Salem Witch Trial Essay

During the fourteenth to seventeenth century, it was a crime punishable by death to be suspected of practicing witchcraft. In Salem, Massachusetts twenty five people were wrongfully executed and jailed for being suspected of this in February of 1692. “The hysteria around witchcraft began in Europe by Christians during the fourteenth century” (New England Law Boston). It was believed witches existed and practitioners could negatively affect the environment and control people's actions. Thousands of people were executed in Europe for suspicions of witchcraft. This belief spread to America when colonizers settled, and was especially prevalent in Salem. Why were people convicted and executed for suspicions of witchcraft and how did this eventually end? The fear of others practicing witchcraft and possibly implementing harm inspired others to accuse people of witchcraft, which would either get the suspect jailed or executed. However, it eventually came to an end once people realized how inhumane the practice of execution is, especially when their evidence can’t be authentically proven.

This belief was especially prevalent in Salem when Puritans settled there from England looking to get away from the values of the Protestant church and implement their own. Anyone that seemed unusual compared to Puritan values could be deemed as a practitioner of witchcraft. Women were seen as inferior to men as well as the root of all evil because of Puritan values, which made them larger targets for witchcraft accusations. The paranoia from Puritans caused mass witch hunts, which were investigations organized by untrained citizens to convict people who they suspected to be witches. This often led to executions, despite how there was no factual evidence used and only word of mouth was required to be