The Salem Witch Trials

The Salem Witch Trials The Crucible

How it began • Originated in Salem Village with Betty Parris, the only daughter of the town’s reverend, and her cousin Abigail • She began exhibiting odd behavior, convulsions, problems with speech, and skin sensations • The diagnosis: The girls had been bewitched

Proposed causes of the trials: • Political unrest between a very divided town—the town verses the village on the outskirts • Fear from Indian attacks and thoughts that it was a punishment from God • Fungus

The trials • First trial—May 27, 1692 • Last trial—January 1693 • By the end of the trials, nineteen people were hanged, one was pressed to death, and possibly thirteen died in prison • All in all, 140 people were accused of being witches

McCarthyism The Great Fear

Daniel Fitzpatrick, St. Louis Post-Dispatch (February 23, 1947)

Alien Registration Act • Passed by Congress on June 29, 1940 • Made it illegal for anyone in the United States to advocate or teach the desirability of overthrowing the government

Alien Registration Act cont. • Law also required all alien residents in the United States over 14 to file a comprehensive statement of their personal and occupational status, as well as their political beliefs • Within four months, a total of 4,741,971 aliens had been registered

ARA cont. • The main objective was to undermine the American Communist Party • The House of Un-American Activites Committee (HUAC) would investigate people suspected of unpatriotic behavior

HUAC • Chaired by J. Parnell Thomas • In 1947, they began an investigation into the Hollywood Motion Picture Industry • Interviewed 41 people who attended voluntarily

HUAC • During the interviews, they named nineteen people who they accused of hold left-winged views • Herbert Biberman, Lester Cole, Albert Maltz, Adrian Scott, Samuel Ornitz, Dalton Trumbo, Edward Dmytryk, Ring Lardner, Jr., John Howard Lawson, and Alvah Bessie refused to answer questions

Hollywood Ten • Known as the Hollywood Ten, they claimed that the 1st Amendment allowed them to refuse to answer any questions • They were all found guilty of contempt of congress and sentenced to between six and twelve months in prison

Larry Parks • Larry Parks was the only actor in the original nineteen named • He agreed to give evidence to HUAC and admitted that he was a member of the Communist Party but refused to name anyone

Parks cont. • Two days later, it was leaked to the press that Parks had named names, and that several other Hollywood icons were willing to name members

Red Channels • In June, 1950, three former FBI agents and television producer, Vincent Harnett, published Red Channels • This pamphlet listed the names of 151 writers, directors, and performers who claimed to be Communists

Red Channels cont. • A free copy was given to those involved in employing people of the entertainment industry • All of the people named were blacklisted until they appeared in front of HUAC and convinced the members that they had completely renounced their past

Edward Dmytryk • Because of financial problems, Dmytryk decided to have his named removed from the blacklist • On April 25th, 1951, he appeared before the HUAC and answered all of their questions and named 26 former members of left-winged groups

Blacklists • Over 320 names were placed on the blacklist, including Arthur Miller

The Salem Witch Trials