The Salem witch trials occurred in colonial Massachusetts during the late 17th century (1692 and 1693 to be specific). During this time, more than 200 people were accused of practicing witchcraft and 20 were executed. Eventually, the colony provided compensation to the families of the convicted and admitted the trials were a mistake. To this day, the trials are commonly associated with paranoia and injustice, and have caught interest of many people more than 300 years later. However, the Trials casted a dark shadow on the surrounding Indian tribes-specifically the lives of the Wabanaki Indians. Although the Trials are commonly associated with effects on gender status and religion, but many fail to acknowledge the ramifications the Witch Trials had on the local tribes within the region of northern Massachusetts. The trials created this “domino effect” of destruction towards the Wabanaki. Various factors led up to the Salem witch trials during 1692, including feuds, economical differences, and teenage boredom. In Salem, there were two major families competing for control of the village, the Putnams and the Porters (Linder). The Salem Village (which was a smaller portion of Salem) was agriculture-based and desired independence from the main part of Salem, which was the center of sea trade and the time (Linder). In addition to this, many of the …show more content…
“The Salem witch trials.” http://www.wsu.edu/~campbelld/amlit/witch.htm. 2007. 18 November 2014. D, Elbert. “Puritans Face Defeat.” http://people.ucls.uchicago.edu/~snekros/Salem%20Journal/Hysteria/ElbertDLukeR.html. The Salem Journal. 2012. 18 November 2014. Linder, Douglas. “The Salem witch trials of 1692.” http://www/law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/trials/salem/SALEM.HTM. 2007. 18 November 2014. Pulsipher, Jenny Hale. “Dark Cloud Rising from the East: Indian Sovereignty and the Coming of King William’s War in New Enlgand.” The New England Quarterly, 80.4 (2007): 588-613.
The Salem Witch Trials will always be known as one of the worst uses of the law against people. Thanks to them and the people who took part in the trials we now have a more fair and equal law system in the United States. One of the most prominent people from these trials is Cotton Mather. Cotton Mather was a teacher at the Old North Church, Boston, where his father was minister. Cotton Mather’s support of, and unrelenting participation in, the Salem Witch Trials is staggering to say the least.
In Massachusetts during 1692 a horrible expiernce had swept throughout the colonies that witches were real, and some of the key concepts that had a major impact to make people think they were real were superstation, economics, politics and there early ideal of gender shaped their era. Throughout the era of witches there had been puritans who were people who had believed in god and do that they thought to be able to see god and his angels you would have to believe in evil apparitions as well. Puritans at the time were one of the main contributing societies of witchcraft in Salem, and it was the belief that Satan was among them and roaming around freely. Next was the other type of contributing factor which was the relationships within and between
The Salem Witch Trials were a series of trials against witches in Salem. As idiotic as that sounds that is as simple a definition as one can give it. Between February of Sixteen Ninety two and May of Sixteen Ninety three, twenty people were executed on the accusations of “Witchcraft.” The accused would be rushed through a trial and publicly executed before the public. After they were executed vigilantes would generally go after their families as well due to them being satanic for “housing witches”.
The Salem Witch Trials are widely known in American History. My inquiry into the trials consists of a series of questions: What was the purpose of mainly targeting women? How did the trials overall affect future legislation? How did the trials change society then and now? This will introduce the misogyny behind the trials, the ages that were mainly affected, and why they were targeted.
The year of 1962 was a major turning point in history in Salem Village, Massachusetts. Nineteen people died as a result of the trials and more than hundred people were found guilty of practicing the Devil’s magic. This paper will debate the events leading up, the events that took place during and after the trials, and the children and women who suffered because this. The Salem witch trials began in the spring of 1692. A group of young girls in Salem Village, Massachusetts claimed that the demon possessed them and “accused local women of the Devil’s magic” (www.history.com).
The Salem Witch Trials were a dark time in history for the American colonies in 1692. Colonists were wrongly accused and killed because others thought they were witches. The trials affected the beliefs of people’s thoughts on witches and other mystical beings. Also, it has impacted both Salem and America equally. The Salem Witch Trials are a dark chapter in American history that helped define societal beliefs.
