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Puritans/salem witch trials
Puritans/salem witch trials
Puritan society to todays society
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The Salem witch trials took place in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. It was an outbreak of one Puritan accusing another, hearings, trials, and executions of the people found guilty of witchcraft. One day, three teenage girls claimed to be possessed and were throwing violent fits consisting of vomiting, choking and hallucinations. Were they just bored, or was something really going on? The Puritan society was very patriarchal meaning their society relied heavily on the men in the families. The eldest male in a family was the head of the house and held all of the power, leaving the women to raise the children and teach them about God. Their religious beliefs were based on predestination: the pre- ordered destiny of each individual. Puritans …show more content…
They did this to try and win over God and be granted into Heaven since they originally believed everyone is damned to hell. One reason they are afraid of the devil is because he was once kicked out of Heaven himself. The devil’s name is actually Lucifer in the Bible. Lucifer was naturally one of God’s angels but started to question God’s acts. Lucifer believed that God didn’t want the angels to be as smart or as powerful as He so that they couldn’t overthrow him. “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lúcifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!” This being said, the Puritans were afraid of the devil because he turned away from God and that is the complete opposite of what they wanted to do. This is why Salem broke out when witches were thought to be around. Witchcraft is defined as the use of magical powers obtained especially from evil spirits by Merriam-Webster’s dictionary so it is believed that only people working for the devil could practice magic and if Puritans found out you were a witch, they had to punish you immediately by imprisonment or …show more content…
Since the puritans believed that everyone would have the devil in their lives, they also believed that the devil would attack the weakest ones first: the women and children. Not only was Eve the first person to obtain a relationship with the devil over God, but she also convinced Adam to go against God’s orders. This simple fact of the Bible causes the Puritans to constantly hammer the idea that the men are superior so that they do not fall into the trap of their wife who may be under the influence of the devil. The puritans characterized everyone’s soul as “female” and unappeasable showing if they thought of everyone this way, how much more so would they think the women were unable to be satisfied by strictly being a women? While Puritans were not against the idea of men being witches, their thought that women were the smaller frame physically and that women were always open to whoever/whatever was interested made them wearier of women during the hunt for
The Salem Witch Trials were a series of prosecutions of men and women who were accused of practicing witchcraft or having 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.
There were a number of religious factors that contributed to the Salem Witch trials but most of the people in Massachusetts during the trials were Puritans. The Puritan lifestyle was influenced by the church and Christian beliefs. Puritans believed that God expected them to live according to the scriptures and to set a good example so the people that remained in England would change their sinful ways. Puritans were expected to follow a strict moral code and anything other than that was considered a sin and deserved to be punished. When difficulties in the community began the blame was on the Devil and the witches.
Witchcraft was anything considered as “the act of invoking spiritual powers to accomplish a supernatural task", such as telling the future (The Salem Witch Trials: A Reference Guide). However what defined a witch soon became ambiguous; people would accuse someone of witchcraft if said person was talking to themselves or had the witch’s mark, which was often just a mole (The Salem Witch Trials: A Reference Guide). Witches were severely feared because they were thought to be serviceable to the devil. Puritans believed the devil had supernatural powers similar to those of God’s and he would use his powers for selfish sadistic intentions. Puritans believed Satan was active and walking among the earth, and he would attempt to recruit witches to serve him. Puritans were petrified of this possibility because Satan can only be constantly looking to wreak havoc (The Salem Witch Trials: A Reference Guide). Soon people commenced witch hunts and accused witches and wizards were incarcerated and put on
The Salem Witch trials were when hundreds of citizens of Salem, Massachusetts were put on trial for devil-worship or witchcraft and more than 20 were executed in 1692. This is an example of mass religion paranoia. The whole ordeal began in the home of Reverend Samuel Parris. People soon began to notice strange behavior from Parris’s slave, Tituba, and his daughters. Many claimed to have seen Parris’s daughters doing back magic dances in the woods, and fall to the floor screaming hysterically. Not so long after, this strange behavior began to spread across Salem.
“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.
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.
