The national fear during these two periods played on the American psyche and caused mass panic. In an effort to compensate for their insecurities (the Puritans protected themselves to avoid being damned to hell and during the "Red Scare" to protect against being crushed by the Communists), they blamed others for their greatest fears. In both cases, the hysteria subsided because there were no facts to support the accusations. This caused the American mind to think differently and caused people to do irrational things, such as accusing innocent people of being wizards or witches..