Pros And Cons Of The Witch Trials

In literature and in life, the opportunity of personal and corporate gain allows for easy manipulation of vulnerable circumstances, as seen primarily by the Salem Witch Trials of 1692. Based upon the accusations of multiple vindictive Salem residents, the lack of empirical evidence, the lack of division in the church and state, and the lack of proper leadership in Salem allowed for certain members of society to claim revenge, manipulate citizens, and gain unprecedented religious influence. The continuation of these incentives caused the Trials to rapidly turn into hysteria, with dozens killed, and hundreds more convicted of faulty acts. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller and “‘Homo Economicus’ and the Salem Witch Trials” by Franklin G. Mixon, Jr., the nature of Salem residents is exposed, explaining how greed and selfishness led to the conviction of multiple men and women in the fall of 1692. Although religion and the Puritan ideology played a major role in these shocking figures, without the motivation of personal and corporate profit, the Salem Witch Trials would not have had the same devastating effects.

Witch trials were a big part of the United States’ history. During the witch trials violence was more abundant than usual. They really started getting “popular” in the late 1600’s. The violence of the trials impacted people’s lives so heavily back then. By looking at witch trials, we can see the vicious impact it had, which most readers don’t see; this is important because it shows that violence was and is always the answer. People were most commonly tortured by stoning, being burned alive, and by placing heavy rocks on top of one’s body until they died. Women and, sometimes, men went into hiding and feared for their children and their own lives. Puritans wanted to please God and they thought killing witches, who were thought to be satanic, would be a good deed. Cotton Mather was one of those Puritans. Violence was a public practice and people would often come out with their kids and watch the trials so everyone became desensitized, for a period of time, but it also struck fear into the people who were “not doing what they were supposed to do”, according to the Puritans, or who were mentally disabled.

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.

During the seventeenth century, many Puritans became fed up with the Church of England and its devilish ways. They wanted to break free from it, and make changes elsewhere. They got permission to set up a colony in Massachusetts Bay, and soon after that, over twenty-thousand Puritans fled from England to America. They decided to base their colony on the word of God, and believed God would protect them if they followed his commandments. This meant that if anyone were to sin, “they didn’t want God to protect them because they already worshiped the devil,” and “anyone who worshipped the devil was a witch who used witchcraft to possess others.” Because of this theory, many people were accused of being witches and using witchcraft. The most notorious series of hearings and prosecutions for those accused of witchcraft took place in Salem Village, Massachusetts, known as the Salem Witch Trials.

The Salem witch trials, that occurred in colonial Massachusetts, were a hostile part of American history. People lived in a constant state of paranoia and fear. A great number of people were accused of practicing witchcraft, which was thought to be connected to the devil, and some were even executed. Eventually, the colony realized the faults in the trials. By reading the primary sources ‘A Modest Inquiry into the Nature of Witchcraft Chapter II’ by John Hale and Two Letters by Governor William Phips, we are able to discover a wealth of knowledge about the aforementioned trials. The two sources allow the reader to gain insight into how the trials were flawed by showing the nature of the Salem Witch Trials, the evidence used to find the witches guilty, and the role native americans played in the trials. While also exhibiting how primary sources can be a disadvantage in navigating through historical events.

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 myths surrounding the Salem Witch Trials of 1692 spike the interest of historians and non-academics alike. These trials have been the concern of different historical articles, novels, plays, films, and even religious debates. One issue that is certain, is the hysteria of the community overwhelmed Salem, Massachusetts in 1692 and 1693. A particular primary source, “Accounts of the Salem Witchcraft Trials (1693)” by Cotton Mather, suggests that the actions brought forth provided proof of satanic work. Even though Mather was a contemporary observer, Mather fails to analyze the importance of the real contemporary issues displayed during the time of the trials. Furthermore, historian Kyle Koehler, takes a different approach in his review,

blended into tales of witchcraft, war stories circulated in the town, and the girls in it were

Colonial Massachusetts in the late 1600s was very complex. The small colony consisted of mainly puritans, who had come to escape from the Church of England. Puritans believed that those chosen by God to be saved — the elect — would experience "conversion." In this process, God would reveal to the individual His grace, and the person would know he was saved. One of the many issues within the society was religion. A very big problem that would cause a lot of tension and problems later on was witchcraft. The Salem witchcraft hysteria started because of personal jealousies, it targeted those who went against puritan beliefs, and it was an explanation of all the weird things happening.

