Negative Effects Of Puritan Culture On American Society

The trouble in Salem began in January, 1692 when Tituba, a slave from the West Indies was talking to Elizabeth Parris, daughter of the Reverend Samuel Parris, and his niece, Abigail Williams about their futures. After telling them their futures, the girls begin to cry hysterically and act strangely as if bewitched. These fits could be brought on by the idea that their futures as Puritan child-bearing women was at risk or also by the girl’s wanted attention that they had no chance at getting regularly in Puritan society. Tituba also is undergoing torments at this time, seeing specters and having the same type of fits that the other girls are having. As the fits begin to happen to other

The Salem Witch Trials of 1692 were a series of prosecutions of people who were accused of acts of witchcraft or of being a witch in Salem, Massachusetts through the time period of February 1692 through May 1693. This was a dark time in history as more than 200 prosecutions took place and at least 20 people were killed during this time of fear and hysteria. The accusations began as three girls Tituba, Sarah Good, and Sarah Osborne were accused of witchcraft from other young girls in the community. During this time period, fear of the Devil was common as people in Salem were very devoted to their religion and religious practices. As one of the accused girls, Tituba, confessed to working for the Devil and admitting to being a witch, this caused panic and hysteria as a massive witch hunt took place to find more of these witches. This confession was the main reason behind months and months of fear and mass panic as it triggered more accusations.

In the 1630's and the 1640's, the Puritans traveled to the colonies to detach from their opinion of a convoluted Church of England. They set up towns and started new lives that were all based on their idea of a pure religion. The Puritan's definition of a pure religion did not include many of the ideas of the Church of England. They built the colonies and made a system based upon the idea that God was the most important aspect of life. Puritan ideas and values influenced the political, economic, and social development of the New England colonies from 1630 through the 1660’s by spreading their beliefs into every facet of daily life. Politically their ideas regarding what was considered sinful behavior and how power was separated among the

The Salem witch trials were a dark time in American history. It all started when Reverend Parris’ daughter and niece were acting strangely after spending time with Parris’ slave Tituba. For example, “They were believed to have danced a black magic dance in the nearby woods. Several of the girls would fall to the floor and scream hysterically” (“Witchcraft in Salem”). Parris then believed that Tituba along with two other women had bewitched his daughter and niece, thus starting the witch hunt.

In the spring of 1692 , a small town named Salem is located in Salem, Massachusetts is where the witch hunt started(Blumberg). The girls who started they were caught dancing in the woods. Then they started to accused people of being witches(Blumberg). One of the first to be accused was Tituba which she confessed to being a witch(Blumberg). When they started the trails, the governor Phipps called for a special court to deal with the witch problem(Blumberg). Most people didn't even knew about them questions surrounding villages about consorting with the devil(Blumberg). The governor’s wife was even accused of being a witch(Blumberg). The first conviction was Bridget Bishop and she was hanged eight days later(Blumberg).

Dissent always existed in the New England Colonies; the Puritans rarely all agreed on one point. Differing theological opinions forged a schism between groups and lead to the creation of colonies such as Rhode Island. As they stressed literacy, individuals formed their own impressions of the gospel. Minister Roger Williams, for example, disagreed with the Massachusetts Bay Colony’s Indian relations and lack of religious freedoms. Roger Williams wrote this on the matter, “God requireth not a uniformity of religion to be enacted and enforced; which enforced uniformity sooner or later is the greatest occasion of civil war.”

The infamous Salem Witchcraft Trials began in early 1692, in Salem, Massachusetts. It all began as a childlike game of a fortune teller to discover the future of the young girls. The Salem Witchcraft Trials began January of 1692, when two girls, Betty Paris (nine) and Abigail Williams (seventeen) , began to have fits and convulsions. They were seen by doctor William Griggs, and the only reasonable diagnosis he knew of was bewitchment. By the end of February, two other girls, Ann Putnam and Elizabeth Hubbard, became ill. All together, there were 10 girls that were afflicted. Ann Putnam and Elizabeth Hubbard accused Sarah Good, Tituba, and Sarah Osborne 's spirits of hurting them. Tituba, Reverend Parris 's slave, had

The Salem Witch Trials were a series of accusations, trials, and executions based on the supposed outbreak of witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts. The trials began during the spring of 1692, and the last of them ended in 1693. It all started when two young girls, Abigail and Betty Parris, began experiencing violent convulsions and outbursts, which were thought to be brought about by witchcraft. Whether they were faking these symptoms, were afflicted with an actual sickness, or were experiencing them because of some sort of psychological reason is widely debated, though it is known that the sisters accused their maid, Tituba, of forcing them to participate in witchcraft with her. Some who theorize about the causes of the trials dismiss the Parris girls involvement in the beginning and instead attribute the outbreak of accusations to judgement upon the members of society who break social or religious rules, or who struck the upright members of society as ‘strange’ and ‘suspicious’, such as the homeless, the poor, and old or widowed women. The cause of the hysteria that went on in Salem after this is what is speculated by so many. There are probably hundreds of theories out there, but a few in particular are more widely known, accepted, and supported than others.

