ipl-logo

The Role Of Reverend Samuel Parris In The Salem Witch Trials

1209 Words5 Pages

It was more than 300 years ago, but the actions of three individuals Rev. Samuel Parris, Elizabeth (Betty) Parris and Tibuta created a sense of panic in Salem Village that would lead to the horrific deaths of around twenty-four people. The first was Elizabeth (Betty) Parris who I believe was forced to name people as her tormentors by her father Samuel Parris. In the case of Tibuta her contribution was feeding into the idea of witchcraft and pushing the witch-hunt into a craze. Finally Reverend Samuel Parris was a very important figure in a very religious Puritan town and the problems surrounding his contract with the ministry may have led to his role in the trials.

The Salem Witch Trials took place in 1692 it led to a number of people being tried, convicted and executed for so called witchcraft. It was inflicted by a state of panic due to an over super religious faith all driven by superstition, panic, and rumor. The people of Salem village were acting upon dissatisfactions with their political and social statuses by choosing to blame an unknown force. This tension had been building up long before the …show more content…

In his sermons he began to preach that Satan was devising a plan in Salem to destroy the church. It was Samuel Parris’s motivation for pursuing people to accuse was for political, and personal reasons. His daughter was also one of the girls in the town supposedly under the influence of the devil. He had to show that he was capable of doing something and going after the girls’ tormentors. When the trials started, Samuel Parris turned in complaints, and was a witness and testified against a lot of the people who were accused. There was turmoil surrounding his contract with the church. He started to make separation between those who supported him and those who did not. These were the same people he called

Show More
Related

  • Reverend Samuel Parris: The Most Responsible For The Salem Witch Trials

    341 Words  | 2 Pages

    Reverend Samuel Parris played a significant role in the Salem witch trials, and many historians believe that he is the most responsible for the hysteria that swept through the town. There are several reasons why Parris is considered to be the most responsible for the witch trials. First, Parris was a divisive figure in the community. He was a strict Puritan minister who was known for his fire-and-brimstone sermons.

    Read More

  • Salem Witch Trials Of 1692 Research Paper

    282 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Salem Witch Trials of 1692 In 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts a violent panic broke out. The Salem witch trial hysteria largely caused by religious beliefs, suspicious acts, and ergot poisoning. One main cause of the witch hysteria was religious beliefs. Puritans of the Church were strong holders of every small thing in the Bible.

    Read More

  • Salem Witch Trials In Witches ! By Rosalyn Scanzer

    1121 Words  | 5 Pages

    The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts between February 1692 and May 1693. Many people were accused and many died. There are many theories of what caused the salem witch trials but the main cause of the salem witch trials was caused by mass hysteria. It is important to learn about this today so that the same problem does not repeat in history. In the book, “Witches! by Rosalyn Schanzer the madness began in February 1692 when 9-year-old Betty Parris and 11-year-old Abigail Williams began to twist and turn in the home of the Reverend Samuel Parris there was only one possible reason for it: witchcraft.

    Read More

  • How Did The Salem Witch Trial Cause The Hysteria Of 1692

    670 Words  | 3 Pages

    However, the reasonings behind this terrible event are still mostly unknown, and historians today, still ask: What caused the Salem Witch Trial Hysteria of 1692? So, this event first started in 1692, The unfortunate Salem witch trials began during the spring of 1692, after a group of young girls in Salem Village, Massachusetts, claimed to be possessed by the devil and accused several local women of witchcraft. After this began to gain popularity, many other people began to accuse each other, until large, monthly executions were being held. The accused “witch” was brought before a priest or a judge, which usually wasn't fair, and was either sentenced as guilty or innocent.

    Read More

  • How Did The Salem Witch Trials Connect To Mccarthyism

    1010 Words  | 5 Pages

    The Salem Witch Trials of 1692 were a dark time in American history. More than 200 people were accused of practicing witchcraft and 20 were killed during the hysteria. Ever since those dark days ended, the trials have become synonymous with mass hysteria. The witchcraft hysteria in Salem is when a group of young girls, who later came to be known as the “afflicted girls,” fell ill after playing a fortune-tellingdancing in the woods game and began behaving strangely. During this time period, people feared that the Devil was constantly trying to find ways to infiltrate and destroy Christians and their communities.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Salem Witch Trials And Mccarthyism

    460 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Salem Witch Trials began during the year of 1692, in the small town of Salem, Massachusetts. The event that sparked the trials occurred when a group of girls claimed to be enthralled by the devil and accused numerous other women of experimenting with witchcraft. As an upsurge of frenzy trickled throughout the town of Salem, a special group assembled in Salem to put their input in the cases. Based on statistics from an article it states, ”the first convicted witch was hanged. Eighteen others followed, while some 150 more men, women and children were accused over the next several months By September 1692, the hysteria had begun to abate and public opinion turned against the trials.”

