Early New England Witch Trials Research Paper

It is often difficult to understand the thought process that other people’s might have had many years ago. A college professor and writer, Richard Godbeer attempts to explain the thought process of the people who were involved in witch trials in the year 1692 in his text “How Could They Believe That?”. He often tells students in college and high school that we can relate to how society was in 1692 and how their views on life, and specifically the supernatural forces, are completely justifiable. In this article he explains the social atmosphere, the environment in which the settlers lived in, as well as how thorough the process of persecution was.

History generally regards the period of Salem witchcraft trials as a radical instatement of religious zeal which favored superstition over reason and targeted a large number of women over a much smaller number of men. Admittedly, the 1692 witchcraft crisis is a very complex historical episode, yet seeing as the majority of the people involved were women, it can be perceived as a gender issue, and illustrative for the definition of the role of women in New England. The present work's aim is to outline the colonial mindset concerning women and present relevant theories by means of analyzing three cases of witchcraft accusation together with delving into the accusers' perspective.

By the spring of 1692, Salem Village, Massachusetts the infamous witch hunt began. It all started by several girls diagnosed by a doctor who claimed they were possessed by the devil. The girls later claimed they were bewitched by some local women and saw these women in their dreams, torment them. Sarah Good, a beggar and described by the people of Salem as bad tempered, filthy, strangely detached from the community, happened to be one of the first three individuals who were accused. The girls claimed they were pinched, nibbled or injured by three women including Sarah Good. Good’s examination began in March 1, 1692. The examination was reported by Ezekiell Chevers.

The author focuses on the roles of the ministers in the town, highlighting the corruption in them by utilizing research that proves the ministers that participated in the Salem Witch Trail to be completely driven by money. The author, Ernest King, informs the audience that the reason behind the witch trials is because the ministers used witchcraft as an explanation to get money and land from fellow colonists. King also discusses how the witch-hunt prompted the New England area to transition from a traditional, religion-based society into a community with a more neutral rule system and a higher spirit of unity. Therefore, changing the focus from religious duty of the people to the church to the duties of each person as a citizen. The audience that this article is intended for is people who desire to deepened their knowledge and understanding of the Salem Witch Trials, however people with educational purposes and entertainment can read it. The tone conveyed to the audience is professional, as through the author is lecturing a room full of doctors. The author feels as though the Salem Witch Trials are a serious matter that changed America

Relationships between people and families seemed to crumble in the light of hysteria as children accused parents and friends pointed out friends (Boyer, p67). Some confessed to witchcraft and saved their own lives, others refused to tarnish their names and proclaimed innocence to their grave. The fact that these people did not have freedom of speech and were proven guilty without any tangible evidence caused even more hysteria throughout New England. People realized that at anytime anyone of them could be pointed out and so the society fell even more.

The Salem Witch trials were more than just accusations and women being sentenced to death. Politics, social status, and way of living back then all played essential roles in the trials which are discussed throughout the book “Salem Possessed” by Paul Boyer and Stephen Nissenbaum. The authors touch upon how social status of church members, farmers and community folk impacted who was accused of witchcraft and who was sentenced to death. While times have changed and the laws regarding imprisonment are very different, it is essential to remember that while the techniques and methods used during the witch trials were common back then and just their way of life.

The infamous Salem witch trials of colonial Massachusetts took place between 1692 and 1693. They involved the execution of fourteen women and five men within the brief time period. What is now the New England region had been established by a homogenous Puritan population, which emigrated from England. Abiding by a strict set of beliefs, the Puritans did not accept people of other backgrounds,therefore it might follow that the Salem Witch Trials of New England were a result of the strict Puritan society, which was actually primarily untrue. The Salem Witch Trials were not enacted as a result of Puritanism, but rather as a result of circumstance surrounding Rye.

Although many events contributed to the infamous Salem witch trials, irrefutable evidence supports that the Indian War is one event that caused the trials. Their time in Indian captivity affected many of the accusers and the accused psychologically. Another contributing factor of the Salem Witch Trials is the superstitions among the Puritans. With so much time and so very few answers concerning their eternal destinies, the people of Massachusetts Bay Colony conjured up various methods of distraction, and perhaps entertainment, through the practice of folk magic. The Salem Witch Trials are a cause of built up factors that involve the Puritans belief system and the effects of the Indian War.

The United States of America has a long history going way back to the 17th century. Some parts of history are remembered for their greatness or because they are examples of success or achievements. Others are remembered for the mistakes or the horrible decisions made at that time. It helps us to know our past mistakes so that we will never repeat them. The Salem Witch Trials fall under the category as an event that helps teach us the mistakes of the past. With the knowledge we have today about the trials, hopefully we will never succumb to killing wrongfully convicted people.

The evidence of witchcraft and related works has been around for many centuries. Gradually, though, a mixture a religious, economical, and political reasons instigated different periods of fear and uncertainty among society. Witchcraft was thought of as a connection to the devil that made the victim do evil and strange deeds. (Sutter par. 1) In the sixteenth, seventeenth, and twentieth century, the hysteria over certain causes resulted in prosecution in the Salem Witch Trials, European Witchcraft Craze, and the McCarthy hearings. These three events all used uncertain and unjustly accusations to attack the accused.

Most people believe that during the Salem witch trials the supposed witches were burnt at the stake which was not true; however, during the witch hunt in Europe, most of them were burnt. The Salem witch trials were a series of executions that took place in Salem Town and Salem Village, Massachusetts. These trials happened because the people were believed to have practiced witchcraft. Throughout these trials, twenty people were executed, and many more put in jail. Throughout history and in modern times, witches were seen as evil mythical people who were possessed by the devil; this was the case in 1692 in Massachusetts.

The Salem witch trials represents a time of collective, social paranoia of the unknown. This same type of anxiety arose during the Cold War with McCarthyism and the red scare. To a certain extent, paranoia still exists today in the form of fearing terrorists and being suspicious of sleeper cells. The Salem witch trials consisted of judicial hearings of women in colonial Massachusetts that were accused of witchcraft from 1692 to 1693, which resulted in twenty executions with most of them being women (Goss 4). Like much of the collective paranoia that arises in this country, the Salem Witch Trials were rooted in racism.

The terror that raged through Salem Village in 1692 caused the citizens to accuse and execute each other because of suspected witchcraft. The afflicted girls’ mysterious behavior activated a hysterical fear of witches, causing the Salem witch trials.

In New England the legal system changed dramatically as an effect of the witch trials. A conflict occurred which led to social damaging in a community believed to be plagued with suspected spiritual enemies. Even when such instances occurred the system that was used would be a relatively reasonable one especially when it came to deciding if someone was guilty or innocent was determined by the fate of the suspected witches’ lives.

It is often difficult to understand the thought process that other people’s might have had many years ago. A college professor and writer, Richard Godbeer attempts to explain the thought process of the people who were involved in witch trials in the year 1692 in his text “How Could They Believe That?”. He often tells students in college and high school that we can relate to how society was in 1692 and how their views on life, and specifically the supernatural forces, are completely justifiable. In this article he explains the social atmosphere, the environment in which the settlers lived in, as well as how thorough the process for persecution was.