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The effects of salem witch trials on religion in colonial america
The effects of salem witch trials on religion in colonial america
The effects of salem witch trials on religion in colonial america
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Witchcraft was as a capital crime in seventeenth-century New England. A hysteria over it was caused by a group of girls. (Kent 95). Witchcraft was considered a terrible crime throughout Europe; its punishment was death by hanging or burning. (Dolan 8). Everyone in the village of Salem believed in witchcraft, and only a few have tried to use it. (Kent 18). In 1692, Salem Village hysteria was a major event in United States history, which will never be forgotten. The people of Salem were caught up in a hysteria of accusing many innocent woman of witchcraft, even though it started as just a couple young girls who had acted strangely. Witchcraft was a terrible crime that was punishable in severe ways. Witchcraft was a major crime in the seventeenth-century in New England. In 1692, in the village of Salem there were strange things happening to the people. (Dolan 4). Due to witchcraft in the Salem Village many women were accused of being witches. ("Salem Village"). A witch was believed by witchcraft experts to leave his or her body at night and travel freely. (Kent 26). Witchcraft and witches was believed by many people in the Salem village. The belief of witchcraft was thought of as an evil in the Salem Village. There was always danger that an innocent person might be accused of witchcraft. (Kent 15). Witchcraft was one of the highest crimes in the colonies. (Kent 15). Everyone in the village of Salem believed in witchcraft, and only a few have tried to use it. (Kent 18). Witchcraft in the Salem Village was caused by a group of young girls that wanted to have fun until the situation got out of hand. The hysteria in the Salem Village was caused by young girls. A couple of young girls in Salem Village began to get strange symptoms tha... ... middle of paper ... ...atient and in late February, Mary Sibley, the aunt of one of the suffering girls, decided to do some harmless white magic to find out the truth. (Kent 20). She told Tituba and her husband to make a “witch cake,” which was made by flour mixed with girls’ urine, and fed it to the dog. (Kent 21). It seemed that the cake worked its magic because the girls started giving names, and Betty Parris was the first to speak, and accused Tituba. (Kent 21). The Crucible is a well-written play that has great meaning behind it. Witchcraft in the Salem Village and the Crucible are based on the same topic of witchcraft. The Crucible, a play by Arthur Miller, is based on the story of the Salem witchcraft crisis. (Kent 107). Miller did not hold tightly the historical events in the play. (Kent 107). The play gave a powerful sense of the witchcraft hysteria. (Kent 108).
The Salem Witch Trials were a series of prosecutions of men and women who were accused to practice witchcraft or have associations with the devil. The first Salem witch trial began with two girls in 1692, Elizabeth Parris and Abigail Williams who started to have “fits”, in which they would throw tantrums and have convulsions. The random outburst of the girls threw the town of Salem into a mass of hysteria. Although historians have not found a definite reason or cause for the witch trials, they have taken different approaches to explain the hysteria that took over Salem. Some historians approach a psychological theory by proposing the girls suffered from diseases that made them act out. Other historians refer to factors such as religion, economics, and weather to explain the beginnings of an unforgettable time in Salem, Massachusetts. For over 300 years, historians have tried to reveal the truth about the beginnings of the Salem Witch Trials, but in order to do so historians must look at both the way of life in Salem in the seventeenth century and use knowledge that is available now to explain the phenomenon.
In the textbook, religion is portrayed as the main cause of Salem’s witch hysteria. In America Possessed, however, the main reason is told to be a result of social conflicts and a power struggle between the main groups of Salem. Although the textbook addresses different causes, as does Salem Possessed, there is never a mention of the two most influential groups of Salem having an impact on the witch trials. Perhaps this is due to a time limitation of the book, as including that much detail would require the textbook and course to be much
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.
Salem Possessed: The Social Origins of Witchcraft explores and breaks down the events that took place in the small village of Salem in 1692. Paul Boyer and Stephen Nissenbaum, authors of Salem Possessed, use primary sources, both published and unpublished, to tell the crazy and eventful history of Salem. They go into great detail in why some folks were accused of being Witches, the arrests and the so popular Salem Witch Trials. The main reason for this book was to try and find out what caused the terrible outbreak of events that happened in Salem and they do so by looking into the History and Social life in the famed Salem Village. The history of Witchcraft in Salem is a well-known story from High School on and this book goes in depth about why things happened the way they did and how the social aspect played a big role is the story.
Throughout history it has been shown that, history has a tendency to repeat itself. In 1692, men and women were accused of witchcraft, whether they were guilty or not. The place where this was occurring was, Salem, Massachusetts, a city full of puritans who came from Europe. Witchcraft was the one of the worst crimes any individual could commit. This often times led to people being hanged or exiled from the church.
“Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.”, Exodus 22:18. In 1692 , in Salem Massachusetts , the Puritans believed everything in the bible, they also believed in witches and that witches should not be able to live.There were at least 3 causes for the Salem witch trial hysteria. There are: age, gender, and marital status , lying girls, and a divided town.
When these women of Salem Massachusetts started to do witchcraft and pass it on to other people, they were put on trial for their actions, which at the time was, illegal. It had caught on all over England and was spreading fast. Arthur Miller made a play called the Crucible that was about the Salem witchcraft trials. Arthur Miller took the historical accounts and changed them to be suitable for the play. The crucible had many alterations to the historical documents that took place in 1962 which were in the characters, the historical differences, and why the theme of history was changed.
