In this book, Boyer and Nissenbaum go deeper to help us as readers understand the truth of Salem Village and their witchcraft accusations in 1692. The two believed the witchcraft occurred because of the differences in social classes, geography, and the desperate need to establish a strong community in the midst of it all. There was a separation within Salem Town and Salem Village, where as Salem Village was not a part of Salem Town and the Village paid taxes to the Town. Within the separation was two families, the Putnam's and the Porter’s. The Putnam’s lived in Salem Village and enjoyed living there where they supported the new church and the new minister Samuel Parris. The Porter’s on the other hand did not like the separation between the Town and Village and they did not like the new minister. The division between the two had already caused problems within themselves with people signing the Anti-Parris and the Pro-Parris petitions and had an equal cause on the trials themselves. Those who were against Parris testified against the accused and the ones who were for Parris usually defended the accused. The ones that did not side with the Pro or Anti were considered the outsiders and most people did not understand them which in turn made them more vulnerable to be …show more content…
The authors started with the witch trials then went back into the history to why and how it all happened and their conclusions to every discussed topic was clear. They included visual aids such as maps of Salem Town and Salem Village, the wealth in Salem, the family tree of the Porter and Putnam families, the land of the two families, the town board of selectmen and Salem committee, and maps on where the accused were individually hung. These aids helped understand the division between families and why it happened. After every chapter there was a list of sources on where the authors got their information from and they did include a
Not many people believe in witchcraft. Once you live in Salem, where people are accusing others of being witches, you’ll start to believe. So, why did people go crazy in Salem 1692? It was caused by poor young girls who acted possessed because they were jealous of the rich. Young girls that did not want to be told what to do, afflicted girls acting as if they were possessed, and poor people that were jealous of the rich cause the death of 24 people in Salem 1692.
Salem Witch Trials In the summer of 1692, 104 people were accused and put into trial for witchcraft. These trials were called The Salem Witch Trials, there has been a huge debate about why it happened for multiple years and no one has yet had a guaranteed reason why. So what actually caused the Salem Witch Trials? I believe the Salem Witch Trials was caused by a secret rivalry between two sides.
Contreras 1 Luis Contreras Yarisbel Rodriguez HIST 3401 19 September 2017 Revelations of gender and religious norms through the Salem witch trials There are certain events that when they occur they can reflect and show the kind of society we live in and sheds light on some of the norms we accept in our society. The events that occurred during the Salem witch trials revealed many norms about religion and gender. It demonstrated how religion and superstition was held in higher regards and standards than science and logic. It also showed how much influence people in the church had over the people.
Nineteen men and women hung from the tree of destruction, for they were the ornaments of hysteria. New England was supposed to be a land of opportunity for the Puritans. During the summer of 1692, Salem Village proved to a wretched example of this; twenty people were falsely accused of witchcraft and were accordingly jailed and executed. Salem’s infamy has bewildered many, for nobody truly knows in entirety what caused the hysteria of the Salem Witch Trials in 1692. Clearly, there were a few possible causes of the hysteria; however, envious, young, single women; sexism; and lying little girls stand out as the main causes.
There was not much diversity due to over half of this congregation was Putnams. Most people were not too thrilled about it, but could manage to live with it. “Parris was treated with many things including free house, free firewood, and more land. This made many very angry, so they refused to worship, and pay taxes. Both in which how they had money to pay Parris his very good salary” (Marvel 34).
In the small Puritan town of Salem, Massachusetts during the 1690s, hysteria and fear run rampant as accusations of witchcraft spread like wildfire, tearing families and communities apart. But as the trial proceedings heat up, the true motivations behind each character's actions become clearer, revealing a tale not just of witchcraft, but of power, jealousy, and the corrupting influence of fear. Although many readers would argue that Thomas Danforth is the judge and the head of the law and religion, it can be argued that Abigail Williams, a young Puritan girl, has more power and significant influence over the society as she accuses many innocents of witchcraft and questions Danforth’s authority. During the heated argument between Danforth and Abigail in the court,
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.
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.
In his book, “A Modest Inquiry into the Nature of Witchcraft (1702),” clergyman John Hale comes forth to confront the recent events going on at the time. Initially, Hale alludes to the questionable actions and activities of the townspeople being accused of witchcrafts, and being imprisoned as punishment. In addition, he discloses how everyone suspicious will be accused, not even young children are safe from the hands of this fate. Hale’s purpose of publishing this book was to describe the incident of the Witch Trials, and to reveal his experience of the trials, since his own wife was accused. By employing a didactic tone, Hale relays the actions of the past that targeted the Puritans and those wrongly accused of witchcrafts, so this occurrence
The book does not offer any new insights into the motivations or reasons that the Witch hysteria peaked as it did in Salem, the author does an excellent job at presenting the material in an easy to read and mentally digest
During The Crucible, the Witch Trials caused many court hearings. A good deal of the court hearings consisted of people over exaggerating outbursts of demons inside of them just to get somebody convicted. The Witch Trails also affected the church in many ways. Reverend Parris’ already had a wicked reputation as their minister, and the trials made it even worse. People wanted him out of the church.
A few years later the Putnam’s petitioned the town in an effort to obtain political independence for the village, and the Porters opposed them. The arrival of Reverend Parris intensified the Putnam-Porter conflict. I think the two families accurately symbolize and correlate with the division between Salem Village and Salem Town. Joseph Putman who arrived in Salem in the Early 1640’s was a large land owner. As his family continued to expand, the Putman land was broken up into smaller and smaller tracts.
Much of what happens in Salem still resembles some things we see in society today. The word of one man can change people’s ideas and images of another without conclusive evidence. What people fear the most can sometimes bind us together, even if it is not
I founded interesting that the author noticed that the Salem village is the center of the witchcraft misbelief. By everything the evil noted in Goodman Brown; it makes sense that Hawthorne would use a Salem village for this story. In my reflection about the story, I realize that is a place where the events continuously happened because it has a different incidents or devices that are widely found in the literature and recognized as motifs appear. Hawthorne, Nathaniel. "
Not many people know much about what actually happened in the Salem Witch Trials. Maybe someone would think that it was just about witchcraft and crazy people being hanged, but it is a lot more than that. The Salem Witch Trials only occurred between 1692 and 1693, but a lot of damage had been done. The idea of the Salem Witch Trials came from Europe during the “witchcraft craze” from the 1300s-1600s. In Europe, many of the accused witches were executed by hanging.