Massachusetts in the year 1692. The story revolves around several Salem residents, particularly two named John Proctor and Abigail Williams. It all begins when the town minister Reverend Parris finds several girls participating in what seems to be a ritual in the forest. One of those girls is Abigail, Reverend Parris’ niece. Abigail’s accusations of people doing witch craft and an affair…

warns of conspiracy infiltrating politics and the minds of American citizens. Following the Cold War, America found itself in a period of heightened tension and distrust. McCarthy capitalized on post-war paranoia to amplify the Red Scare, spreading accusations, and fueled speculation, illustrating the inevitability of mass political phenomena like McCarthyism. Exploiting the widespread paranoia of the American public post-war, McCarthy gained influence by playing on the fear of citizens.…

talking to their falsely accused friends. However the climate of fear and repression began to ease in late 1950s, The Red Scare has continued to influence political debate over the decades. It is often cited as an example of how unfounded fears and accusations can compromise civil liberties. On February 9, 1950, McCarthy claimed he had…

declares that accusations of wrongdoing should never be secret. Beccaria refers to Montesquieu and writes that “Montesquieu has said that public accusations are more suited to a republic, in which the principal passion of citizens ought to be for the public good, than to a monarchy, where that feeling is extremely weak owing to the very nature of the government…” (Beccaria, 1963, p. 27). He ends Chapter IX by suggesting that governments ought to punish people who bring false accusations against…

church officials, the judges put their religious views first before rationalization. Most of the witch trials that took place were based on circumstantial evidence. Instead of using concrete evidence to convict possible witches, the judges relied on accusations made by other Puritan citizens. Puritan judges allowed their religious fears to stand in the way of a fair trial (Sawyer and Bundren). One could argue that the judges did not know anything other than their religious beliefs or that the…

the woods, they blamed it on Tituba then other townspeople to try and hide from the consequences. Then they kept creating new stories and accusing people to stay out of trouble. One of the accused was John Proctor who ended up confessing to the accusation but then taking it back and confessing to his guilt. This made him feel whole again and no longer mad at himself. During all of this time, there was great strife and fear in the town; people were not able to focus properly and everyone was…

Supra-Statutory Law”, in which he accuses legal positivism of leaving the legal system of Germany defenceless to the unjust and criminal laws created by the Nazi regime. He basis his accusation on the grounds that legal positivism establishes an automatized legal system, weaponized legal positivism and ______. I believe Radbruch’s accusations are justified but limited as I believe that Radbruch to places too much blame on the judges enforcing the laws and not enough on the juries and informers. …

Reverend Hale and John Proctor Written in the 1950s, Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible delineates the situation of the McCarthyism conflicts in America while the plays’ events itself revolve around the Salem witchcraft trials of 1692. In the play, two major characters are Reverend Hale, an “expert on witches” sent to Salem for investigation, and John Proctor, a man known for his leadership and hard work. Proctor and Hale, other than both being Puritans, are alike in their actions and motives…

declarations were not taken seriously and some even called her delusional. Clarence Thomas should not have been confirmed into the Supreme Court after these allegations were brought to everyone’s attention. The FBI investigated into Anita Hill’s accusations against Clarence Thomas. After the FBI “returned with an inconclusive report, the Senate initially decided not to pursue the report and continued with the hearings” (Clarence Thomas). The fact that they decided to set aside and not pursue…