The Events And History Of Salem Witch Trials

Belief in the supernatural–and specifically in the devil’s practice of giving certain humans, witches, the power to harm others in return for their loyalty–had emerged in Europe as early as the 14th century, and was widespread in colonial New England. In addition, the harsh realities of life in the rural Puritan community of Salem Village at the time included the after-effects of a British war with France in the American colonies in 1689, a recent smallpox epidemic, fears of attacks from neighboring Native American tribes and a longstanding rivalry with the more affluent community of Salem Town. Amid these simmering tensions, the Salem witch trials would be fueled by residents’ suspicions of and resentment toward their neighbors, as well as

Devastation come in all shapes and forms. Whether it is a hurricane that has destroyed a whole city or a plague that’s whipped out a whole country. In today’s society, we are able to track a hurricane and evacuate all nearby populaces before it arrives and a plague is highly unlikely due to our modern medicines, many different vaccines that have been and still are being created. However, in Salem Massachusetts, a devastation occurred that was unprecedented. It was not a hurricane or even a plague that had killed innocent people, but a group of girls. Could this have been prevented and lives saved? This paper will discuss the events that occurred in Salem in 1692 and the impact it had on the community.

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.

Now you know the why, but what about the how? It all started with a group of young girls. "The tight-knit community was at a loss to explain the convulsive seizures, screaming, and trance-like states that afflicted the youngsters." (EyeWitness

Between the 1300s and 1600s, there had been an uprising of witch accusations in Europe. When it finally died down, the craze soon followed into the colony of Massachusetts Bay. While in the 1690s, the Salem Witch Trials threatened New England’s freedom of religion and conservative beliefs; the evil entity as well threatened the country’s political and economic system, giving the government a reason to get involved. Because Massachusetts Bay was filled with religious refugees from England, a lot of tension formed between the colonies, England, and France. The King Williams War between France and the English colonies had put a tremendous strain on the Salem resources and its people. The colony was barely able to support itself and when more refugees fled to Salem from sounding areas, it came close to collapsing. Within the Puritan community, there had been a lot of hardship and strenuous issues mainly due to the shift between the people in society at the time. The Salem Witch Trials were not influenced by the presence of witchcraft but rather the exhausting hardships, the societal changes and the desire for complete control of the Puritan community.

Massachusetts Bay Colony, first settled into in 1630, was overwhelmingly controlled by Puritans. Their goal was to establish colonies based on the word of God. Salem, like many other towns at the time, had little distinction between church and state and focused all aspects of their society on God. (Roach) Due to these conditions, Salem became the site of the largest and most violent witch hunts in America. The significance of the trials comes from the large impact they had on American law. The conditions before, during, and after the Salem Trials were unlike the witch hunts in any other colonies in the New World or in Europe. However, towns and cities being struck with fear of the Devil were a common occurrence throughout the sixteenth century.

The many differing interpretations surrounding the cause of the Salem Witch Trials 1692 makes the topic captivating as many historian perspectives offer explanations for the causation of the trials, yet the personal context of each historian has determined its historic reliability. This questions the level of objectivity each historian has in their responses to the Trials. The aims and purposes of a historian, as well as their differing methodologies may alter the approach the have towards the investigation of the Trials. Many interpretations offered for the causation of the trials include psychological illness within the victims, the supposed victims of witchcraft were fraudulent, or that social conflicts were to blame. This reveals the difficulty in simply identifying one cause of the trials due to the controversy in conflicting perspectives and the ambiguous circumstances of this event, which opens its ability to be debated and appeals to the curiosity of historians and the audience.

The Salem witchcraft trials took place in colonial Massachusetts between February 1692 and May 1693. The news of witches began to spread in Salem when a group of young girls gathered together in the kitchen of the Reverend Samuel Parris with his Indian slave named Tituba to experiment with witchcraft. After these young girls began to portray unusual behavior the village doctor came to the scene and diagnosed the girls to be possessed by the devil. The news of the presence of witches spread throughout Salem like a craze and lead to a series of accusations and turmoil.

In a small Quaker community in Salem, Massachusetts one of our nation’s darkest events took place and while generations have passed, the happenings of the Salem Witch Trials and the tests they used to create evidence against the the accused witches are still shocking and unsettling. To understand why these tests were deemed as necessary, we must

People a long time ago believed that the Satan could give some demon possessed people the power to harm others. That became the start of the Witchcraft. Because of the belief that witches are inside the society, many women were executed as if they were the witches. In 1689, English started a war with France in the American colonies. This war made the life of the American colonists more strained and harsh. Also, the conflicts between the merchants and the farmers, the Salem Town, and the Salem Village, got bigger. The Puritans in the village thought that all this hardness was because of the work of the Devil and led to the Salem Witch Trials. The Witch Trials had occurred because of the beliefs but also because of the low status of women. Also,

Even though the Salem witch trials were made to seem formal, they were actually subjective and not based on fact. Since there were multiple people being accused of witchcraft, the trials were short and quick to sentence. The witch trials lasted less than a year. The first arrests were made on March 1, 1692, and the final hanging day was September 22, 1692. The Court of Oyer and Terminer was dissolved in October of 1692.

Salem Witch Trials Witchcraft in New England • Early beliefs from Europe brought over to New England • Founding of Salem, Massachusetts in 1926 Turning against God, or the use of alternative healing in a superstitious age • Finding the use of herbs to help heal • Opposition from the church The Possession, or the positon of Salem’s elite against Salem’s ordinary citizens. • Accusations of locals of different social classes begin The Salem Witch Trials • The trials begin • Persecution and execution of innocents • Phantasm or fiction After the

In the early seventeenth century many practicing Christians and those of other religions believed that the Devil could grant “witches” the ability to hurt people in return for their loyalty. From the 1300s to early 1600 the “witch craze” (Blumberg) struck Europe accusing many of being witches. In 1889 King William of England pronounced a war with France in the American colonies known as King William’s War. The war hit regions of New York, Nova Scotia, and Quebec, sending refugees to the Essex County and Salem Village in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. This caused the spread of hysteria from Europe to the American colonies. Accusations of witches drove Salem, Massachusetts into a state of hysteria causing the

The Salem Witch Trials are an important event in U.S. history because they emphasised the cracks in the facade of the Puritan’s “perfect” society. I find this topic intriguing because it shows that there is no such thing as a flawless society. It all began when two girls were caught making love potions. Instead of owning up their devilish ways, they blamed it on their slave and everyone believed them because who in American history would believe a slave? The children didn't realize the repercussions their actions would have on others. Soon after, the townspeople turned on their friends and neighbors, the people they had once trusted, accusing them of being witches because they were so adamant about their religion. The ways the people died

This all started in February of 1692 after Reverend Samuel Parris called in a doctor to look at his daughter and niece for their spontaneous fits. Later the girls were diagnosed as