The Salem Witch Trials

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Recommended: historical analysis of the salem witch trials

The Salem Witch Trials were a prime part of American history during the early 17th century. During this time, religion was the prime focus and way of life within colonies. This was especially true for the Puritan way of life. Puritans first came to America in hopes of practicing Christianity their own way, to the purest form. The Puritans were fundamentalists who believed every word transcribed in the Bible by God was to be followed exactly for what it was. The idea of the devil controlling a woman and forming her into a Witch was originated from people’s lack of awareness on illness, disease or simple hysteria. The Colonists lack of expertise on the methodical approach through sciences, left them concluding to a spiritual phenomenon.
The Puritans believed in the idea of predestination. Predestination is the concept that God elects those who will go to Heaven and Hell by the time they are born into this world. So with this idea that was founded by the Puritans themselves, I think they would shun those who appeared unnatural or different to them. In their eyes, to be elected by God and stay away from the snare of the devil, they would constantly stay at work. Only resting for went they went to bed. So naturally, the Puritans came up with the concept that the Devil overcame the body of someone with weak will and transformed them into a witch. One fact of concern that I found to be interesting was that there was an abundance of more killings in puritan colonies associated to witchcraft as opposed to England. Why were there more killings of civilians in colonies in America as opposed to civilians who lived in England during the witch trials? Was this because of religious differences? Or was this resulting from a need to be accepted ...

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...a of predestination and pureness of heart were accepted. Sinning was going against these concepts and needed correction. In My opinion, I think people were in fear of being seen as impure or even ruining the family name, so they went along with what they felt would be accepted. When concerning the Witch Trials, people often rallied together and scolded those accused of compacting with the devil. I believe people simply put on a show to cover up their faults, and keep away from getting put on trial for things that may differentiate them from others of the community during the Salem Witch Trials.

Works Cited
Charles Brady, P. R. (2008). Document Based Questions in American History. In T. D. project, What caused the Salem Witch Trial Hysteria of 1692 (pp. 1-14). Evanston, Illinois: The DBQ project.
Miller, A. (1976). The Crucible. New York, New York: Penguin Group.

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