The Salem Witch Trials of 1692 were a series of trials in which twenty-four people were killed after being accused of practicing witchcraft. These trials were caused by different social climates of the area including the very strong lack of a governor, the split between Salem Village and Salem Town, and the strict puritan lifestyle during the time period. Tituba, the black slave, was a foreigner from Barbados. Her role in society was to take care of Mr. Parris’s family. Tituba’s situation contributed to her role in the witch trials because Mr. Parris promised her freedom if she confessed guilty. Tituba also realized that with her false confession of being a witch also helped keep her life, therefore she accused other people in the village

Puritans believed God had made a “long promised summons” to them. Creating a society in every way connected to just God was challenging enough for the Puritans but also the need to spread His words to other people. The Puritans’ priorities were centralized on their religion and the teaching of it. This shows their focus in education to them was to teach children religious and moral beliefs. No doubt that the educational life of a Puritan began at home. In keeping with covenant household, the salvation of children and their spiritual being was in the heart of every parent. Parents prayed that their children would become a source of glory. The Puritans started the Old Dilutor Act: to teach children to read and write so they can understand the

The witch trials of Salem are often thought to be a hysteria that can be categorized as fake and sometimes “crazy”. The trials started by the belief of the supernatural and the practice of the devil’s ability to grant people the ability to hurt others. Elizabeth Parris and Abigail Williams are the two young ladies that began the stereotypical beliefs in witchery. Williams and Parris started having hysterical fits and “uncontrollable” tantrums filled with screaming and crazy-like seizures. The result of all the insane opinions and conclusions to society were nineteen hangings, and one pressing. The Salem witch trials were a result of hasty decisions and the fear of God’s anger on the people of society. Today, the trials would be seen as crazy or fictional.

The events which led to the Witch Trials actually occurred in what is now the town of Danvers, then a parish of Salem Town, known as Salem Village. Launching the hysteria was the bizarre, seemingly inexplicable behavior of two young girls; the daughter, Betty, and the niece, Abigail Williams, of the Salem Village minister, Reverend Samuel Parris. The trouble began when two young girls asked the slave, Tituba to help them know their fortunes. They used an old trick of suspending an egg-white in a glass of water to find this out. Over several months, the girls began to exhibit strange behavior, which soon spread to other girls in the town. The girls, under pressure from Reverend Parris, identified two local white women and the slave Tituba as the witches who were causing them pain. The

The Salem Witch Trials started in 1692 when two girls began to exhibit strange behaviors. Hysteria broke out and many believed they had been bewitched. Out of fear, many were accused of practicing witchcraft. One of the fist women to be accused along with Sarah Osburn and Sarah Good was Tituba, a slave to Reverend Samuel Parris. In the past there had been some loose accusations but Tituba’s confession made this time different. She was the first person to ever admit to being a witch. She went on to further explain that she was a witch for the devil and went into detail about her experiences practicing witchcraft. This caused a panic in Salem that led a full on witch-hunt. Around 200 people total were accused of being witches and 20 were killed during the Salem Witch Trials. (Foulds, D. E. p. 161, 168, 194)

Seventeenth century Puritans had several aspirations, successes, and failures when it came to creating a model society. They had many successes in their society, some examples are their education system, their advancements in equality for women, and the way they created a tight knit close society. Although they had many achievements, the Puritans also did fall short in many aspects of their society. They ultimately did fail at their perfect society, and that is a very important aspect since that was their main goal. They also were very strict about their policies regarding the church. Once the generations progressed, they had to create new rules to allow people basic religious rights such as baptism. They also fused church and state, which was necessary in a society such as this, but it ultimately hindered progression such as allowing non church members to vote. As the years progressed more and more non Puritans entered the Puritan society, this hindered society because eventually the small majority was making the most riveting decisions. Ultimately the Puritans had both failures and successes when attempting a model society, but the weight of the failures simply outweighed the successes.

The first thing that made Salem Witch Trials what they are today is when Abigail Williams and the other girls gathered in the woods. Then the kids were seen dancing and chanting to Tituba performing voodoo over the fire in attempts to kill Elizabeth Proctor. Proctor was the wife of Williams’ boss, John Proctor, with whom she had been having an affair. Tituba was asked to cast this charm by Abigail. The next day, Reverend Parris’ daughter, Elizabeth, and niece, Abigail