Summary Of Three Sovereigns For Sarah

New England in the seventeenth century was a difficult place to live. The raging winds of winter, the ravaging Indian tribes and the many diseases that killed both livestock and family members often had inhabitants believing that they were being punished by God for their sins, or that their afflictions were caused by something much more sinister. Anyone who threatened traditional gender and societal roles was seen as a potential threat to both themselves and the rest of the community. The outbreaks of witch accusations that occurred throughout New England during this time reflected how unsettled the settlers really felt about their lives. This is reflected in both the Salem, Massachusetts witch trials and the Stamford, Connecticut witch trials even if these trials had different results.

In the colonial era in Salem, Massachusetts the idea of witches became present in this time, this caused the Salem Witch Trials which killed and falsely accused many people from 1692-1693. Those accused of being a witch or part of the witch trials usually had some strange oddity to them, or they were different than the average person. People with any abnormality from the regular society of 1692-1693 would have been accused of being a part of the Salem Witch Trials and was the cause of this horrific event that happened from around 1692-1693. The largest “abnormality” group was the females at the time, most females in this area and time period would be accused of being a witch which would lead to the idea of sexism. People who wouldn't attend church like the rest society would be thought as outcasts or abnormal, and people who always had to depend on others and were less than average society, would most likely be accused of witchcraft.

I believe that Three Sovereigns for Sarah is an excellent representation of a Churchill quote, "The best things are carried to excess." Samuel Parris used the witch trials to gain as much money as possible and in turn, dragged out the tests to give himself something good. Twenty people died because of this, nineteen hanged and one pressed to death. The people affected were women as well as men.

Church was the foundation of life in New England. People in Massachusetts were Puritans colonists seeking freedom and religious acceptance by leaving England. The Puritan lifestyle was self-controlled and firmly enforced. Since Puritans were expected to live by a resistant code; they believed that all sins committed should be punished and that God would punish sinful behavior. When someone went against their codes, Puritans saw it as God’s will to not help them. In keeping up with the Puritan code of obedience, the many women to be accused of witchcraft in Salem were seen as divergent and social

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.

In the year 1692 many people were murdered during the Salem Witch Trials. The movie "Three Sovereigns for Sarah", is about Sarah Cloyce. She wanted to testify for her sisters who were killed by citizens of Salem because they thought they were witches. In the movie, Sarah Cloyce had to go through much pain and suffering. The movie had a unique way of telling about the deaths, religion, and people during the time of the Salem witch trials.

The Salem Witch Trials were controversial events in history. Many people are to blame for the confusion caused by this horrific event. For puritan colonists, such as the magistrates of the time, if something could not be explained scientifically then it was immediately blamed on the supernatural. While there were many symptoms that could be logically explained there was a number of unexplained circumstances of the afflicted such as babbling in an unidentifiable language and crawling under furniture. A multitude of individuals have varying ideas toward The Salem Witch Trials that are brought to life from a number of myths; some people believed that all the victims were female, some people thought that all the panic and chaos took place in Salem, and it has been said that superstition was the driving force.

“The Three Sovereigns for Sarah” movie was based off events in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. There were already problems with everyone in the town because everyone wanted more property than they owned. They were without a reverend for a while and ended up voting for a man that nobody really liked. What they needed was a reverend like Reverend Parris. Parris had two daughters, a wife, and a slave to watch his kids and make food along with some other tasks. From the beginning of the movie the youngest daughter was ill. One of the slaves had practiced voodoo in the past and was showing the reverend's daughters and the girls from the town how to look into their future or have all their unanswered questions answered. Everyday the youngest daughter that was sick was getting more ill and now scared of everything. She had multiple nightmares at night that made the Reverend Parris force the little girl to fast for a couple days and then she would be fine. She was unaware that she was very ill and now they were starving her. She only got worse from there.

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.

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.

Puritan Societal gender biases against women prompted what was called the "Witch Trials". Some trials took place in Europe around the same time, but my focus is about the trials that took place in Early America in New England. History notes these areas to be mostly in Hartford, Fairfield, and Salem. The latter being the most infamous and the most published. Although the question has been asked many times, there has not been a definite answer on Why did the trials take place? What happened to cause this phenomenon? There were several factors involving bias such as socioeconomic, historical, psychological and religious factors, but most notable were the gender biases that was evident. With all of these underlying influences, it was apparent that the one common link was women and the varying roles that they played during this time. Documented research states that approximately 78% of those accused were women (Karlsen, 1987) and similarly those who were executed were a high percentage of women.

This dramatization of a true story deals with one of the most troubling episodes in early American history, the "witch hysteria" that convulsed the village of Salem, Massachusetts, in the 1690s. The historical basis for this drama is the fact that early in the 1700s the colonial government offered to pay reparations to the survivors of those who had been killed, but only if their relatives could somehow prove that the deceased were not in fact witches. The film is a powerful, movie story about three loving sisters accused of witchcraft. This is a true story based on transcripts of the Salem Witch Trials. In the town everyone was very religious and they believe a lot in God. They go like to church and they read Gods lecture.

The church in this specific time in history had a strong hold on the people of not only Salem but many other founding towns in America and even Great Britain and the rest of Western Europe. This is part of the reason why people left Great Britain and other countries. They wanted freedom of their own beliefs, but ironically a theocracy was built even in the New World. One man by the name of Reverend Parris was enveloped in this theocracy, not in a zealous way, but in a literal way. On discovering the girls dancing in the woods he was scared for his reputation

Salem, Massachusetts was the home of a theocratic government system, meaning God was the leader of their society (“The Crucible” 19), which explains why they felt witchcraft was a threat to their lifestyles because that was considered as a demonic activity. The Salem Witch Trials began in 1692 after a group of teenage girls began to act in unusual ways (“Salem Witch Trials” & Creative) that were later blamed on the use of witchery. The witch trials carried on for a while due to the support from the citizens of Salem with their suspicions and confessions (“Salem Witch

Religion was perhaps the greatest influence on colonist life. Everyone in Salem had the same puritan and beliefs; this gave the church significant power and importance. Due to this religion had a huge influence on the government and law enforcement and the political decisions made. Those who were seen as not fully or correctly practicing the Puritan belief and practices were targeted. The minister in Salem was new and was trying to secure his position during this time and get a more favorable salary making him more eager to please those with economic and political power in Salem. There was also a debate in weather Salem Village needed its own church as about half the village didn’t want to walk five miles to Salem town and the other half didn’t want to pay additional taxes to have a closer church. This divided the town those who wanted a church more often than not ended up being the people accusing those who didn’t want the new church of witch craft.