Salem Witch Trials Research Paper

Since ancient times, the world was plagued with the beliefs of witches invading the air ways. The Salem Witch Trials were a series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft in Massachusetts between 1692 to 1693. The salem witch trials are important to know more about because people should know how others used to treat outcasts in the past. In the with trials the people who were murdered were social outcasts or people who don’t fit in the townspeople’s social circle. But others believe that people should believe in the devil and witchcraft as much as they believe in God. The Salem Witch Trials were caused by townspeople accusing people with different social classes of witchcraft and mass hysteria. The only reason why the witch trials started was because of townspeople pointing out the outcasts. In the video “Salem Witch Trials, The World Behind the Hysteria,” states,”The first women accused of witchcraft were seen as different unwanted people.” This shows that the townspeople were afraid of different people and decided to confront them of witchcraft to kill them off. Also, the video states, “The women accused were Tituba, she was a slave, Sarah Good, she was a homeless beggar, and Sarah Osbourne, a sickly woman who married her slave.” This helps explain the people didn’t want “outcasts”

Some even accused others simply because they did not like them or to seek revenge. In the article,”Thomas Putnam: Ringleader of the Salem Witch Tirals?” the text states,”Putnam accused innocent people of witchcraft to seek revenge.” This shows people just started to use the witch trials to seek revenge on others. In the same article it states that Putnam’s daughter accused people for the same reasons also. This evidence shows people just used the witch trials to hurt people. To conclude, the mass hysteria caused people to confront normal townspeople of