What Are The Causes Of The Salem Witch Trials Dbq

In the Puritan religion, there was a strict code to follow. Children couldn’t even have an imagination, and no one could sing or dance either. This was because everybody was all scared of the devil. If one person went off track of the religion by just a little bit, they were thought of as helpers of satan, or as they were called witches. Once the whole hysteria started, people grew even more scared of the devil and even the smallest bit of suspicion that one person was disobeying the religion, they would be accused. Once you were accused, you it was hard to be let off the hook. Most people would just confess to being a witch so they would just go to jail. On the other hand, if you denied it, you would most likely be hanged. I the end, religion was a huge factor to the start of the Salem witch trials.

During the 1600’s in the United States there was much economic and religious dissention within the Puritan society: a group of English reformed protestants who pursued the Purification of the Church of England. Among these issues, is the hysteria of the Salem Witch Trials that prosecuted women to be found worshippers of the devil. The Puritans found the necessity to exercise this crusade in order to stay by their moral codes of conformity which included witchcraft to be the greatest crime, punishable by death. However, the true reasons of the trials was not to simply follow their religious constitutions. It is mainly in part from corruption of religion and how some had used the trials as a form of personal gain, the influences of the attitudes from the strict Puritan lifestyle, the need for unification between the Salem factions, and the society’s fear of evil.

The Salem Witch Trials were a time of confusion, where half a dozen girl accusers threw the town of Salem on its head. The end result was 19 hung and one crushed to death for failure to admit or deny witchcraft and 150 more were imprisoned throughout the course of the trial (Hall p38). The Puritans came to the “New World” for their religious freedom to fallow their ideals for a new way of life, the “perfect way of life.” They were issued charter--to live on the land--. The King Phillip’s war labeled as “[t]he bloodiest war in America’s history …which…took place in New England in 1675” (Tougias par.1) had a dramatic effect on the Puritan society. Their charter was revoked and

From the time of the 1690’s the entirety of Salem, Massachusetts were Puritans. “The Puritan lifestyle was restrained and rigid: People were expected to work hard and repress their emotions or opinions. Individual differences were frowned upon.” (Salem Witch Trials, The World Behind the Hysteria). These people believed that doing anything sinful would result in punishment from God. Just as much as they believed in God, they also believed in the Devil. Keeping up with the Puritan code, it led to the first women being accused of witchcraft. They were viewed as pariahs, and seen differently. Had the Puritan government let the afflicted defend themselves, not be so dependent on religion, not investigating the facts or scrutinize the trials the killing of many could have been prevented. The hangings from the trials would ultimately be the last in America.

During 1692, Puritan society in Massachusetts was filled with pressures: pressures to be a loyal and dedicated Christian and also pressures to remain in a uniform manner so each individual would not be criticized. Tensions in Puritan society escalated during the Salem witch trials, Puritans, mostly middle-aged wealthy women were kept under close observation and if something seemed unusual about an individual they would be persecuted by the town and told they are a witch, often this lead to their banishment from the colony or ultimately their death. The ideology of predestination created extreme conflicts throughout the Puritan society. People were constantly in fear if they committed a sin, they would go to hell. This fear sparked a distress that witchcraft was among the colonies and Satan was leading it by controlling the ones accused of witchcraft. Puritan society was dominated by fear that caused victimization throughout the colonies.

Puritans settled in the Massachusetts town of Salem in 1630, with their leader John Winthrop. Winthrop claimed that Salem would be “As a City Upon a Hill,” meaning that the Puritans coming to the New World would set a religious and civilized example among other colonies. However, this wasn’t the case. The Salem Witch Trials were a series of accusations and persecutions due to what was thought to be witchcraft among Salem townspeople. King Philip’s War played a role in the trials. It caused regional mass hysteria which lead to the accusing of witches in Salem. Samuel Parris was the local preacher of Salem and in 1691 he started preaching about the devil and focused more on hell instead of more positive things which also played a role in the crafting of the witch trials. Rich versus poor feuds, the desire to feel around and inspect women, and easily being able to have someone punished by accusing them of being a witch, fueled and motivated the Witch Trials of Salem in 1692.

Puritans had many beliefs that affected the Salem Witch Trials, these were based on how the attendance or lack of attendance of the church, how people should behave, social class, and the way the government should be handled. Puritans were English Protestants that came to America in 1630. They sought to reform the Church of England. When they first came to America they settled at Salem, Massachusetts. The main reason the Puritan’s came to Salem was for freedom of religion which they did not have in England. The Puritans also came because they believed that the Church of England was not religious or enforcing religion enough. Puritans were just like the Pilgrims. Years later the Salem Witch Trials started in 1692 and ended

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 had a drastic affect on the Puritan religion. The trials helped shape and point the direction for the New England Colonies and the Puritan religion. The Salem witch trials outbreak began in 1692. In the past, there had only been about five convictions of people being accused of witchcraft; none of this resulted in any deaths(Wilborn 16). Usually just a fine was given, but by the end of 1692 there was already 150 arrests (17). Whether you were rich or poor, it didn’t seem to matter, anyone and everyone was being accused. No one felt safe at this time (Trask ix).

During the time period of 1691 to 1692 the town of Salem, a small thriving community within the Puritan Massachusetts Bay colony, was struck by widespread hysteria in the form of witch trials. The way these trials and accusations played out are historically unlike any other witch trials found in European and American history. Historians have pointed to a number of economic, political, and social changes of the then existing institutions throughout the Massachusetts Bay area to be the cause of the Salem witch trials, along with the direction they took. If studied closely however, it becomes apparent that the main cause for the Salem witch trials can be found in the way the people of Salem viewed and

In 1692-1693, the Salem Witch Trial Hysteria occurred, resulting in 20 deaths out of the 200 accused of practicing the Devil’s magic, a practice that women were commonly accused of. Salem, Massachusetts, was a colony that consisted of Puritans, both Separatists and non Separatists alike. From the start, the Puritans believed that the Bible was true in all aspects: every word, every idea, every thought--was true. The Puritans also had minimal understanding of science, which led them to believe that phenomenon was an act of the Devil. Thus, when three young girls admitted to seeing demons and started behaving strangely, the Puritans grew progressively hysterical because they became more convinced that witches existed within Salem as they had little scientific knowledge. In a nutshell, the cause of the Salem Witch Trial Hysteria were Puritan fundamentalism, misogyny, and hysteria.

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 witchcraft hysteria of 1692 happened within the Puritan colony known as Salem Massachusetts. It’s important to know that the belief in witchcraft was carried over from their home country, England. In England, an act of witchcraft was considered treason against the Church of England, not to mention the king, who was the head of the church, so if one was to turn their back on the church also meant going against the king. Many acts against witchcraft were passed, the one dated closest to the Salem witch trials was the Witchcraft Act of 1604 that moved trials of the supposed witches from churches to actual courts. The fact that they were once held in churches rather than courts seems like a biased situation to me. The puritans were afraid of witchcraft so having the church conduct the trials of said witches could only mean that death was certain. The puritan faith to my understanding was a tough faith to follow, especially for women.

In the year (1692) witch trials held the Salem area hostage people were terrified. People of

Puritans were very religious and believed everything in the bible. Puritans started accusing others of witchcraft. This started the Salem Witch Trials of 1692. Innocent people were hanged because of jealousy, acting, and religion.