The Salem Witch trials are a very known event in history. Groups of people were accused as being witches by the church and its followers. The murders of the West Memphis is another very similar situation of the West Memphis police blaming three teenage boys because they stood out from other citizens. There are many similarities between these two events of mass hysteria and false accusations.

The United States of America is known to many as the Home of the Free. The United States has built itself on pride knowing that its citizens are protected against a government that abuses its power. Also, religious freedom and a separation of church and state are key fundamentals of America. However, the present day United States had to go through several conflicts in order to preserve the unalienable rights. One of these obstacles the United States had to overcome was the Salem Witch Trials.

The witch trials in continental Europe, which lasted from the late 1300s until around 1650, resulted in an execution of "between 200,000 and 500,000 witches, 85% or more of whom were women."1 There is wide debate between historians arguing about whether or not this is a mass act of sexism—some stating that large groups of men gathered together to blame women for all of their village 's misfortunes, while others state that there were still a high number of males executed for witchcraft, and that anybody could be considered a witch. There is no getting around the fact that gender was a very important factor in the European witch trials, seeing as a majority of victims across the country were women. That being said, the idea of witch-hunts being sexist and specifically targeted towards women is false, rather, the label of "witch" was more frequently added onto powerful women who were viewed as sinful threats to society, resulting in the high number of executed females.

The Nuremberg Doctors Trial of 1946 is the preeminent case recognizing the importance of medical ethics and human rights specifically about human research subjects. The defendants in the trials include Nazi leadership, physicians, and investigators prosecuted for conducting unethical and inhumane medical experiments on civilians and prisoners of war resulting in extreme pain, suffering, permanent injury and often death. The Nuremberg Code, borne of these trials, establishes ethical guidelines for human experimentation to ensure the rights of subjects in medical research. Herein, this writer will first identify and discuss ethical dilemmas presented in the Nuremberg case followed by three

Were people accused of witchcraft given fair trials? In my opinion, they were not. Based on the information gathered from the three documents, many of the men and women accused of witchcraft were doomed before the trial even took place. There are many reasons as to why the trials were unfair before they even started. First, a big reason why the trials were so unfair was because of the church. They could use their influence on society to decide who has jurisdiction over certain areas, giving inquisitors legal power over areas they may not have otherwise had. Another reason the trials were unfair is the suspected party did not really get to defend themselves, and even if they tried to, they could be found guilty anyway. However, the biggest reason I think the trials were unfair was because of the Malleus Maleficarum, where it mentions torture of prisoners with the intention of getting confessions.

In the many years prior to the Witch Trials of 1692 exploration and settlement of the Americas was motivated by many things. The first motivation of exploration to the Americas was God, gold and glory. Many people also fled Europe in fear of religious persecution. The settlement of the first English colony known as Jamestown was motivated by greed and money. This colony struggled due to environmental conditions and a lack of unity. The settlement of Massachusetts Bay colony was motivated mainly by religion. Aboard the Arbella o the Puritans way to the colony John Winthrop, a lawyer and leader of the English Puritans migration to Massachusetts Bay colony, delivered a sermon famously called “City Upon a Hill”. It discussed ideas of a perfect Utopian society with certain moral values and ideals. However the idea of a perfect and pure society influenced the Witch Trials of 1692, which led to women being labeled as “witches” due to patriarchal views, mental illness and self incrimination. Therefore many women were falsly accused, outcasted and killed.