Factors That Influence The Salem Witch Trials

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).

political and personal issues which divided village long before 1692. At bottom, geography and history divided Salem Village and Salem Town. Situated in the interior from the bustling mercantile town of Salem, Salem Village remained

According to the in-class notes, “anxiety affected Salem greatly on two levels”. The first is political and the second is social. Over the years, Massachusetts, Plymouth, and Main were combined, and the population of the new colony was less similar and religiously single-minded than the original Puritan colony was. “Class tensions; regional hostilities imported from England… teenage hysteria, political instability; trauma induced by Indian attacks” (Schiff, 4). The changes that they faced, attached with the fear of attacks by the Indians, made the world more unsettling. Along with this, other tensions engrossed Salem. The residents of Salem were divided into two main parts. The Salem Town and the Salem Village. The residents of the Salem Village were mostly underprivileged farmers that made their living by cultivating crops, and most of the residents living in the Salem Town were wealthy merchants.

Salem, Massachusetts became famously known for the witch trials that took place in the late 1600’s. For the men and women residing in Salem, Massachusetts it was a time in which they lived in fear of allegations and deceit. Twenty men and women lost their lives during what is known as the Salem Witchcraft Hysteria. Socioeconomic tensions within the community are to blame for the witchcraft hysteria in Salem, Massachusetts during the late 1600’s. Factors such as politics, religion, and social status all played a role in the deadly and devastating era.

In 1692 the Puritans, colonists that believed in the bible, settled in America. They believed in witchcraft, and believed that people who study it should be executed. This led to many people being accused and executed. What made the Salem witch trials of 1692 such a threat and fear to the people of Massachusetts? The Salem witch trial hysteria of 1692 was caused by the fear of being possessed by the devil, by the fear of being accused and what your consequences would be, and lastly the belief of people being witches which was a crime worthy of death.

Between the months of June to September of 1692, the infamous witch trials in Salem, Massachusetts resulted in the hanging of 19 men and women; the deaths of five others, including two children, while imprisoned in jail; the pressing to death of an 80-year old man, and the stoning of two dogs for collaborating with the Devil. Hundreds of others faced accusations and dozens more were jailed for months during the progress of the trials. For over three hundred years these events have not only captured the general publics' imagination, but that of the academic community. Beginning with Charles Upham, in 1867, historians have attempted to explain the mass hysteria that swept through Salem in 1692. These accounts vary both in their

Notably, the colonists of Salem Village were largely Puritan and came over from Europe because they opposed the church of England’s more lenient interpretation of the Bible. Furthermore, these colonists believed in community living and were ran by a non-secular government. For example, officials were known to work alongside the Puritan congregation. However, after Oliver Cromwell became the English political leader, there was no longer such a great need for individuals to immigrate to the U.S. in seek of a stricter Puritan religion. As immigration slowed dramatically over the years, there become a generational split in Salem, leading to the Salem Village. The Salem Village consisted of colonists who wanted a more puritan way of living, and did not want to be surrounded by the money of the mercantile class in Salem. As the Salem Village developed, the community started their own congregation, in which Reverend Parris was appointed. Importantly, Puritans believed in the devil as well as the supernatural, because they considered it as rejecting God if they believed

The tension over land was growing fast. In 1632, the general court granted governor Endicott three hundred acres of land. With subsequent land grants to others, the boundaries and borders which told the people who owned what land was in dispute. Another land problem was caused by overcrowding in the New England communities. Salem was a seaport community that had been settled early and most of the land within its borders belonged to the first generation settlers. In the 1650?s, boundary disputes between Salem residents and those of surrounding towns increased. As a result of a shortage of land, most second and third generation Salem children lived as adults on subdivided land or moved on. The sons and daughters who stayed in Salem to farm found themselves with a lower income than their parents. "The resulting tensions were Heightened by the concentration of land ownership in the hands of a relative few." The outcome was a climate of extreme animosity that lead to strife, and it was this tension that lead the puritans to use the trials to acquire land from their neighbours.

Within the town of Salem, there seemed to be two regional divisions, being the rich and the poor. The west side contained most of the accusers and the east side contained most of those who were claimed to be a witch (Document F). In historical context, this information is reliable because it can be traced back to being documented in 1692 which is when the witch trials were in full swing. Townspeople could easily accuse one of being a witch, especially if there was a conflict between the two people,

The Salem witch trials were influenced by religion, social outlooks, and eerie behaviors. This lead to numerous allegations and trials that convicted the innocent and the instigators of society.

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

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).

In the year (1692) witch trials held the Salem area hostage people were terrified. People of

The Salem Witch Trials is an infamous event due to its bizarre and seemingly hysteric circumstances. Eric Foner contributes this incident to Europe’s growing population as well as the replication of English hierarchical social structure in the colonies. I believe that the established social class influenced the Salem Witch Trials to some extent, but the series of trials and executions were caused more by general social and economic tension in the colonies during the 17th century. Those who lived in Salem during 1692 faced numerous hardships. Work was incessant and exhausting- duties including making clothes, raising livestock, and farming in harsh climates and rough terrain. Most families had to be self-sufficient and upkeep strict Puritan values. A recent smallpox epidemic, growing small-town rivalry, and an influx of political conflict in a colony teetering between governments. The constant threat from nearby Native American tribes also magnified the Puritans’ irrational fear.

Salem was one of the larger towns of the Massachusetts Bay area. It was first occupied by in 1626, and was originally called Naumkeag; a word that derived