Salem Trials in Parallel with the Cold War and Arms Race - Essay Example

of the of the Salem Trials 28 May, 2006 A grave social misconduct, unfounded suspicions, academic inadequacies, social injustice and oppression are but few of the characteristics that defines the nature of the Salem trials in 1692. This chapter of our history illuminated a smear of sociopolitical blunder that hindered freedom, propagated maltreatment and impeded due process for the accused. From a small town in Massachusetts, the Salem trial began as a rumor that origin from a group of young women who were allegedly practicing witchery act. Their friends and neighbors knew about this and began confronting them why they were doing an act deemed to be unacceptable by the church. To defend themselves from the punishment and excommunication of their religion, they had to admit that they were unaware of what they have done and that some witch cast a spell upon them and made them do such kind of things. An act that was born out of curiosity and adventure now turned into a general crisis. Upon realizing this story, the authorities took action by demanding that the girls give out names, thus 19 people were accused. Similarly, history seemed to have repeated itself in the guise of cold war when the conflict between USSR and USA erupted. Due to ideological differences, the communistic Russia compounded several reasons to cause apprehension among Americans. Both countries began to question their subject's loyalty and considered everyone a threat to their liberty. In America, a massive hunt for communist began. The HUAC campaign of John McCarthy "expounded fiery anti-Communist diatribes in print and in the new medium of television" (Boyer. 1985). What started as mere rivalry of powers, turned into a dark cloud of suspicion above everyone, and so began the espionage mission to address the impending threat to national security. The arrest, prosecution and execution of the Rosenbergs started the massive hunt for treacherous act which denotes how suspicions play a role in one's decision over the inherent right to be heard and to live freely. The announcement of those who were suspected to have communistic inclinations working inside the government extended far into the strata of prominent actors, producers, academes, and scientists, where no one was excluded and no amount of heroism and bravery could restrain its deadly repercussions. Likewise in this era, there was also this looming suspicion as to the possession of nuclear weapon, a powerful arm set for massive destruction and even to the demise of mankind. There are several angles whereby the Salem witch trial ran in parallel with, the Cold War and Arms Race, and this is most clear in the area of power, more particularly in the aspect of subordination and the exercise of authority. The central theme of this paper is to point out the aspects in which all three are parallel and why they are considered as such. The Parallels in the aspect of a socialist view The commonalities in Salem trials, the cold war and arms race, lies in the nature where the unfounded skepticisms triggered enormous abuse to mankind, denying the inherent right to live and defend life. The Salem witch trial is congruent to both cold wars and arms race is the sense that each of them demonstrates the manipulation of the subordinates without paying any consideration to the subject's inherent right. All three stories defines the American culture of conformity, whereby one is forced to align his or her ideals according to what the standards say or what is generally accepted to be correct. Conformity, dictates that one is forced to follow if one does not want to be an outcast. In the Salem Witch trial, everyone conformed to the standards of their religion and because the practice of witch craft is deemed heretic by the church, then everyone who violates this standard ought to suffer punishment. Not one of those young children who accused 19 people of heresy took their word back for fear. No one dared defended the innocence of the accused for fear of being committing the same fate as the accused had. The same is true with the male dominated cold war, where John McCarthy seemed to be so sure about the information fed to him by his spy. This infringes the rights of the people to be heard where press and media was gagged and prevented from airing subversive materials. That was the time where everyone were on their toes for fear of offending authorities as well as the fear of receiving the consequences that the Rosenbergs had. The social injustice was evident in the cold war especially in the time of McCarthy, suspicion of treason and communism flourishes amidst the threat of impending war from two disputing powerful countries, a period of looming suspicion and massive hunt for traitors and citizens who disavowed their allegiance. Society has long since preferred conformity over the righteousness, and it was at this point in time when no one was actually free of exercising the right to speak (Powaski. 1998). In the aspect of political greed for supremacy The cold war was characterized by political competition, the desire to prevail over the other as what was happening with the US and the USSR. Controversies began when America entertained the suspicion and commenced the hunt for those who betrayed them, tried and convicted of treason, people who could not concur to rules and principles of the government, in order to safeguard the national security, authorities had to police the entire country against possible attacks from the enemy. There was a show of biases in upholding the constitution as well as frailty in insisting its strength to protect its people, this was however a characteristic persecution of its people. Like in the Salem witch hunt, where politics played its role when the church showed to its subject the kind of punishment that shall be suffered by those who violated, a classic means of acquiring obedience is by inflicting terror upon the subject. The church was then threatened by the possibility that this belief might acquire a following, and that they (the church) might loose the loyalty of their believers. One of the many academic interpretations of this fear that prompted the church to hang the accused was that, if they loose their believers/followers, this will greatly affect the power that they are exercising at the time and therefore must essentially be defended even at the cost of killing the innocents. In a political perspective, the action of the church is clearly disproportionate as suppose to its then legal right to exercise its power, because there was no means whereby the accused can defend oneself against the accusations. There was indeed a trial but a summary one at that where no one can corroborate a claim or justify a fact, with the massive hysteria over this practice, it is therefore possible that such an action of the church defines a threat for women to rule over men most especially in the aspect of religious practice. The three phases in our history is marked with tyrannical means of demanding submission and loyalty from their subject, which brings us back to the reasons of the kind of notion that people had back then, due to academic incompetence. Where the rich people are in authority because they had the money to educate themselves and are therefore knowledgeable in many areas, whereas the poor ones, those who do not have the capacity and the luxury of a good life and education can not speak to defend themselves from unfounded accusations, no one will believe them and no one will hear them out. They are dispensable and are therefore can be forgotten. No one will care whether they are innocent or guilty, and when they die, their names will die along with them. This was the kind of politics religion practiced in 1692, a curse that never left mankind, that which constantly plagues us even at present where threat of terrorism is immanent. Perhaps this will be what we are and will define who we are as human beings, we never learn from our mistakes. We keep making the same mistakes over and over again. In conclusion, it is indeed evident that history and politics play an important role in shaping up the lives of society in general. The traces of our history never left us, no matter how old and distant they are, they are always there, supposedly guiding us and making each step more convenient and accurate. Yet we are more incline to bend the rules and make our own path, usually towards our own demise. Conformity dictates that we have follow because this what the greater group wants and we have to fit in so as not be outcasts. We are given the right to exercise logic, a free gift of choice and discernment of what is right from wrong, what is fair and equitable versus unjust and unreal. No matter how tragic and moving the consequences of these mistakes are, there is still this tendency for people to disregard even the slightest idea righteousness. Works Cited Powaski, Ronald E. The Cold War: The United States and the Soviet Union, 1917-1991. NY:Oxford University Press. (1998) Boyer, P. (1985). The Infacncy of the Apocalypse. 10 Nov 1985. New York Times Online. Retrieved on 27 May 2006 from http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html. Read More