The Salem Witch Trials In 1692

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.

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 people in Salem, Massachusetts went on a hunt accusing people of being witches. This was a hysterical time in history known as the Salem Witch Trials. The Salem Witch Trials led to many distraught people and false accusations. The famous trials started with two sick children and then led to discrimination manly towards women of a lesser class. The accused people were tortured and eventually killed.

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).

Can you imagine being accused of a crime that you did not commit? This is exactly what happened from June 10th to September 22nd. Twenty innocent women were put to death in a small town by the name of, Salem Boston. This was called the “ Salem Witch Trials.” The Salem Witch Trials were due to a variety of things. Jealousy , lying, and attention are 3 of most important factors.

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

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.

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

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.

In Exodus 22:18, it proclaims, “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live!” In 1692 Salem, Massachusetts, the Puritans believed every word that the Bible said, causing the death of twenty people because they were accused of witchcraft. What caused the panic and alarm that lead to the death of twenty people in Salem? There were three causes: conflict between young girls and older women, lying teenagers, economic and political power divided between two sides of town.

Although there were many possible causes for the Salem witch trial hysteria of 1692, social division and drama were the most significant.

The year 1692 marked a major event in history that left a lasting effect in the town of Salem, Massachusetts. The Salem Witch trials resulted in more than 200 people being accused of practicing witchcraft, the death of nineteen men and women who were hung, one man being crushed to death, along with seven other individuals who lost their lives in prison.

Salem Village, as part of the colony of Massachusetts Bay experienced turmoil from external and internal factors that contributed to the crisis known as the Salem Witchcraft Trials in 1692 to 1693. Being accused of witchcraft that lead to a trial was not unheard of before this event, however the scale and hysteria of the event can be attributed to a few factors. The mass hysteria experienced by Salem Village did not appear out of nowhere. There was a sense of unease and fear due to the ongoing war between New France and New England, King William’s War. Not far North of Salem Village there were raids of towns by Native American’s on behalf of the French, including Andover, Massachusetts where they burned the village, and in the following year

During these days children were told to walk in straight lines with their heads slighted bowed, Mary however, did not like that idea and had another idea in mind. The young girls of the town, including Mary Warren went into the woods and did illegal activities. “Witchery’s a hangin’ error, a hangin’ like they done in Boston two year ago! We’ll only be whipped for dancing and other things!” (18). The townspeople had come to the idea that there were people conforming to witchery and the devil, however, they did not know who. Abigail and Mary were the girls you initiated the ill-doing in the woods and now Mary wants to get out of it. Mary goes to the court in Salem despite what Mr. Proctor instructs her to do. “I am looking for you more often than my cows” (20). John Proctor has hired Mary to take care of some of his household, in this time she must listen to everything he says as he is the man of the house, despite Mr.Proctor’s word, Mary continues to go to

In the village of Salem, the church stood at the top of the social hierarchy followed by ministers and last came peasants and slaves. Many women accused by the girls of witchcraft were a part of the lower social classes giving them less power to prove their innocence. Also, the chance of someone being accused of witchcraft got higher the lower their social class was. Women such as Tituba were poor women and had no way of defending themselves in the court because the church is the court and the church is a higher class than them. The young accusing girls targeted vulnerable people of lower classes because of their lack of ability to prove their innocence and their smaller contributions to society. These class distinctions give us a great motif of resentment by showing us how hateful people of Salem are other citizens of Salem. It creates an overall feeling of hate and betrayal and actively presents a motif of