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.
Year 1692, Hundreds of people, accused with the conviction of witchcraft, stoned to death, or in confinement with no justice trials. “From June through September of 1692, nineteen men and women, all having been convicted of witchcraft, were carted to Gallows Hill, a barren slope near Salem Village, for hanging” (The Salem Witchcraft Trials of 1692) What caused the mass hysteria and disaster of Salem; for, the answer is unknown. Yet, many events and factors had contributed to the accusations, the punishments, and the confessions of the sentenced. Many colonists in Massachusetts were puritans, seeking religious tolerance. Ironically, the Puritan code was strict and disciplined. Dress was dictated to the church and the public were anticipated
Witchcraft has been present in many other religions, not only the Puritan religion. Witchcraft was also found in Catholic and Protestant parts of Europe. The Salem Witch Trials were smaller in comparison to those in Scotland, France, or Germany (Hall 3). Though the trials in Salem were smaller, people recognize the Salem Witch Trials as one of the worst times in American history (“Witch Madness” 4). The Puritans believed that the Devil was alive in their community (“Witch Madness” 2). The accusations started in February 1692 in Salem Village, Massachusetts when young Puritan girls were found using magic. The Salem Witch Trials began when Betty Paris, Abigail Williams, and some of their friends began to act strange with odd fits (Hall 1). Because many mental and emotional disorders were not understood, the people of Salem believed it was the work of witchcraft. When sickness or even misfortune came, the most
The term witchcraft is defines as the practice of magic intended to influence nature. It is believed that only people associated with the devil can perform such acts. The Salem Witch Trials was much more than just America’s history, it’s also part of the history of women. The story of witchcraft is first and foremost the story of women. Especially in its western life, Karlsen (1989) noted that “witchcraft challenges us with ideas about women, with fears about women, with the place of women in society and with women themselves”. Witchcraft also confronts us too with violence against women. Even through some men were executed as witches during the witch hunts, the numbers were far less then women. Witches were generally thought to be women and most of those who were accused and executed for being witches were women. Why were women there so many women accused of witchcraft compared to men? Were woman accused of witchcraft because men thought it was a way to control these women? It all happened in 1692, in an era where women were expected to behave a certain way, and women were punished if they threatened what was considered the right way of life. The emphasis of this paper is the explanation of Salem proceedings in view of the role and the position of women in Colonial America.
The Salem Witchcraft Trials of 1692 were the largest outbreak of witch hunting in colonial New England up to that time. Although it was the largest outbreak, it was not something that was new. Witch-hunting had been a part of colonial New England since the formation of the colonies. Between the years 1648 to 1663, approximately 15 witches were executed. During the winter of 1692 to February of 1693, approximately 150 citizens were accused of being witches and about 25 of those died, either by hanging or while in custody. There is no one clear-cut answer to explain why this plague of accusations happened but rather several that must be examined and tied together. First, at the same time the trials took place, King William's War was raging in present day Maine between the colonists and the Wabanaki Indians with the help of the French. Within this war, many brutal massacres took place on both sides, leaving orphaned children due to the war that had endured very traumatic experiences. Second, many of the witch accusations were based on spectral evidence, most of which were encounters of the accused appearing before the victim and "hurting" them. There were rampant "visions" among the colonies' citizens, which can only be explained as hallucinations due to psychological or medical conditions by virtue of disease, or poisoning.
Although witch trials were not uncommon in Puritanical New England, none had reached such epidemic proportions as Salem. In 1691 the mass hysteria began when several young girls dabbled in witchcraft and began acting strange. When villagers took notice the girls were seriously questioned and so they began naming people, mainly woman, who had supposedly bewitched them (Boyer, p66). Several other who had been accused were woman displayed ‘unfeminine’ behavior and those who
While Salem Village remained an agricultural community, Salem Town transformed into a mercantile town. These factions created strained relations and high levels of anxiety among the residents which led to accusations of witchcraft. Tensions exacerbated as Salem “experienced two different economic systems, two different ways of life, at unavoidably close range” (437). Within Salem Village, witchcraft accusations steadily increased as “the first twelve witches were either residents of the Village or persons who lived just beyond its borders” (435). However, witchcraft was not confined to a specific, geographic location as it spread beyond Salem Village and into other geographic boundaries. In fact, the majority of the people accused of witchcraft came from the surrounding villages. The outgrowth of conflicts and bitter disputes between the people of the rising mercantile class and the people of the land-based economy continuously led to witchcraft accusations. The accusations were not limited to farming communities, but also extended to political representatives and people higher up on the social ladder. For example, Boyer and Nissenbaum mention the accusation of Daniel Andrew and Phillip English who were two elected Salem Town selectman. As more
The Crucible is a famous play written by Arthur Miller in the Early 1950’s. It was written during the “Red scare, when McCarthyism was established. Many anti-communists wanted to prevent communism from spreading just like in The Crucible many wanted to get rid of witchcraft. Many would accuse others of witchcraft in order to not be accused just like many would accuse people of communism. In The Crucible witchcraft would be punishable by death. Many were scared to be accused; therefore many would admit practicing witchcraft in order to save their lives. The Crucible is considered a good play because it is based on real life events during the Salem witch Trials and shows how fear played a role in the individual’s life just like during the “Red” scare.