Difference Between Salem Town

In this essay I will talk about two main central ideas. First, some people accuse innocent people for witchery. Secondly, there is a lot of hatred in the town of Salem.

xi). “The residents of Salem were after all, Puritans, which means they viewed their community not just as a group of individuals, but as a single entity united under God” (Possible Causes… Par.3). The social tension caused by the differing opinions on the separation of the village from Salem Town strongly contradicted their religious ideals that they were all supposed to be as one. The farming people in Salem Village thought that the thriving economy of the harbor in Salem Town made it far to individualistic (Sutter Par.3).

To learn more about the Salem witchcraft hysteria, Historian Paul Boyer, and Professor Stephen Nissenbaum sought to further understand the accusations of witchcraft. During the late 1600’s life in colonial New England was one led by religion and politics. Salem was broken up into two factions, Salem Village, and Salem Town. Salem Village, which was led by the Putnam family was a rapidly growing

Particularly, a map of Salem Village in 1692 shows where the accusers, defenders, and accused witches all resided throughout the land (Document 9). This is significant due to the placement of each defender, accuser, and accused witch on the map. More importantly, the split of the land shows most of the accusers residing in the Western half of Salem, and most of the defenders residing in the Eastern half of Salem. Hence, this explains the idea that the hysteria was brought about by a territorial dispute, which could have been because the Western half of Salem was trying to come up with a reason to be-rid of certain individuals on the Eastern side of Salem. As another consideration, a citation from Charles W. Upham’s “Salem Witchcraft” describes the error in the accusers’ accusations and the fact that they seemed as if they were playing a role in a scripted play, instead of being honest (Document 7). It is without a doubt that the behavior of the people during that time was erratic and unusual, but there was a huge possibility that many of the accusers were being deceitful for their own gain. The accusing women’s behavior could have been influenced by social status or maybe they were jealous of the “witch’s” social superiority; another possibility could be that they were trying to go after the “witch’s” husbands. Although the causes of the Salem Witch

Salem Village was one of many non-urban inhabitants. They were looked upon as country folk because of their interests and beliefs in the church and growing tobacco to survive in this new land. There was not much for children to do except go to church, work on the fields, or go to school. You can imagine how bored these children can get. In such a secluded lifestyle as this, you would be a crazy person if you were at all different, and this episode would be so different that it would be traumatic to the people of this small village. Traumatic as it was, I believe the people just did not know how to react in such a situation.

I think this theory is could be another idea but it's hard to believe that some jealousy can to death accusations.The people in Salem town were more prosperous, educated, and generally more respected. The people in Salem village were outskirts to the town. But the village and town were still considered one in 1600’s. When Salem village and salem town separated it cause more chaos between them because salem village produced the food for the area and the businessmen in salem town set crop prices.this theory would be my second idea of why the trials occurred. In my next paragraph i will be explaining the 3rd theory in which is different than the other theories.

In 1692, in the small village of Salem, Massachusetts, 20 people were hanged for offenses they did not commit. But what was the charge against the 20? The answer would be witchcraft. The charges deeply affected the small community. Neighbor turned on neighbor. Every act that a person made would be carefully scrutinized, dissected, and repeated to others. This would lead to the question. What caused the Salem Witch Trial Hysteria of 1692? The 3 main factors that would cause widespread panic in the town of Salem were gender, marital status, and age, actors and attention seekers, and neighbor conflicts within the village of Salem.

The mass hysteria between today’s society and the Salem witch hunt can be compared through Freedom , Religion ,and the killing of innocent victims. Mass hysteria has caused a lot of destruction in society throughout the years. It has brought about a lot of chaos in both Salem as well as the present society. Mass hysteria has brought out a lot of fear in people in both Salem and present society.

The purpose of this book was to examine the history and social life of Salem Village to try to figure out what was the cause of the events that occurred there. I believe that the authors achieved their objective at least they did to me. Boyer and Nissenbaum's explanation for the outbreak of witchcraft accusations in Salem hinges on an understanding of the economic,

During the time period of 1691 to 1692 the town of Salem, a small thriving community within the Puritan Massachusetts Bay colony, was struck by widespread hysteria in the form of witch trials. The way these trials and accusations played out are historically unlike any other witch trials found in European and American history. Historians have pointed to a number of economic, political, and social changes of the then existing institutions throughout the Massachusetts Bay area to be the cause of the Salem witch trials, along with the direction they took. If studied closely however, it becomes apparent that the main cause for the Salem witch trials can be found in the way the people of Salem viewed and

The Salem Witch Trials were a time of paranoia and mass hysteria. In this small town of Massachusetts hundreds were accused of witchcraft and 19 people were executed. Salem was home to very devout Puritans. The worries arrived when young girls would become sick with no explanation or cure. The doctors not knowing what the cause of the illness was, quickly pronounce the girls bewitched. It spread terror through the town. The girls, as well as other residents, started accusing others of witchery. Many accusations were because of vengeance or self-interest. There were rivalries between families over land or wealth. Neighbors started accusing each other in order to gain their land. The religious community had an intensified sense of fear that the Devil was walking among them. They believed witches were out to destroy the Puritans. In order to purify the village of evil they had trials for the accused.

In 1692 the area of Salem town and Salem village became very vulnerable to conflict. Severe weather such as hurricanes had damaged land and crops, the effects of King Phillips War began to impact New England society, and colonists were being forced off of the frontiers by Native peoples. The Church and the government were in heavy conflict. And those residing in Salem began to grow suspicious of one another when some prospered and others hadn’t (Marcus, p13).

The hysteria, craze, trials, and deaths, still rest an unsolved case. The theories of politics, rivalries, religion and the “circle girls” seem the most believable, in my eyes. However, as the happenings in Salem village still continue to mislead and amaze not only historians, but many others, the witch trials lie a great turning point for Salem, and the lives of many; let alone

These trials have brought up multiple theories to explain why the town of Salem executed twenty people, fourteen being women. Four explanations that were discussed in lecture were mass hysteria, fungus in the rye, social control and the legacy of Indian wars. The mass hysteria theory suggests that the people of the town became so obsessed and overwhelmed with religious faith motivated purely by superstitions and rumors. These rumors and superstitions caused the people of Salem to be fearful of anyone who stepped out of their definition of normalcy. The fungus in the rye theory suggests that people who consumed the rye ended up hallucinating because the mold contained similar elements to LSD. The social control theory states that people of lower income and status started to accuse the wealthy of witchcraft. This was used as a form of revenge. Lastly the theory of the Indian war implies that men of political power began utilization of fear as a cover up for their failure to protect the northern area. Therefore created the idea of witchcraft and started accusations in order to distract from their

Life in the New England colonies during the 1600’s proved to be harsh with the constant fear of Native American attacks, scarce food, freezing winters, and conflicting opinions about religion. From this perpetual state of distress, the Salem Witch Trials were birthed, causing a wave of hysteria in Salem Village and Salem Town. Though the exact day and month is uncertain, historians can claim that the trials emerged in early 1692 and came to a close in 1693. The Salem Witch Trials started in 1692 with more than one hundred fifty people being accused of practicing witchcraft, and the trials finally ended with the courts declaring there was no evidence in the cases being tried, and the Governor stopped the trials because his wife was accused.