William Miller 's The Crucible

The 1690s were a terrible time, full of accusations, lies and death, a scary time for all those in New England, especially in Salem, Massachusetts. The Salem Witch Trials were a result of a Puritan theocracy, in which the Puritans destroyed the lives of innocent women all the while believing they were doing the right thing. A Puritan theocracy meant that all aspects of the ruled area were controlled by the church. The Puritans were extremely strict about creating a perfect Puritan society, the oppression of women was prominent during this time and there was intense pressure to be a model citizen, making no mistakes. Religion ruled the life of a Puritan, it controlled every aspect of their lives.

In the previous year we learned about the Salem Witch trials. It sparked an interest inside of us. When the History Fair project came along it gave us the opportunity to do more research on this topic. We found it very interesting and fascinating and wanted to learn more in depth about the Salem Witch Trials. We had good knowledge of the major events sixteen hundredths from previous years. We chose the topic of the Salem Witch Trials to explore the vast knowledge of the trials.

The Salem Witch trials were more than just accusations and women being sentenced to death. The politics, social status, and way of living back then all played essential roles in the trials which are discussed throughout the book “Salem Possessed” by Paul Boyer and Stephen Nissenbaum. The authors touch upon how social status of church members, farmers and community folk impacted who was accused of witchcraft and who was sentenced to death. While times have changed and the laws regarding imprisonment are very different, it is essential to remember that while the techniques and methods used during the witch trials were common back then and just their way of life.

(Topic Sentence) How the Trials came to be. In the late 1692s in the quiet town of Salem, Massachusetts, was where the first Americans were afflicted and of accused of witchcraft. This misfortune all began with Betty Parris and Abigail Williams. Nine-year old Betty Parris who obey anyone who spoke with conviction, including to her misfortune cousin Abigail Williams, feared God and even the Devil. Her fears were created because of her preacher father, who exposed her to the subjects. She was thought to felt less fear and more curiosity towards the devil and his disciples. Later on Abigail sought on more guidance from the slave in there Tituba. Soon Betty and Abigail became aware that they were trending on an evil subject beyond their religion and vowed to keep silent. Despite there vows, both the girls couldn’t keep it between them. Soon, they shared the secret with their friends and Tituba’s circle of girls began to grow. The girls who entered were Mary Walcott, Elizabeth Hubbard, Ann Putman, Susan Sheldon, Elizabeth Booth, Mercy Lewis, and finally Mary Warren. Soon afterwards, Betty and Abigail started to act

Good morning/afternoon, my name is Piper Lenske, and I am the prosecutor in this case and it is my pleasure to represent the defendants. In the 1600’s, the defendants in this case were falsely accused of witchcraft by members of the Salem society who wanted to maintain their positions of power within the society. At the conclusion of the case we will ask for a verdict of guilty for these power seekers.

The time of the Salem Witch Hunt was a confusing, fast paced experience for all involved. For the accused, it was rife with drama, loss of property, and conflict between their deeply held religious beliefs and the doubts that they may truly be practicing witchcraft. The accusers held more power than they had ever had before ; many were young women and girls limited by the patriarchal Puritan society in which they dwelled. The elaborate presentations of the women and girls afflictions’ shook the small village to the core. Many hypotheses exist to explain what may have happened, including those of: Marion L. Starkey, Carol F. Karlsen, Mary Beth Norton, Paul Boyer, and Stephen Nissenbaum. Although each

Also, the investigation looks at the Puritan beliefs on witchcraft to see why there was such an impending and heavy correlation to the witchcraft performed in the colonies. Next, the causes of the trials are correlated to see which cause held a heavy influence on the outcomes. And finally, this investigation examines the Puritan reasoning behind the trials, to see why the actions of the clergy and ministers led to the execution of many accused witches. While the reason behind the Salem Witch Trials is not solely based on the Puritan ideology and values, the investigation will primarily focus on how religion was the basis for the Salem community, thus, having a greater impact than the other proclaimed causes and spreading Christian culture in the New

The question on the table is, what caused the hysteria of the Salem Witch Trials of 1692. This is a question that has been debated about for centuries. Some think that witchcraft was very much alive in Salem although others believe that the first girls who were accusing the witches were crazy and making up stories. In this paper I am going to prove to you my point which is: the hysteria about the Salem Witch Trials in 1692 was due to a small lie or prank that went bad. The girls who started the Salem Witch Trials were just crazy. Although I am not necessarily sure whether the girls were blatantly being crazy or if they had some sort of mental illness where they legitimately believed what they were saying. These girls sparked the flame of fear in the Puritan community.