    Read More

  • Samuel Parris: The Salem Witch Trials

    1661 Words  | 7 Pages

    In 1689, a man by the name of Samuel Parris opened up a new church in Salem Village, Massachusetts. Parris had attended Harvard University a few years prior before leaving to pursue a career in ministry. At the time, the village of Salem was divided into two different parts: Salem Town and Salem Village. The two parts of the village were set apart according to their economy, class, and character.

    Read More

  • What Caused The Salem Witch Trial Hysteria Of 1692

    243 Words  | 1 Pages

    Between the month of June 10 and September 22, 1692, the Salem witch trial which took place in Salem Massachusetts, claimed 20 residents life’s from Salem. This event shook the American History and left historians with one question decades after, what caused the Salem witch trial hysteria of 1692? In a Christian community this must have seemed strange, but superstition causing religious role to intervene and also social/economic class fueled the witch hunt. The Salem witch trial of 1692 all started when two young girls (Betty Parris and Abigail Williams) in Salem village Massachusetts claimed to have been possessed by the devil, accusing three women who had possessed them. As this hysteria continued, a special court was built just to hear

    Read More

  • Research Paper On The Salem Witch Trials Of 1692

    670 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Salem Witch Trials of 1692 have become a prominent event in American culture. A series of the witch trials took place near Salem, part of the Massachusetts colony, in which more than 150 men and women were accused of witchcraft and dozens deteriorated in jail for months without trials. Those who were found guilty were hanged on nearby Gallows Hill. Only a combination of economic conditions, teenage boredom, and personal jealousies can account for the mass hysteria, spiraling accusations, trials, and execution that occurred in Salem Village, Massachusetts.

    Read More

  • Salem Witch Trials In 1692 Essay

    692 Words  | 3 Pages

    One key factor that played a big role was politics. Politics is what brought Reverend Parris to Salem even though many people in the cabinet voted for him not to move to Salem. They knew that Reverend Parris would use them to get the things he wanted. Another component was superstition because many people are gullible. The people of Massachusetts Salem believed the act that the kids were pulling just because they had the reverend to back up their story.

    Read More

  • Reverend Parris To Blame For The Salem Witch Trials In The Crucible

    481 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the drama, “The Crucible”, the story of the Salem Witch Trials takes place. Many are to blame for this tragedy and among them is Reverend Samuel Parris. Reverend Parris is to blame for making the trials worse and not helping at all to stop the situation simply because he cares for nothing other than his reputation with the community. He has been Revered for many towns before Salem and every time he goes to a new town, he ends up leaving because nobody likes him. He lied to the court to protect his name, he talks about nothing other than the damnation of hell in church, and he refuses anything other than golden candlesticks upon his lectern.

    Read More

  • Essay On The Causes Of The Salem Witch Trials

    845 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Reverend Parris In The Crucible By Arthur Miller

    327 Words  | 2 Pages

    Reverend Parris is a paranoid and personal aggrandizement seeker. In “The Crucible”, Arthur Miller uses diction to reveal that Reverend Samuel Parris is a self concerned man who only cares about what others think of him. Reverend Parris is quick to defend his name to stay powerful. Reverend Parris is always concerned about others opinions of him. In “The Crucible” Parris states, “I cannot blink what I saw, Abigail, for my enemies will not blink it.

    Read More

  • Salem Witch Trials Research Papers

    721 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Salem Witch Trials The belief of witchcraft can be traced back centuries to as early as the 1300’s. The Salem Witch Trials occurred during 1690’s in which many members of Puritan communities were accused and convicted of witchcraft. These “witch trials” were most famously noted in the town of Salem, Massachusetts. Many believe this town to be the starting point for the mass hysteria which spread to many other areas of New England.

    Read More

  • The Causes And Effects Of The Salem Witch Trials

    1008 Words  | 5 Pages

    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.

    Read More

More about The Role Of Reverend Samuel Parris In The Salem Witch Trials

Open Document