Castillo Juan Mr. Hartshorn English III CP 31 March 2014 Salem Witch Trials The Salem witch trials, an event in colonial Massachusetts between 1692-1693 occurred in present day Danvers, Massachusetts, once known as Salem Village. This paper will validate Salem’s witch trials having a very immense influence on the U.S. today; such as the trial’s religious, philosophical, political, and ethical impact on our nation today. Life in Salem Village was harsh, farming was difficult, an epidemic of smallpox was killing families, and all misfortunes were seen as the Devil's work. Puritan lifestyle was a strong influence for the trials; they had a strong belief in the devil and witchcraft and made up a great number of the Massachusetts population. Salem was divided into two parts, Salem Village and Salem Town. Residents from both living areas were abundantly different. The people of Salem Village were commonly pauper farmers at a disadvantage by living in rocky terrain while those living in Salem town were mostly wealthy merchants. Residents of Salem Town relied on farmers for food and collected tax from their village. Salem Village desperately tried to gain independence from Salem Town for many years yet there was no separation between the dyad. Farmers of Salem Village believed the Salem Townspeople quality of character endangered their Puritan values. Tension grew worse once Salem Village chose Reverend Samuel Parris as their new minister. Parris was a flinty Puritan that discredited Salem Town’s prosperity as the work of the Devil. It's probable that jealousy played a major role in the witch trials, most accused lived near Salem Town, and Reverend Parris was a zealous supporter of the witch trials with a deep hatred for residents of... ... middle of paper ... ...in time. The pain brought upon the witch trials doubtlessly opened some eyes for the inhabitants and ended several superstitions for them. Our government today is no longer controlled by ridiculous fables of mythology; our country now has legitimate justice because of the innocent victims of the witch trials. My research paper not only proved the Salem Witch Trials significance to our justice system but its positive effect on our people’s lack of empathy. The witch trials ruined lives but saved people today from future agony; the event culturally influenced people of Pagan ancestry to become open with their religion and gave several writers inspiration to write stories based off the Salem Witch Trials. Most Christian based churches today no longer follow the old belief of witchcraft, because of the Salem witch trials no similar tragedies can transpire ever again.
During the time of the Salem Witchcraft Trials of 1692, more than twenty people died an innocent death. All of those innocent people were accused of one thing, witchcraft. During 1692, in the small town of Salem, Massachusetts many terrible events happened. A group of Puritans lived in Salem during this time. They had come from England, where they were prosecuted because of their religious beliefs. They chose to come live in America and choose their own way to live. They were very strict people, who did not like to act different from others. They were also very simple people who devoted most of their lives to God. Men hunted for food and were ministers. Women worked at home doing chores like sewing, cooking, cleaning, and making clothes. The Puritans were also very superstitious. They believed that the devil would cause people to do bad things on earth by using the people who worshiped him. Witches sent out their specters and harmed others. Puritans believed by putting heavy chains on a witch, that it would hold down their specter. Puritans also believed that by hanging a witch, all the people the witch cast a spell on would be healed. Hysteria took over the town and caused them to believe that their neighbors were practicing witchcraft. If there was a wind storm and a fence was knocked down, people believed that their neighbors used witchcraft to do it. Everyone from ordinary people to the governor’s wife was accused of witchcraft. Even a pregnant woman and the most perfect puritan woman were accused. No one in the small town was safe. As one can see, the chaotic Salem Witchcraft Trials of 1692 were caused by superstition, the strict puritan lifestyle, religious beliefs, and hysteria.
The Salem Witch Trials took place in the summer and into the fall of the year 1692, and during this dark time of American history, over 200 people had been accused of witchcraft and put in jail. Twenty of these accused were executed; nineteen of them were found guilty and were put to death by hanging. One refused to plead guilty, so the villagers tortured him by pressing him with large stones until he died. The Salem Witch Trials was an infamous, scary time period in American history that exhibited the amount of fear people had of the devil and the supernatural; the people of this time period accused, arrested, and executed many innocent people because of this fear, and there are several theories as to why the trials happened (Brooks).
