preview

Causes And Effects Of The Salem Witch Trials

Better Essays

Salem Witch Trials The Salem Witch Trials were one of America’s biggest cases of mass hysteria. The trials have been used as a vivid cautionary tale detailing the dangers of isolationism, religious extremism, false accusations, and lapses in due processes. Many historians consider the lasting effects of the trials to have been highly influential in subsequent US history and that it was the event that would destroy theocracy. In other words this event helped shape the America that we know today by creating a precedent based off of how not to handle fragile situations. CONTEXT AND ORIGINS The Salem Witch Trials were an array of legal hearings and prosecutions of people who were accused of witchcraft in early colonial Massachusetts. The trials took place during the 17th century from February 1692 and May 1693. This is around the same time slaves were being brought to Jamestown, to give a better understanding of the time period. The trials led to many deaths of women and children alike, mostly by hanging. The accusations of witchcraft were mainly brought upon women due to the fact that women were felt inferior to men and more at risk to commit sin. The beginning of the Salem Witch Trials is something thought to be portrayed in a movie or book. The trials started because of a group of girls that claimed to be possessed by the devil and then they accused another group of women of witchcraft. Over the course of a couple of months hundreds were accused of witchcraft. No one

Get Access