The Church Of Salem Village Essay

The village of Salem was a Puritan society, meaning the strict Puritan lifestyle was a strong factor to the outcome of the Salem witch trials. The lifestyle of Puritans was influenced massively by Christian beliefs and the church (Fraser 69-71). They desired to create a ‘City upon a hill’ (Fraser 69) and believed all eyes were focused on them. Their strict religion was one of a variety of reasons to why the witch trials occurred, if a resident of Salem were to commit a sin against God, then they were to be punished by the court of law. In Salem, politics and religion were viewed as one, and townsfolk followed laws to feel as though they are obeying God. The mass hysteria was affected by religion because the townsfolk were tricked to believe that the Devil was among them in Salem. This forced a reaction of fear out of the residents of Salem, because it challenged God (Hytner The Crucible). Religion had an impact on outlook of reputation as well, if an individual were to sin their name would be tainted, residents of Salem would obey commandments and laws, to avoid their name being posted on the door of the church (Hytner The Crucible). Religion was used to Abigail's advantage to create a mass hysteria over her accusations of witchcraft, which she utilized to gain authority

The Salem Witch Trials brought havoc among the citizens of Salem, Massachusetts starting in 1692. Many of the people within the town continued to have strong loyalties to their new Puritan religion and their old king back home. The church of England had moved away from the Catholic religion with the help of King Henry VIII and the Puritans were a new group of people who accepted the split from Catholicism but still believed that the church of England had a lot of aspects that remained with the Catholic religion. Despite this, loyalty to the king remained strong because the Puritans were not looking to break off from the Church of England instead they wanted to reform the religion and make it their own. These loyalties stretched to such an extent that any sin committed was also considered an act of treason and thus punished. The Salem community was constantly searching for evil within their town to prove their righteousness to God which lead to high rates of fear and paranoia in their daily lives. The strict Puritan religion soon became the root cause of the monstrous imagination that started to form within the community of Salem. Many people still feared the presence of Catholic ideas within their communities and in response were willing to go to any extent to irradiate these views. Some historians also account the beginning of the trials to divisions within the two towns of Salem that lead to tensions and turmoil between the townsmen. But without the increased belief in their new religion, women around town wouldn’t have been persecuted. The strict belief in the Puritan religion and culture was the root cause of fear and paranoia that led to the mass execution of many women and townspeople during the Salem Witch Trials.

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

Salem Village was one of many non-urban inhabitants. They were looked upon as country folk because of their interests and beliefs in the church and growing tobacco to survive in this new land. There was not much for children to do except go to church, work on the fields, or go to school. You can imagine how bored these children can get. In such a secluded lifestyle as this, you would be a crazy person if you were at all different, and this episode would be so different that it would be traumatic to the people of this small village. Traumatic as it was, I believe the people just did not know how to react in such a situation.

In New England Puritan ideas of gender dictated acts of gender for women in terms of behavior, demeanor, and speech at home and church, in public and private. Gender roles were clearly defined and categorized women as the weaker, vulnerable sex; physically, emotionally, spiritually and morally, subordinate to men in every instance and venue. Men were the heads of the household and of the church. They ruled what were deemed the important aspects of life. Women's role in society was that of domestic; they owned no property, made no significant wage and were entirely dependent on men for their subsistence. While the primary tenants underlying the American Puritan doctrine of the 17th century stated that women were no more susceptible to

Everyone knows about the blood bath that was the Salem Witch Trials, but what not many know is what caused it and how it affected Americans throughout History. In the summer of 1692, it all started. A couple of Puritans thought that their daughters were being influenced by the Devil, but what they did not know is what the doctor said would affect the whole town, and eve their ancestors. Thesis: Many peaceful years after the Puritans’ journey to the new world, trouble arose through the Salem Witch Trials by what happened, what caused it, and the effects.

Samuel Parris was the new reverend of the Salem church and he knew that Abigail and the three girls weren’t possessed by demons. He was a horrible man who sabotaged people’s trials so that they would die because he didn’t want to lose his job. In the end Samuel Parris was driven out by Sarah's husband who took over the town. The people of Salem were afraid. They didn’t want to cause harm, but they did want to stay away from witches. About 100 people were accused of being witches but were never killed,

In the year 1692, everyone went to church. They called themselves “Christians”, and this made them people of faith. The church of Salem needed to find a new reverend so they got Samuel Parris. Samuel Parris was a main part of this whole thing. He wanted to keep his job and to do that he had to execute many people in the process. After they got their new reverend, the accusations for witches began to form. Most people must have been very naive to believe in the girls accusations. It was odd that when these girls arrived that’s when witches started to become known.

