Parallels+to+the+Salem+Witch+Trial+-+p2

Jake In June and through September of 1692, nineteen men and women were convicted of witch craft and were all hung on the gallows on a barren slope outside of Salem Massachusetts. Even a man over 80 years old was convicted and crushed between two big stones for refusing to do a trial for witch craft. Over 100 people were convicted for witch craft as soon as the hunt began.

What caused the people of Salem to do such a heinous act? Maybe it was the hysteria epidemic that swept through the Puritan people at the time. Maybe it was really witchcraft. Who knows.

Sometime in February 1692 Betty Parris a young girl became strangely ill. She would dash around, dive under furniture, contorted in pain and complained of fever. It could have been a combination of asthma, boredom, epilepsy or child abuse. This also could have been caused by a disease called Convulsive Ergotism which is caused by ingesting rye that is infected by ergot. Ergot is a fungus that invades developing kernels of rye especially in warm temperatures. This disease causes fits of crawling sensation on the skin, vomiting, choking and hallucinations because it turns out that ergot is an ingredient in the drug LSD.

This one girl started an era of death and accusations. A spark that lighted the path to suspicion and a constant fear of being the next one to go.

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In March 16, 1954, Joseph McCarthy started accusing soldiers of being communists from the "red scare." The "red scare" is a term from Hollywood because of the movies about communism that the government thought would brain wash the citizens with propaganda. During the "red scare" nineteen people were arrested and accused for communism.

This one act started the "McCarthy Hearings" this is where McCarthy accused movie writers and government officials without sufficient information. If you noticed the Salem Witch Trials and the McCarthy hearings have a connection. Both of the trials included corrupt government officials and a lot of innocent people and lots of people perished.