This combination of fears, unholyness, sin, and loss of social status each stemming from the others, created a vicious cloud of anxiety and suspicion within the town. And ultimately, with no other way to lessen the tension that grew from the pressure of religious standards, the witch trials were a much needed, but terribly unfortunate, outlet for the Puritans. If they had not had such strict principles in their
The harsh realities of life in the rural Puritan community of Salem, Massachusetts generated from the aftermath of war with France in 1689. The people of Salem feared attacks from neighboring Native American tribes. Fear of catching the recent small pox epidemic flowed throughout the entire town. During the 14th century in Europe, people began to believe in the supernatural. Practicing the devil’s way was said to give certain humans the power to harm others in return for their loyalty. This wrongful practice began to spread throughout the world. Suspicion and resentment towards fellow neighbors and the fear of outsiders caused an outbreak known as the Salem Witch Trials.
The town of Salem, Massachusetts took a rather dark turn within the 17th century as the townsfolk of Salem were shaped and heavily influenced by the beliefs and superstitions of dark and evil magic, or rather the work of demons, satan and most importantly witches. The puritans that had come from England to Salem, that wanted to be separated from the Church Of England, had brought along with them their strong beliefs that satan recruited people, or more specifically witches and wizards, to do badly onto to others. The lives of the citizens in Salem had taken a stupendous impact from their fears and superstitions. These strong notions had become so involved in the lives of the citizens of Salem that it led to many innocent people being persecuted for witchcraft. The most memorable incident being the series of Salem witch trials, conducted in the year of 1692, which resulted in the execution of twenty people, most of
Salems management taught the people to point fingers, or blame others, to protect themselves as Salems Reverend Parris encourages this behavior, “He encouraged citizens to point fingers and name neighbors as witches with the unspoken threat that they be named themselves” (hartt ). Teaching a town to go against others is wrong, yet it still happens. This causes a feud like the witch trials in salem. Being accused of witchcraft
The Salem Witch Trials certainly casted a spell over the people of Salem, Massachusetts in 1692 and even decades later on historians and non-academics alike. The trials inflict discrimination, persecution, abuse of power, and religious injustice as well as causing the society to have irrational fears. The trials are very interesting now because there is no explanation of the event that has been accepted universally. There are many theories such as the “affiliated” girls of the trials were simply bored and decided to play god. Ergot poisoning which is a disease in rye grains, and there is also the cold weather theory. Along with those theories a strong belief in the Occult and also disputes, rivalries, and personal differences with residents in the town have also been talked about. The effects after the trials are as important as when the
About thirty years before the witch trials, Salem Village, consisting mainly of farmers, pushed to become independent of Salem Towne, which based its economy on commerce. As Salem Village grew, many people had to travel seven miles to get to town, posing an inconvenience for residents “who had to go to the town regularly to perform their civic duties and, most important, to worship on the Sabbath” (Baker 76). At this point, the smaller area usually would become independent of the larger town. Conversely, for Salem Village, this process took far longer. Salem Towne had already lost much land in this way and did not want to lose more. Notwithstanding, Salem Village finally became independent years later. The changes that followed Salem Village’s independence caused bitter divisions between the families in the area. For example, not all citizens of Salem Village wanted independence, others could not agree on a minister for their church, and, in October 1691, the election of a new committee that oversaw other church matters caused disputes (Latner). Now, the witch trials gave them a perfect way to dispose of their despised neighbors, as they only had to accuse them of witchcraft, a fairly easy
With favorable conditions for itself and its host, ergot’s existence in Salem appears difficult to dispute. Consequential to alternatives such as wheat’s poor growth in the area, rye was a common and more importantly to the people “reliable” crop in Essex County, Massachusetts(source 1). Due to rye’s imperativeness to ergot’s growth, the prevalent amount of the crop presumably allowed for the fungus to multiply. This hallucine causing plant disease prefers “cool conditions that are also wet”, which occur in the coastal location of Salem(source 3). Ergot flourishes in conditions similar to Salem during the 1692 trials, which by extension reaffirms the claim of its existence and ability to affect the tragic events
The period just prior to the Salem Witch Trials as cited by Blumberg (2007) was marred by conflict and war with England’s rival France. The English rulers William and Mary started a war with France in 1689, known as King William’s war to the colonists. This war ravaged areas of New York, Nova Scotia and Quebec, propelling refugees into Essex county and Salem Village in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The refugees created a strain on Salem’s resources and aggravated the rivalry between the Putnams and Porters the two clans who were competing for control of the village and its pulpit. The Putnams tied to farmers because they owned most of the farmland wanted to be separate from the town and the Porters tied to the seafarers and thriving harbor wanted to remain part of Sale Town. Additionally Reverend Samuel Parris, Salem’s first ordained minister was disliked because he was rigid and greedy, leading to controversy and belief by the Puritan villagers that the Devil was at work with all the quarreling.
