The American Ideals And The Salem Witch Trials

Tori Humphrey Salem Essay September 30th, 2017 Dr. Wood The Salem witch trials occurred in colonial Massachusetts between 1692 and 1693. More than 200 people were accused of practicing witchcraft. Of those 200 people, 20 were executed 14 women and 6 men. The 6th man was essentially pressed to death with heavy rocks because he refused to be tried. The other were hung.

An Insight to Early New England Mentality In Escaping Salem: The Other Witch Hunt of 1692, Richard Godbeer reconstructs a particular witch hunt that is less known than its counterpart, the Salem Witch Trials. This trial, which took place in the Stamford, Connecticut area in the seventeenth century, demonstrated the theologies as well as the natural and supernatural beliefs of early New Englanders. These factors played an important role in how these settlers viewed the world and its peculiar mysteries. The perspectives of key participants, such as Katherine “Kate” Branch, Daniel and Abigail Wescot, Elizabeth Clawson, Mercy Disborough, Sarah Bates, and Jonathan Selleck, displayed the range of reactions and thoughts of early New Englanders regarding

In Salem, Massachusetts the villagers were Puritans. The religion of the Puritans, Puritanism, derived from Protestantism. Puritans decided that the Protestant religion did not go far enough in the reforming doctrines and structure of the church and so the new religion was born. Puritans set out to seek the purity of worship. These people lived their life, according to their religious belief, very purely.

In Rosanlyn Schanzers, The Absolutely True Tale of Disaster in Salem, a lot of people were being hung and killed for being ¨witches¨. There were 74 people who said they were witches. They also arrested 50 people at once before. They have even tortured someone with big rocks on their chest until they died just because he wouldn't talk. The trials were not very fair because they didn't have any proof of them being witches, The defendants did not get to show that they actually weren't witches, and the judges were not fair.

Puritans are known for being extremely religious they practice strictness, simplicity and severity in how they live and conduct themselves; they are strong supporters of modesty, propriety, and decorum but strongly oppose any forms of pleasure (6). The community of Salem considered anyone who practiced witchcraft a felon, it was a crime in the 17th century and they saw it as going against the government (1). Puritans believed the devil could provide you with supernatural powers to harm others in return for loyalty (4). After several incidents that occurred in the town people believed that the devil was roaming the streets of Salem, numerous outbreaks of small pox and fights with the Native Americans led the townspeople to believe so (9). Witches

Most puritans believed in witchcraft (American Eras vol. 2) which caused a problem in Salem. In Salem some teenage girls in accused a west indian slave woman named Tituba. You couldnt be safe in Salem during this time from being accused of being of a witch. Puritans would accuse other people for doing something suspicious or if they had hate against them. Puritans would also accuse those who did not show up church on Sunday.

Puritans and their beliefs is what started the era of the Salem witch trials. Puritans, a group of English Protestants, emerged as a growing community in the North America. Their population were expanding and scattering throughout Salem and Boston. A sense of mistrust and spirituality is what defined the background of Puritans in Salem. The few aspects which threatened them were wild animals, sudden attack by the Native Americans and the belief they had deeply funded in, the existence of Satan.

They believed that since a witch was a servant to the devil that if they got rid of them they would be doing god's work. In the article written by David Hall, it says “The laws on witchcraft in New England took their cue from the 1604 English statute (1 James I. ch. 12) and defined it as a felony, with the penalty of death. It is important to note that witchcraft was not formally considered heresy, or & crime against religion.”

By 1692, 19 men and women had been hung due to witchcraft. Many that were accused and confessed often died in jail. By 1692, Dozens were accused and were waiting to go to trial. By then, people began to think the witch hunt had gone too far. Many doubted the large amount of witches would be in such a small area.

In Salem, Massachusetts, Puritans were strong believers in the Bible. The Bible states, “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.” The Puritans beliefs led to them accusing 20 innocent people of being a witch, this resulted in their deaths in 1692. Even though the Puritans couldn’t see it at the time, their accusations were really based off jealousy, lies, and Salem being divided into two parts. One cause of the Salem witch trial hysteria was jealousy.

The Salem Witch Trials began in the 1692 in Salem Village, Massachusetts. The Salem Witch Trials caused the life’s of 19 men, women, and children. Throughout the months of 1692 more than 150 people were accused of witchcraft or being a servant to the devil. Witchcraft is the practice of magic involving spells and spirits. The first person who was hanged for being a servant to the devil was a women.

Many innocent people died in the Salem Witch Trials in Massachusetts. If you were accused of being a witch or one with the devil, you would be sentenced to death or put in prison. The only one to blame for the deaths of the individuals is the Puritan Society. Without their absent minds, none of the deaths would have happened. The Puritan Society is very religious, therefore they believed strongly in going to church and most importantly in God.

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.

People who were accused of witchery were extremely punished. If someone said that they saw their neighbor with the devil or doing some kind of demonic act, they would be convicted to trial for witchery. Even if that person was innocent and said it constantly, the court could not find any proof of their innocence so they would hang them. In The Crucible Elizabeth says “The Deputy Governor promise hanging’ if they’ll not confess… And folks are brought before them, and if they scream and howl and fall to the floor¬-the person’s clapped in jail for bewitchin’ them” (Miller, 938). This falls under societal control because the court would bel¬¬¬¬¬ieve anyone and the church and the court would use this to terrify the people.

Over 300 years ago, more than 100 citizens of the colony of Massachusetts were accused of the crime of witchcraft, and many executed. Although this era in history, known as the Salem Witch Trials, lasted only mere months, its impact on the American criminal justice system has lasted until present day. Although both the trials in Salem and modern America are based on a similar justice system, there are vast differences, specifically in the rights of the defense, most notable in the separation of Church and State, the standards of evidence, and the presumption of innocence until proven guilty. The modern American criminal justice system, in comparison to that of the time of the Salem Witch Trials, has changed drastically. No longer is the rule of law based on