Olivia Bagan                                                                                                                                          March 6th                             Humanities                                                                                                                      Comparative Essay

The Chain Must End

        Does history repeat itself? Why should it? If we all learn about history in school and the mistakes within it, why are those mistakes repeated? If history doesn’t repeat itself, then why are people using false accusations to gain power and attention throughout history? Abigail Williams and other accused girls and women falsely accused others to finally get a voice. Joseph McCarthy falsely accused hundreds of people of being communists. And now, our president, Donald J. Trump, is gaining attention by making the most ridiculous claims about news organizations, religions, races, groups, and genders. History repeats itself and when it does, it’s not always a positive thing. Throughout history, people, predominantly men, have made false accusations or false statements to gain power and attention, particularly in times of fear. This is shown in three time periods: the Salem witch trials (1690s), the McCarthy Era (1950s), and even today.

In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, many people were accused of witchcraft. Girls and women (and a few men as well) were accused of witchcraft throughout the Colonial Era. Arthur Miller wrote this play in the 1950s to compare McCarthyism in those times to the events happening in that decade. In The Crucible, Abigail Williams, an indentured servant living with her uncle, and Tituba, a slave from Barbados, are just two of the females accused of witchcraft in this play. In part one of The Crucible, Tituba denies claims and makes herself look less guilty but Abigail puts more blame on Tituba to make herself look innocent. “ABIGAIL: She made me do it! She made Betty do it! TITUBA: Abby! ABIGAIL: She makes me drink blood!” (Miller, page 62). This shows how Abigail Williams is trying to gain power by exonerating herself. She is falsely accusing Tituba of making her drink blood. She is putting someone below her in the hierarchy down so she will gain more power. Another example of this is how the other girls who were dancing in the woods with Abigail falsely accuse women who they don’t like or accuse people who have lots of power in the town. Their accusations often lead to the death of those people. These girls received a voice that no one thought they could have because of all the hysteria about witchcraft in the village. After being silent for all their lives these girls saw a way to gain power. In part three of The Crucible, Mary Warren (one of the girls who danced) had suddenly gained power after being an indentured servant to the Proctors. “I’m—I am an official of the court, they say,” (Miller, page 73). This shows how in a time of fear, even a servant can become an important voice in the town. The 1690s were not the only time of fear, in the 1950s, one speech started a whole new era full of hysteria.

The McCarthy era, which took place in the 1950s, was a time of fear. A man by the name of Joseph McCarthy was the cause of a large amount of hysteria in this time period. On February ninth, 1950, Senator McCarthy made a speech that ended the joy after the war. “I have here in my hand a list of 205 [men] that were known to the secretary of state as being members of the Communist Party and who, nevertheless, are still working and shaping the policy of the State Department,” (Joseph McCarthy, February 9th, 1950). Although this seems like an official list of communists who were working in the State Department, it was actually a list of men from a letter sent out three years prior to that speech. The letter contained a list of employees who were not recommended for jobs. Joseph McCarthy used false accusations to gain power and attention. He said how there are all these communists who are in our government and who have an influence on how we interact with Russia but, in reality, there was a very small amount of communists in America and all of the nonsense that McCarthy caused ruined many lives. Because of his ridiculous claims, he was making headlines everywhere, and that was all he wanted. Before his speech, he was your run of the mill senator but after his speech, his name was known everywhere. These events took place in the 1950s but similar ones are taking place sixty-seven years later.

Donald Trump, the forty-fifth president of the United States of America, is using false accusations to gain attention. Since the moment he started his campaign, Donald Trump has made false claims about women, African Americans, Muslims, and Mexicans. During the race to the White House, Donald Trump made this claim about Mexicans. “What can be simpler or more accurately stated? The Mexican Government is forcing their most unwanted people into the United States. They are, in many cases, criminals, drug dealers, rapists, etc,” (Donald Trump, the statement about his June 16th comments, July 6, 2015). Donald Trump uses false accusations to get attention, and eventually power. This is just one of the many mind-boggling statements that came out of his mouth. There are many other claims just as crazy as this one. These are the statements that make the headlines and the claims that get him the front page of the New York Times almost every week. By doing this, we the people are giving him what he wants. We the people are giving him the attention that he wants. If you think about it, all the coverage on Donald Trump may have given him the victory. If you think about how many stories there were on Hillary Clinton, positive or negative, compared to how many stories were about Donald Trump, you would see a significant difference.Because he received more attention, he is now sitting in the White House making more of these false accusations. Just like Abigail Williams and Senator McCarthy, Donald Trump gained attention by making false claims.

Shown particularly in three time periods, false accusations have led to gaining power and attention. Abigail Williams, Senator Joseph McCarthy, and President Donald Trump all used false accusations to bring themselves up while putting others down. Abigail Williams falsely accused Tituba and other women in the village of witchcraft and that gave her a voice which was unheard until that moment. Senator Joseph McCarthy was unheard of until he made a speech that falsely accused hundreds of Americans of communism. People knew who Donald Trump was: a rich, white (orange), man who owned an “empire” (even though he filed for bankruptcy six times). He was and still is a bigot, racist, and sexist. Throughout his career, Donald Trump has used false accusations which eventually led him to the White House. But how can we stop this chain of mistakes from growing? Donald Trump called the press the “enemy of the people” but in fact, it is the educator of the people. If the press would make sure that the public knew when a person in power did something unjust or unconstitutional, everyone would be aware of how false accusations are used in the government. So if humankind can lie to each other, wouldn’t it be just as easy to tell the truth?