In January 1692, when a group of juvenile girls began to display bizarre behavior, the tight-knit Puritan community of Salem, Massachusetts couldn’t explain the unusual afflictions and came to a conclusion. Witches had invaded Salem. This was the beginning of a period of mass hysteria known as The Salem Witch Trials. Hundreds of people were falsely accused of witchcraft and many paid the ultimate price of death. Nineteen people were hung, one was pressed to death, and as many as thirteen more died in prison. One of the accused Elizabeth Bassett Proctor, a faithful wife and mother, endured her fictitious accusation with honor and integrity.

Salem Witchcraft Trials Thesis Statement = == == == ==

The religious beliefs of these days and ages were extremely strict, controlling, and very similar. The priest in this movie was very influential, he was the sole reason for the belief in the witchcraft that took over this town. Few males in charge made the decision to hang the Salem witches, but essentially the priest made the overall decision. He fed stories to the other females and males about their witchcraft and how the devils work had been done. It is believed that the priest did this so he could control the land and money that was possessed by the women he wrongfully accused and murdered. The early Colonists practiced Puritan religion. This religion consisted of believing that God had formed an agreement with the Colonists. They claimed that they were higher than all others and God made that known to them. They claimed that God wanted them to set a better example for all the British people who were going to be damned to hell for all the sins and filth they had done. This prompted the Colonists to live a very disciplined, unsatisfactory, and dull life.

Three centuries ago, the Puritan religion was the base of the Salem village and many townspeople strongly believed in the existence of witches and witchcraft. According to the common Puritan belief, witches were in alliance with the devil and were granted power to harm. People were blamed for illness, failed crops, to bad weather, and many other things that were evident centuries ago. Due to the belief in witchcraft villagers were, perhaps, inclined to the most improbable explanations. The Puritans held strict views, ways of living, perspectives fears, and fantasies. Many Puritan ministers used the the fear of witchcraft to scare the believers into following the church. Historians believe these strict Puritan ways of life may have brought upon the witchcraft hysteria in Salem. At the time, witches and witchcraft were a serious and viewed as a real threat; almost as real as

The Salem Witch Trials has been argued as one of the most important and controversial topics in American history. The Salem Witch Trials concluded the war between faithful people and evil people, and brought the long awaited justice to Salem village. Different historians presented varying opinions about the consequences and effects of the Salem Witch Trials. Reverend Samuel Parris played a pivotal role in preaching Christianity as well as eradicating evil from Salem village at that time. Religion was enforced among the people of Salem village, which created dispute against church-members and the non-church members. Moreover, religion created social segregation and disunity existed between these two groups of people. When it was revealed that witches were diminishing the holiness of Salem village, witch-hunt was initiated, and proved to be very effective, resulting in many witches being brought to justice.

The path of religious decline inspired the creation of a dark culture of witchcraft in Europe. It was an unintended consequence of the war between France and American colonies. Significant turmoil remained as a result of the war. It destroyed American regions and drove refugees into Salem Village in Massachusetts Bay. Salem’s first ordained minister, Reverend Samuel Parris, was greedy and devious. Villagers openly voiced concern, stating the turmoil in their region was inspired by the devil. In attempt to combat the evil, a group of young girls in Salem, Massachusettes claimed to be bewitched by older women from New England. A “witch hunt” ensued, seeking to find the “possessed”. Thousands of witches were lynched because of their affiliation with witchcraft. (Cohen, 2013)

The book I have chosen to write about is “The Salem Witch Trials: A Day by Day Chronicle of a Community Under Siege” written by Marilynne K. Roach and published in 2002. Marilynne K. Roach is the president of the Historical Society of Watertown and a member of the Watertown Historical Commission board, she also is an active board member and a curator of the Salem Witch Museum. She has multiple books that have been published about the Salem and the trials that occurred in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. She also holds a fine arts degree from the Massachusetts College of Art. Roach spent 20 years researching archival collections, and discovered that many recent books on the subject are either inaccurate or unsubstantiated about the trials. A lot of the information found in other books relating the trials from different authors use quotes from her works and they also use her as a reference/ source because of her profound studies on the subject along with her active role in the community and with the museum. Emerson W. Baker explained how important Roach’s book was to his research for his own book, “A Storm of Witchcraft”, stating: “I am in awe of her work, and as I have told her – I never could have written my book without her day by day chronicle.” “All lives are stories, and history is made of stories”-MKR, this quote makes you think that you of what you’ve done in and with your life and if it will have an impact alongside our history books.