Contrary to what people might believe, the court systems from the 1950's and the 1690's are similar in many ways. In Salem, Massachusetts in the 1690's, people were being accused of having dealings with witchcraft and being put on trial. In the 1950's, people were being accused of having dealings with the communist party and being put on trial. The major similarities between the two are the ways they interrogated, their motives, and the consequences that could have been dealt out.

The interrogation methods of the 1950's and the 1690's are similar in many ways. One way they are similar is that in both the 1950's and 1690's, all they wanted to do is get the people that they accused to just confess. In the McCarthyism hearings of the 1950's, it is clear that Wechsler (an author of two books when he was part of the YCL and...