The Salem Witch Trials remain as a main area of interest for colonial historians, for the very way that actual lives were taken for only the sake of internalized cultural normalities. In fact if one is to look at the way the trials were conducted, it could be said that they highlight the underlying fears and beliefs that the citizens of Massachusetts believed to be completely true. The irrational nature of the trials is best illustrated through the view of the accused witches, whose accusations follow a distinct pattern of having past conflict with their accusers. Overall there is also a repetition of external fears influencing these accusations which culminates in a complex belief of not only demonic powers at work, but present mortal threats being a part of these accused witches plan to bring destruction of the town. The perspective of the accused witches during the Salem Witch Trials, proves Salem was a town rooted in cultural anxiety and interpersonal conflict which eventually imploded into the uncontrollable.

This essay is about how the justice and court system changed after the Salem Witch Trails. Many years ago young girls were blaming older women as witches. All the witches were being killed even if they say they didn't do anything. These womens had kids, family, and good lifes, until they were picked as doing witch craft. Every one believed these girls wheater or not they were lying. Until the mayor got blamed as a witch, thats when people started doubting the girls.

Many of the historical writings surrounding the Salem Witch Trials can generally be looked at in four categories: that there was real witchcraft at large within Salem, that the afflicted girls were deceiving the townspeople and the authorities, the victims were suffering from a physiological illness or that the social circumstances of the time were to blame. As with all historical writings and theories, each of the above theories should be considered as a reflection of the context that each historian is addressing the Salem Witch Trials in, as well as the sources they have chosen to use.

The girls in Salem were suffering from fits. They were hiding under furniture, had a fever and had pain constantly and were fatigued. The girls could not have been faking these symptoms. Since people cannot make themselves have a fever and cannot make themselves faint. They were suffering from the disorder because when the young girls heard of what was going on they started doing it as well. No one ever caught the illness unless they were stressed out about the news and believed they might have had it. They were not faking the symptoms because it caused people that they knew to be hurt as well and they still could not stop. The mass hysteria in Salem was from the puritans who thought the devil was was making people sick. The girls were very stressed out thinking they could be accused of witchcraft next that when they heard of the symptoms that some young children apparently had they seemed to get them too. All, the symptoms they had are all under the category of conversion disorder so now people can draw the conclusion that they just all thought they were sick. The girls in Salem were not faking the disorder of having conversion disorder.

This is, however, not the primary cause of the trials. Rather, historians believe that the Salem Witch Trials were a result of mass hysteria- though various theories attempted to recount the causes. The student has addressed a single theory. However, I expected approaches such as the society's well-built conviction in the occult; contention, disputes, and personal differences; the cold weather theory; among others. The student should try and explore in detail other causes of the witch trials.

During the Salem witch trials it seemed as if no matter how much good tried to come about, the evil in the town was everlasting. Abigail Wilkins, Reverend Hale, and Reverend Parris set a perfect example of just how difficult it is to stop something that has generated so much momentum in Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible.

The Salem Witch Trials were a series of court trials in the late seventeenth century in Salem Village, Massachusetts that resulted in the deaths of many so called ‘witches’. Men and women were accused of witchcraft because they had made others in the community have ‘fits’, such as verbal and physical outbursts, much like, what we would call today, seizures. Most of the accused were put to death. After the trials were over, some stated that they did not believe that all those people had truly practiced witchcraft, if any at all did. I find this subject very intriguing, especially since it seems that there was no other evidence against the ‘witches’ than the testimonies of the accusers, which wasn’t even circumstantial. One possible paper topic would be to discuss the reasons why the judges and the people of Salem Village so willingly believed the accusers and why the issues weren’t investigated further to find more evidence. Another possible paper topic would be to discuss whether there was any truth in the accusers’ accusations. Were there any real witches in Salem Village? One final possible paper topic would be to discuss the part the preachers and pastors played in the trials. Did they encourage the executions, or did they try to help the accused? While the Salem Witch Trials have been almost literally ‘discussed to death’, there is always value in finding the truth for yourself, and there is always a chance, however exceedingly small, that you might see something in a