Gender Inequality In The Salem Witch Trials

The Salem Witchcraft trials was an outrageous event that began in 1692, and ended May of 1693 seeing the execution of many people. Unfortunately most of the victims of this phenomenon were women. For the most part these women were accused for very trivial reasons, such as for being widowed, being of old age and living alone, or for simply collecting herbs and other plants. During this time in history women and men were treated very differently both as they should contribute in the home and in society, this would have presented reasons as to why women were predominantly accused of witchcraft, along with any religious beliefs. The Crucible by Arthur Miller takes place at a time of a patriarchal society, the roles of men and women were different, along with how they were treated overall in society. This contributed to the stereotype of women being the ones predominantly associated with witchcraft.

Females in the 1692-1693 were one of the largest groups accused of being part of the Salem Witch Trials. According to Washington State University, “As events unfolded, 185 people were accused at Salem, 141 women and 44 men. Of that number, 52 women and 7 men were tried; 26 women and 5 men were convicted; and 14 women and 5 men were executed, the last group on September 22, 1692.”(Campbell 1) this statistic shows that women were more likely to have been accused of being a Witch. Women were thought to be much lesser than men and weren't

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.

From the time of the 1690’s the entirety of Salem, Massachusetts were Puritans. “The Puritan lifestyle was restrained and rigid: People were expected to work hard and repress their emotions or opinions. Individual differences were frowned upon.” (Salem Witch Trials, The World Behind the Hysteria). These people believed that doing anything sinful would result in punishment from God. Just as much as they believed in God, they also believed in the Devil. Keeping up with the Puritan code, it led to the first women being accused of witchcraft. They were viewed as pariahs, and seen differently. Had the Puritan government let the afflicted defend themselves, not be so dependent on religion, not investigating the facts or scrutinize the trials the killing of many could have been prevented. The hangings from the trials would ultimately be the last in America.

The Salem Witch Trials was a very dark period in our history that occurred in the colony of Salem, Massachusetts. These trials began in February 1692 and ended in May of 1693. There were over two hundred individuals who were accused of practicing witchcraft. Of those two hundred accused, nearly twenty innocent souls were lost. This was one of the most severe cases of mass hysteria in recorded history. There was a great effort exhorted by the Massachusetts General Court to declare a guilty verdict, that the framers of the United States Constitution went to great lengths to never let this type of tragedy occur again; commonly known as the eighth amendment. Remarkably so, some may argue that there were similarities in Salem and the

The Salem Witch Trials were a dark part of American History that we learn about today. The question always remains as to why this hysteria of witchcraft outbreak happened. How the outbreak of accusations started is something that is speculated to be from jealousy, a disease caused by a rye poisoning, or from a psychogenic disease. We should also be asked what were the roles of men and women in these trials, why was it mainly women accused, why was it only men holding the trials? The gender roles in these trials were based upon the belief that women were somehow still incapable to handle such things and were not made to do such things. Yet when young girls accused grown women of acts of witchcraft, unless a man defended that woman, they could do nothing but let the men prosecute them for something they never did. Men ran everything in towns, because that was the norm for this time period. So, what could women do to defend themselves? They had no power to fend against the men who ran everything in their society.

The view that religious beliefs were behind the Salem Witch Trials of 1692 is predominantly incorrect. While the Puritan culture’s strong Christian beliefs did dictate the behaviour of New England society, for the authorities that instigated the Witch Trials, religion was a mere justification for their actions that allowed them to gain support by instilling in the masses the fear of a higher power. Their true motives lay in the political and social issues of the time, with Salem Town’s division due to two disputing families, the ever-present fear of smallpox, and the male population’s immense opposition to female independence and sexuality. Thus, while society had strong religious beliefs, they were merely a pretext for the political and social factors of family conflict, disease, and fear of women that were the true bases for the accusations dealt in 1692.

