unists did during the McCarthy hearings. "Some appeared before HUAC and named names of colleagues who were communist or suspected communists or who had tried to recruit them for the cause," (Oakley 214). A community living in a puritan society like Salem could easily go into a chaotic state and have a difficult time dealing with what they consider to be the largest form of evil.Salem's hysteria made the community lose faith in the spiritual beliefs that they were trying to strictly enforce. The church lost many of its parishioners because the interest of the town was now on Abigail because people wanted to know who was going to be named next. The people were getting misled so far as to leave a dagger stuck in the door of their minister's house: "Tonight, when I open my door to leave my house--a dagger clattered to the ground...There is danger for me" (Miller 135). During the 1950's Many Americans became wary of the unknown and even their own government, "A reporter ask passersby to sign petition made up of quotes from Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights, many declined on the grounds that the ideas in the petition were communist, un-American, or in some way subversive," (Oakley 219). The need for the removal of the devil and communist put the communities at odds and suspicion. The justice system is designed to protect the people that it serves but during the trials the accused witch had two choices, death or imprisonment and in McCarthyism being accused was equal to being guilty. "In many states laws were passed making the taking of the Fifth Amendment automatic proof of Communist party membership," (Oakley 208). John Proctor gave his view of the Salem justice system "I like not the smell of this 'authority'," (Miller 32). The punishment of death was given to all people that pleaded not guilty; the other punishment was to plead guilty and go to jail. There were so many people executed that Hale commented "there are orphan...