First, the Puritan values and expectations were strict, and those who had defied their teachings would have been at a much higher chance of being accused as a witch. Second, economic struggles within Salem Town and Village had further divided the two, by crop failure and livestock death. Ultimately causing economic damages. Third, personal opinions and disputes had contributed to the trials and accusations. The law system was unfair during the trials, so when or if someone was accused the court would side with the accuser, unless of course, they were a witch themselves. In conclusion, the people who died and who were accused of witchcraft were not really witches, Salem and it’s inhabitants were under the influence of mass hysteria, personal beliefs and grudges that eventually became the chaos of the Salem witch hunts of
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 Salem Witch Trials took place in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1692. At this time there appeared to be an outbreak of witches. This started when the children of the Goodwin family begin having mysterious fits. The doctors, not knowing what had happened to the children, blamed it on witchcraft. From that point on many people were accused of being a witch and were killed. This occurred for many different reasons; either they were hanged for their crimes, crushed by stones for refusing to stand trial on their cases, or from waiting in the jail for so long before their case came up. As people began to investigate the Salem Witch Trials further they came up with two explanations; either the people of Salem were begin acted through by the devil or
Puritans believed in the devil and his role as strong as they believed in God and his role. For many centuries, Puritans had the idea that the weakest individuals in society often committed diabolical acts and sins. Furthermore, Satan selected the most vulnerable individuals to do his bidding, among these individuals, women were often held responsible for many sins, including witchcraft. (Godbeer 12). According to Richard Godbeer, in his book, The Salem Witch Hunt, “it was Eve who first gave away to Satan and seduced Adam.” (Godbeer 12). In 1692, witchcraft became a panic among Puritan society. Even though both men and women were accused of witchcraft, women were seventy-six percent more likely to be accused in Salem than men. (Godbeer 12). Puritan society was a male dominate society and men looked down upon women. There were two particular reasons to why women were often accused of being witches. The first reason, was in due to the Puritan belief that women were the source of evil. The second reason was because of certain events that associated with accusations. These events were being of relatively low social status and income, being rich or financially independent and being a midwife or nurse.
“Jumping to conclusions is like playing with wet gun powder: both likely to go off in wrong direction.”-Charlie Chang. The puritans were a group of English Protestants who adhere to strict religious principles and oppose sensual enjoyment. The puritans had a strong belief that the Devil could be walking among them at anytime. Due to this belief, the puritans believed that people could sign there souls away to the devil. By signing their souls away to the devil, a person could become a witch or wizard. In Arthur Millers’ novel The Crucible, the puritans go on a hunt to rid their town of witches. The puritans also had a big emphasis on how one would act in society. For example, if one didn’t go to church often, the people would be very suspicious about that one. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short stories “Young Goodman Brown” and “The Minister’s Black Veil”, the puritans become suspicious of others because of a strange event. The strange events lead the puritans to mistrust and reject each other. In both of Hawthorne’s short stories “Young Goodman Brown” and “The Minister Black Veil” and in Miller’s The Crucible, a strange event makes the puritans jump to conclusions of witchcraft.
Puritans believed in strict religious dedications, by trying to follow the holy commandment. “The discipline of the family, in those days, was of a far more rigid kind than now.”(Hawthorne 9). They wanted to be considered the holiest of all people because they try to reflect a world of perfection in the sight of God. While they where trying to portray a holy life; however, they where also living a sinful life because they have been judgmental, slandering, uncompassionate, resentment, and forbearing, which are all sinful acts of the bible.
The Puritans were English Protestants, mostly Protestant extremists, who fled England to escape religious persecution. Most were raised with extremely strict morals and values. Puritans were also known as “Precisionists” for being precise in their sermons and studies. The process in which Puritanism developed was primarily caused by King Henry VIII; he transformed the Church of Rome into a state of The Church of England. In outrage, angered English men and women were determined to continue their faith and way of life; this just so happened in the New World. Across the pond, this region became commonly known as “New England”. The puritan people were distinguished by the clothes they wore and their opposition the episcopal system. Now-a-days most people would think the Puritan way of life would be radical by any sorts. What the Puritans did in their era was completely and utterly wrong, as we now know. As we look back on their way of life, most come to not respect the people as a whole.
The Salem Witch Trials were a time in history where people were wrongly accused of being witches. In the spring of 1692 the Salem witch trials began. During the trials women were wrongly accused of being witches. When accused of being a witch they were tortured, tested, put on trial, and most of the time executed if not put in jail. The townspeople tortured the accused witches in the most inhumane ways. This was a very dark and eerie time for the Puritans in Salem, Massachusetts (P., Shaunak).
The Puritans knew God through the Bible and what their ministers preached. They did not believe that God would speak directly to mortals. The Puritan Minister Robert Cushman once stated, “Whereas God of the old [Testament] did call and summon our fathers by predictions, dreams, visions, and certain illuminations. Now there is no such calling to be expected for any matter whatsoever.” In the Puritan’s time, if God was to speak directly to a mortal, it was thought to be the devil in disguise.