Salem Witch Trials was a series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft in the Salem Village of the 17th century New England. The trials caused executions of many people, mostly women. Salem Witch Trials exposed the different gender roles during the seventeenth century. Women were supposed to take on “wifely duties” such as, be mothers and housewives. Women were taught to follow the men. There were strict religious norms during the seventeenth century. There was rigid moral code believed that God would punish sinful behavior. Those who were under the covenant by the church of the Salem Village believed that Satan would select those to fulfill his work and those who followed Satan were considered witches. Witchcraft was considered a punishable crime. Salem Witch Trials revealed that gender played a role for the accused and accusers. The trials also revealed that one’s relationship with God will set deliverance from Satan’s attacks. Salem Witch Trials demonstrated how rumors, jealousy, and the idea of male dominance affected people of the Salem Village.

Throughout history, there have been many cases of discriminatory accusations of people, including the Salem Witch Trials. The Salem Witch Trials were a string of trials, hearings and prosecutions of many people accused of witchcraft in Massachusetts between the dates of February 1692 and May 1693. The trials ended up leading to the execution of twenty people, men and women, but mainly women. The Salem Witch Trials that took place about three hundred years ago affected the lives of everyday civilians during that time in ways such as politically, religiously, economically, fearfully, mentally, and sometimes in other various other ways.

By examining the end to witchcraft, a reader can further see the importance of socioeconomic status during the trials. The afflicted girls discovered their role in putting an end to the allegations by accusing the highest members of Puritan society. Here a reader realizes it was not just mostly women who were accused, but mostly women of low socioeconomic status. Once women began denouncing the most prestigious members, others began speaking out and fighting in favor of the accused. For example, colonial economic and political leaders started objecting the accusations once “the bewitched had charged the wives of critics Moody, Hale, and Dane, as well as several members of Boston’s ruling elite.” On the off-chance that people never blamed the elite members of society who knows how long the Salem Witch Trials would have kept going.

History shows the remarkable things that society has done over the years, it also shows where society failed and mistakes were made. This is the case of the Salem Witch Trials. The people of Salem experienced an event that would change them and the course of this country forever. The mass hysteria and rampant paranoia that swept New England in 1692, is what turned neighbor against neighbor. The Salem villagers would accuse one another of casting spells, consorting with the devil, and being witches, all of which was a punishable crime in the 17th century. ("Search")

The events that took place in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692 have had historians scrutinizing over the causes for years. There have been several theories about how the situation became so out of control. The haunting story is well known in America, taught to our youth and has been the focus of numerous forms of media. We are familiar with the story but unfamiliar with the origin of its beginnings. The role of religion and the presence of mob psychology were the primary catalyst behind the Salem witch trials.

As long as mankind, women have usually always come second to men. Since ancient times, a woman’s status in Egypt usually always depended on the father or husband, but they had the right to own property and could attend court. During the Salem Witch Trials and Hunts, sexism was a huge part that ignited the trials between the 15th and 18th centuries. Also, until the 20th century, the English law stated "by marriage, the husband and wife are one person in law; that is the very being or legal existence of the woman is suspended during the marriage" (Blackstone, 2008). By this, it meant, legally, women were not defined as a “person”. To this day, sexism is still a major problem, not just in the US, but all around the world. Some of the sexism that still goes on in today’s society all around the world include gender stereotypes, gender targeting of advertisements, catcalling, sexual harassment/violence, domestic violence, rape, health rights, and the infamous wage gaps.

The central issue at stake for people during the Salem witch trials were a series of hearing and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft. It all started in Salem Village, in colonial Massachusetts between 1692 and 1693. A man by the name of Richard Godbeer, the author of “The Salem Witch Hunt” and several other books is a professor at the University of Miami. Godbeer’s research and teaching interests center on colonial and revolutionary America. Also, his fields of interest are in gender, sex, witchcraft and religious culture.

Throughout the witch hunts, women were the primary target; most victims being midwives, native healers, single women who lived alone, people against whom neighbors had a grudge or practitioners of ancient pagan rituals. Although not all were women, 75 to 90% of accused witches were in fact women (Levack,. p. 124), forcing one to question the affects of the harsh portrayal of women being placed on women.