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The psychology of the salem witch trials
The effect of the Salem witch trials
The psychology of the salem witch trials
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The Salem witch trials had a major effect on the town, but it’s hard to realize how it changed people's life mentally. I agree with Margaret Atwood because society will turn its back on people and start to blame the innocent. People will point fingers just to get the attention off of them, or frame someone else.
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
Salem Village, Massachusetts was the home of a Puritan community with a strict moral code through 1691. No one could have ever anticipated the unexplainable events that were to ambush the community’s stability. The crisis that took place in Salem in 1962 still remains a mystery, but the accusations made by the young girls could be a result of ergot poisoning or the need for social power; this leads the people of Salem to succumb to the genuine fear of witchcraft.
The Salem witch craft trials are the most learned about and notable of Europe's and North America's witch hunts. Its notoriety and fame comes from the horrendous amount of people that were not only involved, but killed in the witch hunt and that it took place in the late 1700's being one of the last of all witch hunts. The witch craft crises blew out of control for several reasons. Firstly, Salem town was facing hard economic times along with disease and famine making it plausible that the only explanation of the town's despoilment was because of witches and the devil. As well, with the stimulation of the idea of witch's from specific constituents of the town and adolescent boredom the idea of causing entertainment among the town was an ever intriguing way of passing time.
Numerous individuals may be quick to accuse others of wrong doings that are not necessarily the truth. In this matter, it is evident in the Salem Witch Trails, which happened in 1692, where individuals accused their own neighbors of witchcraft because of unforeseen death or sickness. Moreover, it led to 200 innocent human-beings that were accused of worshiping the devil’s work, which led to 19 helpless individuals who were hanged because of these untruthful allegations. Furthermore, the Salem Witch Trails were a historical event that is due to lack of knowledge, selfishness, and inhumanity.
During the time of the Salem Witch Trials the intertwining of religion and government did not allow citizens of Salem, Massachusetts the right to a fair trial, so it was the states responsibility to separate the two. In the 1600’s the Puritan religion was greatly enforced by the government. It wouldn’t be until many years later that separation of church and state became a law.
Greed is running through Salem and the history of Salem’s greed is bringing new quarrels into the town amongst families(Miller I. 154). The land greed in Salem leads to more hatred and anger in the city. This greed greatly affect who is accused in the witch trials. Land is a huge problem in Salem’s witch hunt because if someone is arrested their land can be bought , this is a huge reason why so many were accused(Miller,”The Crucible”). The land is so extravagant in size due to how important agriculture was in America. This problem was constant in Salem’s witch trials. Land distribution is a major problem in Salem’s community because it starts feuds and
Power and fear can affect people´s sense of what's wrong and what's right. In “the Crucible” by Miller, we can see how the trials affected every individual in a negative aspect. people suffered because of such power and unfairness the authority had. The witch trials affected a lot of individuals from an emotional aspect to a psychological trauma.
...appenings of everyday life turned into something more. From the belief that women were more susceptible to evil intimidation and for having a weaker constitution since Eve was tempted by the Devil to having a non-existent court system to settle disputes between neighbors or just the fact that there were people who saw an opportunity to gain personal wealth, the Salem witch hunt and trials was more than just a religious cleansing of the community by pious people. They were a microcosm of what could happen when people do not understand the relationships between themselves, their neighbors and the natural cause and effect of the world around them.
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 impact of the convictions have on the people of Salem. People were being accused of being witches because of the fact that the girls especially Abigail wants something out of it. Like Abigail wants John Procter and wants Elizabeth Proctor out of the way. That accuses in the play were the group of girls, such as, Abigail Williams, she was the leader of the group. The so called “witches” in the play were over 50 people such as John Procter, Elizabeth Proctor, Rebecca Nurse, Giles Corey and many more. The town and the judges blindly tr...
In the end, the Salem Witch Trials didn’t have a very good effect on anyone in Salem. These trials also left a major imprint on Salem.
Throughout the course of American history, the idea of a people being ruled by a single government and a strict set of rules to ensure the peace and harmony has been considered necessary to maintain order. Overtime, the rules have gone through numerous changes to improve the system. Some rules have been seen as controversial, and hence have been changed after being proven unable to uphold equality and justice. Such laws include those in the event which this paper studies. So, how have laws and legal procedures changed since then? Firstly, what were the laws and procedures last time? A good reference would be the Salem Witch Trials, a perfect example of religious law and legal, open discrimination.
The Salem witch trials have been forgotten, because this is a part of society that people are ashamed of. During the Salem witch trials people were being killed in multiple different ways, such as hanging or burning. The people were being killed for assumption that they were witches without a lot of proof. Also, the activities that made someone a witch were things that people could like to do. For example, in the crucible Abigail is said to be a witch, because she was dancing in the forest that the society deemed as evil. This information shows that many people were killed for improbable reasons and many people would be ashamed for killing people for no reason. People typically want to make events disappear that makes them look bad.
There are many examples of people in the town of Salem are blind to the fact of witchcraft. One of the main examples is when Rebecca Nurse is accused of being a witch. Her personality is a faithful and graceful person in the town. She is one of a few people who are like this. Those who are respected in the town are less disposed to these accusations. This causes arguments over the biased system. This causes arguments because the system is discriminating to the unqualified and lower-class people of the town. This leads them to be very
After all of the witch trials in 1692 concluded a total of 20 people were hanged all because of people craving attention and personal gain. There are three people depicted in Arthur Miller's The Crucible that are most responsible for this and they are, Abigail Williams, Judge Danforth, and Thomas Putnam. Abigail Williams is mostly responsible for the Salem witch trials because she was the first person to start accusing innocent people of witchcraft. Judge Danforth is responsible because he is not concerned about justice, all he cares about is being correct about the witch trials. Lastly Thomas Putnam is guilty of causing the witch trials because he was able to have people accuse other people so he could claim their land for himself. The witch trials were a senseless massacre and all because Abigail Williams, Judge Danforth, and Thomas Putnam were only concerned about them selves, not the innocent ones around them.
The deterioration of Salem's social structure precipitated the murders of many innocent people. Arthur Miller's depiction of the Salem witch trials, The Crucible, deals with a community that starts out looking like it is tightly knit and church loving. It turns out that once Tituba starts pointing her finger at the witches, the community starts pointing their fingers at each other. Hysteria and hidden agendas break down the social structure and then everyone must protect themselves from the people that they thought were their friends. The togetherness of the community, the church and legal system died so that the children could protect their families' social status.