How Did The Part Religion Played In The Salem Witch Trials

Rebecca Nurse, Sarah Good, and three others would eventually be hanged for witchcraft on July 19th. In August the third trials were held where of the accused was Reverend George Burroughs. For many observers it was hard to believe that a Puritan minister could be a follower of Satan. However others believed Burroughs was

An arrest warrant was issued out against for Tituba Indian in Salem Village on February 29, 1692. There were also arrest warrants out for Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne. All three of these women were accused of witch craft and examined the day after they were captured. They were examined at Nathaniel Ingersoll’s tavern in the Salem Town. This examination was performed by Jonathan Corwin and John Hathorne.

In Salem, Massachusetts, the lives of many residents were at the mercy of a few young girls. The town was ruled by religion which opened many opportunities for residents to fear anything that they believed as against them, their religion, or just simply immoral. The people who lived there called themselves Puritans. The Puritans were a group of English Protestants who believed that they must purify the church of England from its catholic practices. In Salem, the residents were ruled by religious leaders who oversaw the town’s court.

Conversely, Rebecca Nurse retains a moral obligation to follow the laws and notions defined by God prior to those enacted by the clergy. Additionally, God decides the fate of the clergymen, if they were to encourage lies, both the liars and the permitters are to be damned, which is against the Puritan concept. Thus, by not falsely confessing, Rebecca Nurse maintained her status as entirely pure more so than any

After numerous wars with the indians on surrounding land and a smallpox break out everyone was on edge. There are many theories why the witch trials occurred and what sparked it “Nothing about this tragedy was inevitable. Only an unfortunate combination of an ongoing frontier war, economic conditions, congregational strife, teenage boredom, and personal jealousies”(Linder), all of these could have contributed to the start of the witch trials, but people may never know what real cause this catastrophic event. During this time to be proven a witch the accused were put on trial and would have to recite the Lord's prayer, be examined for warts or other markings, have a witness testify, special evidence, and a confession. During the test girls who were at the trial would scream and roll on the floor during the test ( Witchcraft in Salem), this would relate to the possible cause for the trials of teenage boredom and personal jealous or trying to get attention in this religious focused community the trials lasted only months but had everlasting

The priests and judges forced Proctor to accuse himself of Witchcraft and not be hanged in hopes that the people of Salem would recognize this action, and come clean. After this was all said and done, they made Proctor sign his name so they could hang it on the doors of the church, and after Proctor refused they hanged him for the crime of Witchcraft. This left the people of Salem shocked because nobody knew who to trust anymore. Rebecca Nurse was one of the most religious women in the town, and when she was accused it made Reverend Hale stop, and reconsider whether the accusations and proceedings were just and fair. “If Rebecca

In doing so, the court believed this and she was found guilty of witchcraft. She was put to jail and is now serving a sentence. Rebecca Nurse is not the only character who was judged unfairly in this play. In my lifetime, I have been judged unfairly many times.

The stress of multiple negative events happening one after the other surely did affect the outcome of the trials. Before 1692, Salem was one of New England’s most divided communities. Colonial America was not as organized and connected as America is today. Salem Massachusetts in the 17th century was very small and isolated. People who lived there were in constant fear of being attacked by native tribes that surrounded their colony.

Throughout the course of America’s history there are many events of injustice: the mistreatment of Native Americans, using African Americans as personal property, and accusing men and women in Salem, Massachusetts of witchcraft. The Salem witch trials occurred many years ago in 1692. In the Puritan community, religion was a huge part of life. It controlled most of people’s everyday activities and was a way to find hope in their difficult, unglamourous lives. According to History.com, “Puritans were portrayed by their enemies as hair splitters who slavishly followed their bibles as guides to daily life” (Delbanco).

The Massachusetts Salem Witch Trials of 1692 were unfortunate, unforgettable tragedies that resulted in the slaughtering of innocents, tests and punishments against accused witches, and ultimately regret that tore a community apart. Puritans were wary of witchcraft so by the end of May 1692 prisons were full of people who were believed to have sold their soul to the devil (Wilson 103). However, the accused citizens had much to say about that outrageous claim. Sarah Good, a woman executed in July of 1692 due to the Salem Witch Trials yelled this as she was being convicted; “You are a liar. I am no more a witch than you are a wizard, and if you take away my life God will give you my blood to drink” (Brandt 34).

Tituba later confessed and admitted that she was a witch, but said there were other witches in Salem. Now historians believe that people in the colonies took advantage of the witch trials and blamed everyone that they disapproved of (Brooks). The stereotype of witches is that they are ugly, green, have warts, and fly on broomsticks. During the trials, the “witches” looked nothing like that.

Although many events contributed to the infamous Salem witch trials, irrefutable evidence supports that the Indian War caused the trials. Their time in Indian captivity affected many of the accusers and the accused psychologically. The politics which accompanied the war landed some highly ranked men in trial. Native Americans exhibited a far greater threat than any other earthly or supernatural force the Puritans knew.

It was the year of 1629 when Salem was settled in what was then the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Just like most colonial settlers, the group that arrived in Salem was searching for religious freedom from the Church of England. In 1641 England declares that witchcraft is a capital crime; capital crimes include treason and it is punishable by death. The settlers of the Massachusetts Bay Colony were a very religious group known as the Puritans; the Puritans strongly believed in The Bible, which includes passages such as Leviticus 20:27 “A man or woman that hath such a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death.” Ministers started arriving to Salem in 1629 and it was evident that the Puritans wanted to disengage from the Church of England.

How could the same individuals with the freeing thoughts of the Enlightenment, also be the same individuals that participated with the haze of the salem witch trials? They are practically complete opposites. The enlightenment was a European time of intellectual movement occurring during (late 17th and 18th centuries) emphasising reason and individualism rather than tradition. However the salem witch trials were forcing people to conform to what others considered to be the right frame of mind. Which, to the church was that any supernatural powers was point blank evil and of the devil and anything beyond understanding and reason is wrong.

The Salem Witch Trials were a series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft between 1692 and 1693. It occured in colonial Massachusetts, relying on a theocracy. The government and religious authority inseparably rule together, and individuals who question authority are accused of questioning God and his authority. There are multiple characters who played major roles in The Crucible but each of them contributed to the play in different ways. Abigail Williams is a major character who was one of the main reasons the Salem Witch Trials took place.