Puritanism, Salem Witch Trials & 1950s Red Scare – Comprehensive Exam Notes

1692 → Salem Witch-trial period in colonial Massachusetts (dramatic setting of “The Crucible”).
1940\text{s}–1950\text{s} → Post-World-War-II era, rise of the Cold War, beginning of the U.S. Red Scare (authorial setting for Arthur Miller).
1914 was mistakenly written on the board; the class corrects it to the late 1940\text{s}.
Cold War lasted roughly 1947–1991, influencing events such as the Korean War (1950–1953) and the Vietnam War (U.S. escalation 1965–1973).

Bipolar tension: United States (capitalism) vs. Soviet Union/Russia (communism).
Communism framed as the “biggest threat” by American politicians and media.
• Prompted containment policies (Truman Doctrine, Marshall Plan) and proxy wars (Korea, Vietnam).
Heightened domestic anxiety → Red Scare, a period of mass suspicion, blacklisting, and public trials of alleged communists.
Senator Joseph McCarthy (Wisconsin) brandished a paper claiming 205 communist infiltrators in U.S. government.
• Launched hearings, loyalty oaths, and the Hollywood blacklist.
• Tactic: name-and-shame to generate paranoia; citizens feared they might be next.
Parallels to Salem: accusations based on flimsy or spectral evidence; confession could spare punishment; refusal brought ruin.

Capitalism: privately owned property & means of production, profit motive, socioeconomic inequality tolerated/expected.
Communism: communal/state ownership of resources; “from each according to ability, to each according to need.”
• Eliminates billionaires & private monopolies; vilified by elites who would lose privilege.

Religious reform movement originating in late 1500\text{s} England.
• Sought further “purity” beyond the Church of England’s split from Catholicism (initiated by King Henry VIII over divorce).
Core beliefs:
• Bible = supreme, literal law.
• Theocracy: no separation between church & civil governance.
• Frugality, suspicion of ornamentation, suppression of “frivolous” pleasures.
• Sin punished harshly; salvation through strict obedience.
Salem, Massachusetts (founded 1626) embodies these ideals; patriarchal, conservative, “pure” society.

Trigger winter 1691–1692, one of the coldest on record → hardship, stress.
Afflicted girls: 9-yr-old Betty Parris & 11-yr-old Abigail Williams display seizures, contortions; doctor diagnoses “under an evil hand.”
First accused (Feb 29, 1692):
• Sarah Good (poor, pregnant).
• Sarah Osborne (rarely at church, in land dispute).
• Tituba (enslaved Indigenous/Caribbean woman).
Tituba coerced confession, implicated others; Good & Osborne denied guilt, suffered imprisonment; Good’s baby died in jail; Good later hanged.
Judicial irregularities:
• Spectral evidence (invisible assaults) accepted.
• Child testimony given higher weight than adult defense.
• Jurors often related to accusers → conflict of interest.
By May 1693: \ge 100 imprisoned; 14 women + 6 men executed; governor halts trials when his own wife accused.
Hypotheses for hysteria: ergot fungus, encephalitis, mass psychogenic illness—none proven.
Moral: groupthink, scapegoating, fear distort justice.

Vast majority executed = women challenging patriarchy (midwives, herbal healers).
Witchcraft linked to the irrational & sexual —attributes historically projected onto women.
Term “hysteria” roots in female biology (Greek hystera = uterus), exposing gender bias.
Puritan sexual repression: any female autonomy or overt sexuality seen as threat.

Born 1915 (New York) – Died 2005.
Major genres: stage plays, essays, screenplays.
Notable plays: All My Sons (1947), Death of a Salesman (1949, Pulitzer), The Crucible (1953), A View from the Bridge (1955).
Public figure: married Marilyn Monroe (1956–1961); son-in-law Daniel Day-Lewis (played John Proctor in 1996 film).
Subpoenaed by House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) 1956; refused to name names; convicted of contempt (later overturned). Experience directly informs The Crucible.

"Are you now or have you ever been…?" – ritualized questioning mirroring “Do you practice witchcraft?”
Incentive matrix identical to Salem:
• Confess & implicate peers → freedom/leniency.
• Maintain innocence / protect colleagues → blacklisting, imprisonment.
Reliance on rumor, personal vendettas, political theater over substantial evidence.

Fear as social control (witchcraft panic = communist panic).
Moral absolutism: Puritan Bible literalism ⇄ Cold-War patriotic litmus tests.
Reputation & honor: John Proctor vs. blacklisted artists.
Power structures: patriarchal clergy/general court ⇄ male-dominated congressional committees.

Dangers of theocracy: erosion of due process, merging moral & civil law.
Scapegoating: society redirects anxiety to marginalized “others” (outsiders, women, political dissenters).
Conformity vs. Integrity: individual morality under communal pressure.
Historical allegory: literature as mechanism to critique contemporary politics under censorship.

Spectral Evidence: testimony that a person’s spirit/shape appeared to the witness while accused’s body elsewhere.
Theocracy: state governed by religious doctrine.
Groupthink: psychological phenomenon where desire for harmony results in irrational decisions.
Blacklist: unofficial roster denying employment based on political beliefs.
Containment: U.S. foreign policy to stop spread of communism.
HUAC: House Un-American Activities Committee, congressional body investigating “subversives.”
McCarthyism: practice of making accusations without proper evidence, especially to restrict political dissent.