Aspects Of The Salem Witch Trials

The first major reason for the Salem Witch Trial Hysteria of 1692 was young girls seeking attention they never

The first of three parts to the Puritan Era Judicial System were their laws, which the Puritan leaders religiously enforced. In today’s world these laws would get viewed as radical, or restricting of our natural rights, because they were so strict. Moreover, some of these laws included: puritans cannot laugh ; puritans cannot beachcomb, to search the beach or tidal areas for things of value or novelty; church was extremely serious, the Sabbath day was everything to them and was not taken lightly; hunting for waterfowl, such as ducks, was illegal; drama or theatre clubs were forbidden; no religious music; no gambling; smoking was only allowed in private, never in public; greed or excessive eating was frowned upon; and idleness was wrong.

Kappanadze, Margaret. "Baker, Emerson W.: A Storm of Witchcraft: The Salem Trials and the American Experience." Library Journal 15 Sept. 2014: 92. General OneFile. Web. 14 Sept. 2014.

During 1692, Puritan society in Massachusetts was filled with pressures: pressures to be a loyal and dedicated Christian and also pressures to remain in a uniform manner so each individual would not be criticized. Tensions in Puritan society escalated during the Salem witch trials, Puritans, mostly middle-aged wealthy women were kept under close observation and if something seemed unusual about an individual they would be persecuted by the town and told they are a witch, often this lead to their banishment from the colony or ultimately their death. The ideology of predestination created extreme conflicts throughout the Puritan society. People were constantly in fear if they committed a sin, they would go to hell. This fear sparked a distress that witchcraft was among the colonies and Satan was leading it by controlling the ones accused of witchcraft. Puritan society was dominated by fear that caused victimization throughout the colonies.

The Salem Witch Trials were a series of accusations, trials, and executions based on the supposed outbreak of witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts. The trials began during the spring of 1692, and the last of them ended in 1693. It all started when two young girls, Abigail and Betty Parris, began experiencing violent convulsions and outbursts, which were thought to be brought about by witchcraft. Whether they were faking these symptoms, were afflicted with an actual sickness, or were experiencing them because of some sort of psychological reason is widely debated, though it is known that the sisters accused their maid, Tituba, of forcing them to participate in witchcraft with her. Some who theorize about the causes of the trials dismiss the Parris girls involvement in the beginning and instead attribute the outbreak of accusations to judgement upon the members of society who break social or religious rules, or who struck the upright members of society as ‘strange’ and ‘suspicious’, such as the homeless, the poor, and old or widowed women. The cause of the hysteria that went on in Salem after this is what is speculated by so many. There are probably hundreds of theories out there, but a few in particular are more widely known, accepted, and supported than others.

The Salem Witch Trials began during the spring of 1692 after a group of young girls in Salem Village, MA, said they were being possessed by the devil and accused local women of witchcraft. With chaos running around the village, the special court began taking on cases. Bridget Bishop, the first convicted witch, was hung that June month. Many people of the Salem community had major consequences including death and harrassment. Belief that the devil could give certain humans, or witches, power to harm others in return for their loyalty emerged throughout europe as early as the 14th century. All of this chaos and phenomenon led to a pointing fingers game of who is guilty. Chaos also brought up the question of why it happened, malice, spite, or

The pressure and consequences of puritan lifestyle is shown in “their creed forbade anything resembling a theater , vain enjoyment, They did not celebrate christmas, or holidays from work meant only that they must concentrate even more upon prayer”. This quote shows how the puritans society suppresses individuality. To the extent that most human desires were evil , even salem foulk believed that the virgin forest was the devils last preserve. What makes this puritan lifestyle such a burden was the predilection . ”Minding others people's business was time honored among the people of salom”. This created the suspicions that would lead to the trials .

The witch trials of Salem are often thought to be a hysteria that can be categorized as fake and sometimes “crazy”. The trials started by the belief of the supernatural and the practice of the devil’s ability to grant people the ability to hurt others. Elizabeth Parris and Abigail Williams are the two young ladies that began the stereotypical beliefs in witchery. Williams and Parris started having hysterical fits and “uncontrollable” tantrums filled with screaming and crazy-like seizures. The result of all the insane opinions and conclusions to society were nineteen hangings, and one pressing. The Salem witch trials were a result of hasty decisions and the fear of God’s anger on the people of society. Today, the trials would be seen as crazy or fictional.

The Witch Trials started off when a group of girls claimed to be possessed and acted weirdly, they also accused many grown women of witchcraft and there has been proof of some of the girls supported by a testimony. This testimony was a key factor to the trials of 1692-93.

In 1692 women were accused of being witches. This resulted in the execution of twenty

Twenty four people died during the Salem Witchcraft trials of 1692, and at least a hundred more were sent to jail under the accusation of witchcraft. These trials first began when Betty Parris, Ann Putnam, Mercy Lewis, and Mary Walcott were behaving oddly. The girls dashed under furniture, contorted in pain, and hallucinated, among other things. The people of a small Massachusetts colony called Salem panicked, not knowing what was causing the girls to act so oddly. There were three major reasons why this happened: childish behavior, religious beliefs and personal tensions between the two sides of the colony.

Unfortunately, they did not insist on the regular, established procedures. They admitted spectral evidence and convicted men and women solely on the basis of such evidence, which was offered in many cases by hysterical teenage girls who were perhaps enjoying the

Many people know of the events that transpired in Salem, Massachusetts, when in 1692, several women were put to trial after being accused by their community for committing witchcraft. To this day, these trials act as a hallmark of the puritan beliefs and spiritual controversy that defined the era. While these trials remain infamous in colonial history, many people are unaware of a similar series of events that took place in Stamford, Connecticut, the very same year. These trials would later become known as the Katherine Branch investigations. While they are often overlooked, these trials were influential in challenging the religious beliefs, logic-based legal systems, and hierarchical societies of 17th-Century Puritanism. The clash between the religious and social beliefs of the Puritans and the legal system of the colony throughout the Branch investigations provide historians with vital information on how the Puritans believed that supernatural forces affected their society.

In Salem, a small village in Massachusetts, a number of girls fell ill, and suffered from hallucinations and seizures. In a extremely religious Puritan New England, frightening and astonishing occurrences were often associated with the devil. The eternal fear of witchcraft caused the girls and the residents of Salem to blame other villagers of consorting with the devil. Old grudges and jealousies poured out into the open, thus causing an outbreak of mass hysteria, tearing apart the community as a whole. Within a few weeks, dozens of people were charged of witchcraft and nineteen were convicted and hanged.

Long delays placed intolerable psychological and financial burdens on accident victims and undermining the justice of the trial, by making it more difficult to gather evidence which was then unreliable because witnesses had to remember events which happened several years before. The adversarial nature of the process did not help much either, as it encouraged tactical maneuvering rather than cooperation. It would be far cheaper, time saving and simpler for each side to state precisely what it alleged in the pleadings, disclose all the documents held, and give exchange witness statements. Moreover too much emphasis was laid on oral evidence at trial, which can appropriately be substituted by written evidence statement, reducing costs and speeding up the process.