Supernatural Of The Salem Witch Trials

Witch-Hunt: Mysteries of the Salem Witch Trials. Marc Aronson. (New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers, November 1, 2003. 272.)

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 difficult time for the citizens of the Massachusetts Colony in the late seventeenth century. They were accused of practicing the Devil’s magic, which many believed to be real; so real that people were being imprisoned and executed for it. Between the years 1692 and 1693 there were over two hundred accusations and about 20 people and two dogs were killed altogether.

Human beings always have been curious creatures. We are a species that is always searching for answers to unexplainable events. Take aliens for example. To us, aliens may or may not exist (depending on your individual belief of course). Yet we still take such an interest in them that we continuously search for answers and proof of alien. Now that we have modern day technology, we can attain “proof” of alien life-form somewhere deep in outer space. But given the date 1692 in New England, if we were to even come in contact with aliens it would have been considered some supernatural phenomena, and even cause quite a bit of hysteria. That is what happened to the puritans in Salem village during the Salem Witch Trials, in Massachusetts, in the year 1962. The puritans of Salem village were extremely paranoid, and they believed that if something can’t be explained then it had the devils influence. So when a group of Salem girls spoke up about the devil and witches, the villagers of Salem went into a panicked frenzy. Truth of the matter is that there were no witches in Salem nor was the devil at war against Salem; the Salem Witch Trials were only a result of endless lies, conspiracies, and side effects of an illness.

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.

When considering possible explanations for the Salem witch trials, it is important to consider and reference other historical accounts of witchcraft. Although Salem presents its own unique case, and therefore is a result of things specific singularly to Salem, there may yet be a link to other cases of witchcraft. Cases may differ in religion, denomination, or other spiritual beliefs, and social setting. Additionally, a study of horticulture in the Salem area shows that hallucinogenic mushrooms may have contributed to the visions of witches. However, I have discovered in my studies that in most cases, there seems to be growing discontentment in each community before and during accusations of witchcraft. This is the clearest link between all cases. In my opinion, witchcraft is a result of suppressed feelings caused by human suffering. This is displayed as accusers in a community using witchcraft as an excuse to release tension, or rid themselves of enemies.

The pressure and consequences of puritan lifestyle is shown in “their creed forbade anything resembling a theater , vain enjoyment, They did not celebrate christmas, or holidays from work meant only that they must concentrate even more upon prayer”. This quote shows how the puritans society suppresses individuality. To the extent that most human desires were evil , even salem foulk believed that the virgin forest was the devils last preserve. What makes this puritan lifestyle such a burden was the predilection . ”Minding others people's business was time honored among the people of salom”. This created the suspicions that would lead to the trials .

In the 1630s to 1660s, the Puritans strong belief in god and its upholding shaped the Massachusetts Bay Colony’s development. The colony was fully based on the Puritan’s view which painted their religion and it effected the lifestyle. The Puritans were a highly religious group that believed god’s will was the absolute. As shown in document 3, it states how the church is always right and nothing should be done to offend it. This shows the grasp of the Puritans hold toward god because this was a statement of the church’s membership and so it should display their beliefs.

The social corruption from the puritans and lastly the money, land titles and the control. The individuals who seriously threatened the norms of society. Some of those threats were the empowerment of women and the justices of the wrongfully accused. This shows that there were people who didn’t believe it the whole time and they usually became victims and that when they found out that they arrested and killed many innocent people. The social corruption from the puritans. The livelihood such as jobs and money, health care and education connects to the social corruption because the puritans would kill for the land a person would own or accuse them of being a witch. Lastly, money, Land titles, and the control. Land was issued by the puritans because they were in control of government and thus if they wanted land in cases people were accused and tired as witches only for the fact they wanted land because they were greedy. They were also rich a lot of them or came from some money this also contributes to the idea they had the power over the people of

The Salem Witch Trials of 1692 were a series of events that changed the lives of many Puritans forever. Myriads of innocent people were scapegoated, convicted and even executed of witchcraft. It is hard to believe that this absurdity really occurred, and many tried to locate the reasons that led to the evolution of this crisis. While some turned to economic patterns to explain the hysteria, the people’s belief in the Bible and eagerness to conform to slander contributed most to the progression of the Witch Trials.

Due to conflicting belief systems, the Quakers were seen as a threat to the Puritans because they opposed some of the Puritans greatest values. In addition to challenging traditional beliefs, they also challenged authority and posed a threat to, “religion, the family, the social hierarchy-that the Puritans believed the Quakers wanted to destroy” (Pestana, 329). As a result of their conflicting views, they were subjected to mistreatment. In order to support her assertion, the author presents several different points that explain the origins of the conflict, and she supports the points with evidence from a variety of sources that she embedded into her work. She uses both primary and secondary sources to offer more valuable insight from the perspective of people who were present at the time of the conflict. To reach her conclusions, Pestana starts with explaining where both groups came from and the conflict’s origin. This is useful for when she dives deeper into their opposing views because, “in order to understand the initial confrontation between English Quakerism and New England Puritanism, these fears

This investigation will focus on the question: What role did Tituba 's confession to be a witch start the mass hunt for the witches in the Salem Witch Trials of 1692? This investigation will include details on the events that occurred after Tituba’s confession in Salem during 1962 and 1963. It will also include a brief description of society at the time and what societal pressures may have led to this horrific time.

 The Salem Witch Trial consisted of heinous accusations implicated by Cotton Mather which effected society as a hole and gave reasoning to the numerous amount of witch stories we hear today. Cotton Mather was the eldest son of Increase Mather, Massachusetts most influential and well known Puritan minister, and the grandson of John Cotton, Salem’s spiritual founder. Cotton Mather was born in Boston Massachusetts and attended Harvard University, receiving an honors degree from Glasgow University. Mather was pastor of Boston 's second protestant church and began his journey into politics in 1689.

Many assumptions have been made by historians to explain the occurrence of the Salem witchcraft trials, and on why the afflicted girls behaved the way they did, but yet there still seems to remain a sense of doubt on this issue. It seems that this case is not just because of one factor such as Ergotism, but several more. The affliction started by mind suggestion. The early beliefs and superstitions in Puritanical society that were practiced on an everyday basis supported the idea that the behaviors and physical conditions of the afflicted girls were the evil works of the witches, and the Devil. Among many Puritans, this belief becomes a fear, and then this fear becomes like an additional topping that adds up to causing convulsive hysteria

(In 1741, Puritanism in America was on the decline. People were choosing not to follow the Puritan religion after the Salem witch trials of 1692. Jonathan Edwards, a Puritan minister, recognized this decline in religious values and used wrote a sermon to persuade his congregation to participate in a “Great Awakening.” His sermon used persuasion tactics that brought people to their knees(PURSUASIVE BECAUSE OF VIVID IMAGERY)(USES FEAR AS A MEANS OF PERSUASION)(USES GUILT AS A MEANS OF PERSUASION)(THESIS STATEMENT INCLUDING THESE IDEAS)