Compare the Salem Witchcraft Trials of the 1690s with the Haymarket Anarchist Trials of the 1880s. Though nearly 200 years separate these two trials, there is a lot in common between them. Both trials involve groups being charged with participating in imaginary conspiracies with no physical evidence, and both groups of defendants are painted as caricatures of evil by the power elite in their respective societies.
However, the Salem trials happen in a largely agrarian rural commune, while the Haymarket trials happen in modern industrial America with the same justice system that exists to this day. What accounts for these similarities across the centuries? What does this comparison tell us about the development of the justice system?
Please read the attached two files to get an overview of the Salem Witchcraft Trials.
The readings for the Haymarket Anarchist Trials are:
- https://digital.lib.niu.edu/illinois/gildedage/haymarkethttps://digital.lib.niu.edu/illinois/gildedage/haymarket
- https://www.chicagohistoryresources.org/dramas/overview/over.htmhttps://www.chicagohistoryresources.org/dramas/overview/over.htm
- https://famous-trials.com/haymarket/1181-homehttps://famous-trials.com/haymarket/1181-home
- http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/haymarket/haymarket.htmlhttp://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/haymarket/haymarket.html