The Patriot Act

McCarthyism, The Patriot Act and The Crucible are all linked together by many different reasons. The play, “The Crucible”, was supposedly written to go against the “abusive” politics of McCarthyism at the time of the Cold War in the United States. The McCarthyism, accused artists and writers of advocating class war without having actual proof or any truth.

McCarthyism started with a man, Joseph McCarthy. He would accuse others of serious crimes or activities going against their government, without having any solid truth. In The Crucible, the people of Salem were being accused of witchcraft by hearsay; no proof or evidence of the matter, just conducted by oneʼs thoughts and beliefs. So, the play was written to prove and protest against it. According to the research, Mr. Miller himself was called to testify for McCarthyʼs group after writing his play, “The Crucible”.

The Patriot Act was meant to discourage and punish terrorist acts in the United States and all around the world. It was also meant to better the law enforcement investigatory tools, as well as; to strengthen United Statesʼ measures to have correct consequences for money laundering and the financing of terrorism, to strengthen the measures of the United Statesʼ financial system (keep it away from corrupt officials), and also to, subject to special scrutiny.

Comparing the Patriot Act to certain situations in “The Crucible”, you could say that the ones being accused or convicted of witchcraft are those “terrorists” of the Salem. The Patriot Act was all about having the right to explore and ask questions is any kind of doubt were to come about. In the play, many different people (innocent or otherwise) were aggressively interrogated about being involved in witchcraft. Both situations are determined to find someone who they could blame it all on, to relieve the “tension” of all citizens. As I stated in the last essay, they (the authorities) are all about appearing as if they are the heroes. By hanging the citizens of Salem, who may or may not be involved in witchcraft, the authorities are perceived as if they are doing everyone a favor by getting rid of those people.

The idea for the people of a witch-hunt, gives the idea (from the Patriot Act) of what was happening with the hunt or search for the so called, “communists”. Or in the case of the Patriot Act, terrorists.

This goes to show the idea of, “mass hysteria”. Once something like, searching for those involved in witchcraft, communist acts, or terrorism come about; people become worried and they tend to instantly take sides. Even if when in some of those situations, there is no cold, hard, evidence. The people are persuaded and then taken into a certain idea of something much bigger than themselves.

“The Crucible” had a relation to McCarthyism and to the Patriot Act in completely different ways. McCarthyism ruined many great artistʼs and writerʼs lives; all because of a slight suggestion of Joseph McCarthy, knowing all about communists. The Patriot Act then encouraged to ask questions, research, learn a little more about the situation before just jumping into it. This would have come in handy around the time of the McCarthyism situation.