The Salem Witch Trials In the summer of 1692, a series of unfortunate events occurred in Salem, Massachusetts, The Salem Witch Trials. These witch trials resulted in the deaths of a score of people, both men and women and imprisonment of more than 200 of the villages residents (Blumberg). There are endless reasons as to why the Puritan village went into hysterics, including but not limited to paranoia, the Puritan’s strict religion, conflict between residents, economic turmoil, an ongoing war, and unexplainable events(Linder).
Nearly anyone from the New England has heard of the famous Salem Witch Trials. A year of persecution, leading to the accusation of nearly 200 citizens of all ages. No one was safe; men, women, children, even pets stood trial and 20 were hung for the supposed crime of witchcraft (Blumberg). 1692 was a year of witch hunting. Most today blame the trials on hysteria, or perhaps a bad case of paranoia.
The Salem witch trials are trials in which took place in Salem, Massachusetts between 1692-1693. These witch trials have been described as court trials for those accused of witchcraft. The supposed practice of witchcraft caused fear and paranoia to spread throughout several different towns in massachusetts. The accusers, of those people who were thought to be practicing witchcraft, were under the impression that these “witches” were the reason for crops failing, drought, and people to become ill. These people were considered to posses the power of the devil.
The Salem Witch Trials is the most well-known witch hunt that occurred in New England, and probably in all of America. This has been an incredibly fascinating topic for both students and scholars alike as everyone asks the one question no one can ever definitively answer: why. Why did this happen? Why was this scale so great compared to Europe or other colonies, when the same ideals were in place? Was this the cause of a mass hallucination, overzealous religious citizens, or a real presence of supernatural beings throughout the town?
The Salem Witch Trials; Madness or Logic In Stacey Schiff’s, List of 5 Possible Causes of the Salem Witch Trials and Shah Faiza’s, THE WITCHES OF SALEM; Diabolical doings in a Puritan village, discuss in their articles what has been debated by so many historians for years, the causes of the Salem Witch trials. Schiff and the Faiza, purpose is to argue the possible religious, scientific, communal, and sociological reasons on why the trials occurred. All while making word by word in the writer’s testimony as if they were there through emotion and just stating simply the facts and theories. They adopt the hectic tone in order to convey to the readers the significance, tragedy, logic, loss, and possible madness behind these life changing events,
The Salem Witchcraft Trials had many effects on the town of Salem, Massachusetts. A lot of the effects were negative, destroying the community, government, even individuals. The Witch Trials affected the community of Salem in multiple ways. The witch trials created many tensions between several families in the town. The most acknowledgeable dispute from the play was between the Putnam’s and the Nurse’s.
Analyzing Paul Boyer and Stephen Nissenbaum's book, Salem Possessed leads to the exploration of the pre-existing social and economic divisions within the Salem Village community, as an entrance point to understanding the accusations of witchcraft in 1692. Salem Village and Salem Town were politically a single unit, but socially as well as economically the two were diverse and because of this, it caused a rivalry. Salem Village had a lot of farmland, poorer people and was more rural as well as conservative. ; the Village was led by the Putnam family. Salem Town was more sophisticated, nautical, and prosperous, with wealthier and more respected people; They were interested in the mercantile and political life of Salem Town and were led primarily
The Salem witch trial was a time about accusing your fellow neighbor or being accused yourself, this all began in 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts. During this time many people were being accused of being a witch, a majority of the time it was because either someone truly believed that you were a witch and were reeking havoc or they were trying to find someone to take the blame if they were to being accused. So this leads us to question, what began the Salem Witch Trials? There were at least three causes of the Salem witch trials hysteria. These were Betty Parris and Abigail Williams story, Ergotism, and the acknowledgment of hysteria.
These refugees were from northern New York, Nova Scotia, and Quebec. The displaced people created a strain on Salem’s resources because they did not have their own resources and they used others. That aggravated existing rivalries between families with ties to the wealth port of Salem. (“Salem Witch Trials”, 1). The first witch case involved Reverend Parris’ daughter Elizabeth, age 9, and his niece Abigail Williams, age 11, in January 1692.