More than two hundred years have gone by since the discovery of the new world. People of with all types of backgrounds and problems came flocking over the ocean to start anew. Jamestown, Virginia and Salem, Massachusetts, were very early settlements, and perhaps two of the most known names of colonies. Jamestown was known for many things, including Bacon’s Rebellion. And Salem was known for one reason, the Salem Witch Trials. These two pieces of history reflect the tensions of the unstable society and of their beliefs.
The Salem Witch Trial isn’t your average historical event. You don’t just learn why it happened, unlike other events in the history of our nation. The Salem Witch Trials are different. There are many different reasons to blame for the execution of 20 people and the death of 4 prisoners, a total of 24 innocent people. (Salem Court Records) The role that had the biggest effect on the witch trials was the Puritan religion and the women who’d had enough of their lives. The Salem Info Page talks about Betty Paris and Abigail Williams. These two girls who were the ones who started it all. Both would sneak away from their chores to listen to a lady named Tituba. Tituba would tell them about things like fortune telling. Skip a few weeks later, and Abigail and Betty started acting weird, suddenly yelling at random moments and going into trance-like states of mind. Samuel could no longer keep it a secret and took Betty to a doctor, who then said she was being the victim of
Salem 1692, two girls ,Betty Parris, age nine, and her eleven year old cousin Abigail Williams, had a dream. They wanted to be the best actors in the village. They worked very hard to do that and they got twenty people killed. Betty and Abigail were Puritans and they are not supposed to lie or they would end up with the devil in the afterlife, but it seemed like they didn’t care. That’s why we ask, why were people blaming the innocent for being witches in Salem, 1692? The Salem Witch Trials were caused by two poor, young girls who acted possessed. There were also other people who took the risk of lying and accused other people. Most of the accusers were under the age of twenty and woman. The little girls caused the Salem Witch Trials hysteria by pretending to be possessed. Most of the accusers were poor and lived in the western part of the town.
The ordinary stresses of 17th-century life in Massachusetts Bay Colony, a strong belief in the devil, factions among Salem Village fanatics and rivalry with nearby Salem Town, a recent smallpox epidemic and the threat of attack by warring tribes created a fertile ground for fear and suspicion. The Salem witchcraft events soon began in late February 1692 and lasted through April 1693 after the village’s new ministers niece and daughter suddenly fell ill. The town doctor could not explain their illness and erratic behavior and blamed it on bewitchment. Soon many others fell ill with the same symptoms and the village was quick to blame the ministers slave from the Barbados, a homeless woman, and a poor old woman who was said to rarely go to church. Tituba, the slave woman, confessed that Satan came to her to do his bidding and she and others agreed to destroy the Puritans. At least twenty-five people died: nineteen were executed by hanging, one was tortured to death, and at least five died in jail due to harsh conditions (some were young children). Over 160 people were accused of witchcraft, most were jailed, and many deprived of property and legal rights. Nearly fifty people confessed to witchcraft, most to save themselves from immediate trial. Hundreds of other people in the Bay Colony (neighbors,
When the people of Salem realized that their neighbors, who lived closer to the water, were becoming wealthier and therefore, more powerful than they were, violence erupted in the form of accusations. These accusations were that certain people in Salem were practicing witchcraft on other members of the community. Several people were executed based on accusations that some historians now say were based on the economic prosperity of certain members of the Salem community and the economic disparity of other members. The members of this community, who had once ...