Accused & Persecutionby

Quan CheLina ChuCuong Nguyen

11/13/02 Silver Creek High School English 3 Period 2

Mr. Seal

Problems

McCarthyism

•The Alien Registration Act passed by Congress made it illegal for anyone to support the overthrowing of the government.

•The Alien Registration Act wanted to weaken the Communist Party in the U.S.

•They investigated the people suspected of unpatriotic behavior.

•Joseph McCarthy personified McCarthyism and used it for intimidation and accusations in the name of fighting communism. He prevented people from criticizing American foreign policy .

•People who were accused had to be sent to prison or spill out the names of others who are part of the communist party.

Causes of McCarthyism Causes of McCarthyism reaches back to the early1900’s with

the Red Scare. Other causes include:

Russian expansion after World War II The Truman Doctrine and Marshall Plan The Berlin Blockade and creation of NATO The loss of China Hands and the “fall” of China. The police action in Korea The Truman loyalty oaths

All these factors contributed to the fear of communist expansion.

Consequences of McCarthyism It hurt the morale in the state department and army. This lead

to young educated people, the best and brightest, not to go into government, which left us with second rate leaders who were more loyal than they were intelligent.

The presidents, including Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon,and Reagan, did not wanted to seem “soft on communism,” so they took the drastic step of supporting any group in power in any country that was against communism.

Problem(s) behind the situation

Holocaust

•Hitler went on a capturing spree on the Jews, gypsies, gays, etc.

•He put them into concentration camps

•Started a World War with all parts of the world.

Causes of Holocaust Jews were hated. Hitler believed in a master race. Anti-Semitism. Totalitarianism with nationalism. Extermination camps. Defeat/depression blamed on Jews.

Consequences of Holocaust 6 million Jewish (1/2 of the population) killed. Led to the French Revolution and Enlightenment that impacted

Jewish life. Emancipation of Jews. Carnage and devastation to the world. Cause World War 2 which 53 million died. Influenced Jews all over the world. Extinguished the nerve-center of Jewish cultural and spiritual

life. The most appalling is all unborn children and grandchildren of

those generation of descendants who would never draw breath.

Problem(s) behind the situation

Japanese Internment Camp

•Americans captured Japanese in America and put them into horrible camps.

Causes of Japanese Internment Camp Japanese bombing Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. Believe that any Japanese-Americans can be spies. World War 2. Hitler and Germany. Americans didn’t trust the Japanese-Americans that was living

in America.

Consequences of Japanese Internment Camp It ruined Japanese and Japanese-American lives. Many Japanese died due to the hunger, harsh conditions and

punishment. Caused the world war 2. America will never be the same. Families were devastated in many ways.

Problem behind the situation

Salem Witch Trials

Innocent people got hanged, pressed, stoned and any other way of execution because of being witches.

Causes of the “Witch Hunt” series of seemingly unlinked, complex events, which a

paranoid and scared group of people incorrectly linked. A major cause of the Salem Witchcraft trials was

superstition, an “irrational [belief] ... resulting from ignorance or fear of the unknown”

In addition, crude medical techniques, constant food poisoning, and unsanitary conditions killed many Puritans. (In the Trials, dead people and dead livestock were used as evidence of witchcraft.) More importantly, war with a nearby Indian tribe was imminent (Schlect 1); when livestock died, the Puritans thought their village was cursed, vulnerable to Indian attack.

Consequences of the “Witch Hunt”

Families of the people were devastated. Many people died for no apparent reasons. It ruined puritans’ lives.

Possible way(s) for this society to have avoided it

Change the religious beliefs Realistic and being more open Demonstrations for people to see how it is like Media gets involved such as commercials, movies and music

Venn DiagramSalem Witch

Trials

McCarthyism

Related Persecutions

Similar Characteristics

Believe in the devil/Satan

Accused in being witches.

Rev. Samuel Parris.

Actresses. Imprisonment.

People died.

Lost respect toward others.

Families were devastated.

Communist.

Lose jobs.

Joseph McCarthy.

Accusation

Jews, Gays, Gypsies, elderly, ill, etc. died

Concentration camps

Hitler and Japan.

Involved the entire world.

All parts of the world was influenced.

Prevention of more Accusations

 

Throughout history humans have been accusing one another of unjust actions that led to deadly consequences. It started with the Salem Witch Trials, Holocaust, McCarthyism, and even the Japanese internment camp. Those are just a few of the ignorant accusations that were placed upon innocent lives. However society today cannot follow in the same footsteps as history had left behind. We must prevent ourselves from repeating the same mistakes over and over again

 

During the 1950’s McCarthyism officially began. Joseph McCarthy had accused many innocents of being communists. He dragged through endless torment and eventually locked them in jail. Even those who were not guilty ended up guilty. There was no way anybody to fight back because everything was out of control. Till this day it is still a wonder how we had allowed these unbelievably chaotic actions to occur without even an ounce of justice in it. With all the mistakes and errors through history shown to us. We must find a way to prevent history from repeating itself again.

 

In Europe, Adolf Hitler started going around Germany and capturing and killing Jews for no reasons except that they were Jews. He started to influence other Germans and Europeans to join in his beliefs. Not just the Jews, Hitler also went after the gays, ill, elderly and the gypsies. He put the group of innocent people into concentration camps and tortured them to death.

 

In America after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, sneaky, the President started to confine Japanese into camps all over America. Americans didn’t trust the Japanese that was in America because they thought that the Japanese was working or spying for their mother country, Japan. Even though the Americans didn’t mean it, they had no other plan to do. A lot of Japanese died in these camps.

 

In the Salem witch trials that occurred in 1692, innocent people were accused of doing “black magic” by fellow neighbors. The community trial the accused and the accusers of doing witchcraft, to solve this problem, Even if the accused did not confess, they were still found guilty and put in jail or were executed. After months of the Salem Witch Trials, it finally stopped and apologies were given to the families of the executed.

 

Unfortunately there may not be a possible solution dissolving such bedlam. If there were the steps to take would be far too complicated than 1, 2, 3. We can try to change the way people think but the limitations would always be an obstacle that may never be conquered

 

Even so there may still be hope. There are several things we can do to try and help people from thinking so irrationally. We can motivate people to think before they act by demonstration. If one person does that maybe the rest would follow. Not only that we can have commercials that promotes the elimination of fatal accusation. Also since the media is a major influence in society today. We can use that as an advantage to encourage people towards our social problems.