The Causes And Effects Of The Salem Witch Trials

Do you have a neighbor that you really just don’t like? In 1600’s Massachusetts, there was a solution! You could tell everyone that they were a witch. Sure it might ruin their life, but hey, they’re out of yours. The Salem Witch Trials were a series of trials that occurred during Colonial America where many people, mostly women, were falsely accused of and wrongly punished for performing witchcraft. There is a well documented history of these accounts, including the causes, the results, and similar cases throughout history.

The Salem Witch Trials took place in 1692. A group of young girls started this, it turned into a mass hysteria (Miller 1124). Innocent people were accused, and several people died (Miller 1124). Several centuries ago many predicted christianity (Miller 1153). They thought the devil could give certain people witch powers (Miller 1139). Witching led to court and then death. In 1711 (Miller 1153), the town of Salem passed a law for restoring rights to good names (Miller 1153).

Living in Colonial America is very different than any other part in the world, especially when they didn’t know what’s around them. Colonial America was very hard for the new pilgrims. Not only is it hard when they didn’t have houses set up, but also life was made harder during the winter when it was freezing outside. After they set up different town's life began to become a little easier. In the town of Salem, the Witch trials popped up around 1692 and made life hard again. Even though times were hard in Colonial America the Salem witch trials made it harder because of the danger it caused in the town of Salem.

In 1692 the Salem witch trials were a big a deal keep reading reading to find out. Between June 10 - September 22 1692, 20 people were put to death in salem, massachusetts for witchcraft. It has long remained one of the more troubling events in American history. The Puritans were determined to farm on their new land. To guide them through this difficult life, Puritans had help - the word of God as spoken in the Bible. Whatever the bible said the puritans believed, and one subject about the devil. The devil was real and he was clever, one of his trick was to enter a normal person’s body and turn that person into a witch. The Salem witch trials in 1692 were caused by? The Salem witch trials in 1692 were caused by three things marital status, lying girls, and economic differences.

New charter government, lethal frontier war, and political and religious conflicts set the perfect stage for Salem, Massachusetts (Paranoia, the Devil, and Witchcraft). That disaster was known as the Salem Witch trials. The trials was a span of time when people believed in the devil's practice of giving certain humans (witches) the power to harm others (Salem Witch Trials). When the people's superstitions became fear a great deal of innocent people were accused, put on trial, and even murdered (Salem Witch Trials). The first trial began when three girls flew into hysterics on January 20, 1692; their symptoms were so extreme, fear spread quickly (Saari 38,39). Thereafter, additional villagers, young girls

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. Many practicing Christians, at the time, believed that the Devil could persuade people to use the powers that he gave them to harm others. The Salem Witch Trials occurred because of resource struggles, many women were accused and tortured, and in the end the Governor realized that it was a big mistake. (“Salem Witch Trials”, 1).

In the years prior, the town of Salem had seen its fair share of hardships. One major hardship included the revoking of the town’s charter by King Charles II in 1684. The charter was very important because it was a document that allowed the citizens to colonize the area. Without the charter the people would not have the rights to their own land. The king of England believed that the citizens of Salem had neglected several provisions of the original document. After King Charles death in the year 1692, King James II later took over and merged the Massachusetts Bay Colony into what is known as the Dominion of New England. The main reason King James II merged the colonies was because he wanted to tighten his control over what went on in the New England colonies. Later in the year 1691, the new royal family, King William and Queen Mary issued a charter that had a lot of anti-religious aspects. Instead of giving Salem the original and much simpler charter, King William and Queen Mary decide to combine Salem with the many of the surrounding colonies. The new charter by King William and Queen Mary wasn’t much different from the earlier charter created by King James II. All these events are significant to the witch trials because they caused a lot of discontent in the colony. The Puritans,who left England to

The Salem witch trial was a time about accusing your fellow neighbor or being accused yourself, this all began in 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts. During this time many people were being accused of being a witch, a majority of the time it was because either someone truly believed that you were a witch and were reeking havoc or they were trying to find someone to take the blame if they were to being accused. So this leads us to question, what began the Salem Witch Trials? There were at least three causes of the Salem witch trials hysteria. These were Betty Parris and Abigail Williams story, Ergotism, and the acknowledgment of hysteria.

In Salem, Massachusetts there were Witch Trials held during the summer months of 1692. Throughout the seventeenth century in New England, witchcraft was said to be a crime punishable by death. Puritans came to New England in the early 1600’s to practice their Christianity in the purest form possible. They believed every word in the bible and that the words of God were to be followed down to the last sentence there was. Havoc started occurring around the town and 19 women along with men were hanged for witchcraft. Over 100 individuals were suspected to be witches in result to weird behavior before a disaster happens.

The Salem witch trials was one of the most famous witch hunt in history. More than 200

Salem witchcraft trials started in New England and caused a lot of deaths and hysteria for the people of Salem, Massachusetts. Innocent women and men were hung just for being accused by their fellow friends and neighbors. Witchcraft in the 17th century was a big taboo that people feared.

George Jacobs Sr. said, “You tax me for a wizard, you may as well tax me for a buzzard I have done no harm.” Although his words were true, many chose to either believe this hysteria or turn the other way. He died along with many other women and men. This was just the start of the many terrors of the Salem witch trials. Yet if you confessed to being a witch then you had a better chance of living, but if you denied you would automatically get hanged. They killed 19 people in similar ways, but the last person wouldn’t go to trial, so they stoned him. Within the year, the Salem Witch Trials were a very important event, because not only did most of the people convicted died, but because many people went about their day feeling vulnerable

The years of 1692 and 1693 were a terrible time in Salem Massachusetts. The presence of the devil was in Salem. People living there were practicing witchcraft. Young women were barking like dogs and acting strangely. All this behavior would lead to what became known as the Salem witch trials.The Salem witch trials took place because of people practicing witchcraft and they were not witches.This resulted in the imprisonment /execution of more than 200 people.

Throughout History, women have long struggled and fought for the same equality, justice, and rights as males in society. Historians have two opposing views of what life was like in Puritan society. One side argues that Puritan society was a golden age for women as they worked alongside their husbands, had an important role in the household. However, opposing historians argue that Puritan women were inferior to men in the society for five main reasons. Women were inferior because they were supposed to be silent company, they only received half the inheritance of their brothers, they were meant to have and take care of the children, they received harsher punishment for their wrongs, and they had to follow strict rules. The most significant way

Arthur Miller’s main purpose in writing The Crucible was to show the similarities between the Salem Witch Trials and the McCarthy Trials and to warn against government propaganda. At the time that The Crucible was published, America had a huge fear of communism. Anyone accused of having ties with the communist party was shunned. It much resembled the Salem Witch Trials in how the government, or leader of the time, used fear against the people to gain power. For example, Joseph McCarthy can be compared to Reverend Parris in how they both lead the people into the belief that there were intruders in their mists that had plans to sabotage the community.