Reasons The Causes Of The Salem Witch Trials - 741 Words

Between June 10th and September 22nd, 1692, 20 people were put to death and 141 people were arrested in Salem, Massachusetts. All but one of these people were believed to be witches (Background Essay). Prior to the hearing in Salem witch trials were carried out in several different towns. â€Å"In 17th century New England witchcraft was a serious crime (Background Essay).† Two girls aged nine and 11, Betty Parris and Abigail Williams, identified a slave name Tituba and two other local women as witches. This led to the accused women being carted off to jail starting the Salem Witch Trials. Without the girls having accused Tituba and two other local women the Salem Witch Trials would have never started. The Salem Witch Trials was the first step†¦show more content†¦The map made by Paul Boyer and Stephen Nissenbaum shows the social divide, the map shows that the majority of accusers live in the West. The people of the western half of Salem were the poor farmers of salem that had little political power. The majority of the accused witches lived in the East. The eastern half of Salem was wealthy people who have political power. The divide in the wealth would cause strain among relations. The puritans of the western side of Salem believed the worldliness and affluence of the eastern half of Salem threatened their strong puritan beliefs. The tensions between the eastern and western half got worse when the western side selected Reverend Samuel Parris as their new minister. Salem was distinctly divided into two parts Salem Town and Salem Village. These two parts were all part of Salem but were distinctly separated by it’s economy and class. It is likely the jealousy between the two sides of Salem played a large role in the Witch Trials and caused a religious divide. As well as the social status causing a divide the religious beliefs caused a separation. This separation caused constant feuds and conflicts that caused the previous ministers to leave . According to Brooks, â€Å"In 1688, Parris entered negotiations to become the new minister in Salem Village. Parris accepted the position and became the official minister in July of 1698.† Parris found himself in the same types of feuds as the previous ministers. The book The NewShow MoreRelatedThe Salem Witch Trials On Society And Religious Belief1245 Words   |  5 PagesThe Salem Witch trials are an infamous moment in American history , portraying old American thought on society and religious belief. Throughout the years, scholars have adopted theories to explain one of America’s greatest mysteries. In light of such theories, it becomes apparent that there is no magic to explain the decisions that the people of Salem made, but was rather fueled by jealousy of economic success and religious misguidance. Several theories explain the cause of the witchcraft accusationsRead MoreIs Witch Trails A Thing Of The Past?923 Words   |  4 Pages Being that the Salem Witch Trails date back to over three hundred years, many people believe witch trails are a thing of the past. However, modern day witch trails are still extremely prevalent. Modern-day witch-hunts are reported to still be happening in Africa, the Pacific, Latin America, even in the U.S. and Europe. According to a New York Times article, within the last fifteen years alone, more than 2,000 Indians have been killed after being accused of witchcraft. Almost all of the accused haveRead MoreThe Salem Witch Trials Essay1725 Words   |  7 PagesHistory took place. The Salem witch trials was one of the most catastrophic events worldwide in which people were accused, hanged, or sent to jail. During this time there was also a lot of chaos going on in Salem when some girls started accusing innocent people of being witches and being respo nsible for all the trouble that was going on the town. Even though not all those individuals were sentenced to death, there were still three causes or theories of why the Salem witch trials might have occurred andRead MoreThe Causes of the Salem Witch Trials (DBQ)1337 Words   |  4 Pagesseem preposterous. Any behavior regarded as strange by fellow citizens was sufficient to hold a trial with a sentence of death. Though such scenarios seem unfathomable in our modern culture, it was a reality for hundreds of New England settlers. The causes of the famous outbreak of witch trials in Salem, Massachusetts are rooted in social, economic, and political aspects of the late 17th century Salem community. Early New Englanders were unable to accept the increase in diversity and the break inRead MoreSalem Witch Trial Hysteria Essay818 Words   |  4 PagesTwenty people were put to death for witchcraft in Salem during the 1692 Salem Witch Trial Hysteria. In The Crucible, a woman, Elizabeth Proctor, gets accused of witchcraft by a young girl by the name Abigail Williams, who just so happens to be having an affair with Elizabeth’s husband, John. Once John finds out Abigail accused his wife, he starts trying to find proof that all of these young girls are pretending that they are being hurt by these older women, just so that they will be hanged. The officialsRead MoreThe Salem Witch Trials : The Causes Of The Deadly Accusations912 Words   |  4 PagesPeriod 1 11 April 2015 The Salem Witch Trials: The Causes of the Deadly Accusations In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, he writes, â€Å"We are what we always were in Salem, but now the little crazy children are jangling the keys of the kingdom, and common vengeance writes the law!† (Miller 77). This partially fictionalized tale of the Salem Witch Trials points to one of the causes of the trials, vengeance, but the over dramatized tale s early stages were quiet. The Salem Witch Episode had humble beginningsRead MoreThe Causes Of The Salem Witch Trials1748 Words   |  7 PagesThe Salem witch trials were a series of different court trials. They occurred after a group of young girls were claimed to be possessed by the devil. These individuals experienced hallucinations. Some of the suspects explained the attacks as if bugs were crawling under their skin. When the outbreak began to spread, the government proceeded to accuse multiple people in the colony of witchcraft. This is how the Salem witch trials came to be. The trials took place in colonial Massachu setts. AccordingRead MoreMany Years Ago People Have Wonder About Witches And What1348 Words   |  6 Pagespeople have wonder about witches and what they do. Salem, Massachusetts held one of the biggest witch trials in history since 1692 but yet have never found the rea-son why it was started in the first place. Researchers have discovered some information about those witches throughout the years. Still they have not figured out what was the whole rea-son behind the trials in 1692 and after those trials a lot more trials were more secretive unlike the Salem witches tri-als in 1692. New England, home of theRead MoreThe Salem Witch Trial Hysteria Of 1692879 Words   |  4 PagesThe Salem Witch Trial hysteria of 1692 caused 20 people to be hung or pressed to death and 4 perished in jail. In addition, 200 people in Salem were accused of being witches. On June 10 of 1692, Bridget Bishop was charged with practicing witchcraft and she was also accused of bewitching her husband to death. The result of her not confessing was that she was hung to her death. All of this frenzy started in the house of Samuel Parris. His daughters were consumed by the bizarre tales told by their IndianRead MoreThe Salem Witch Trials Essay1349 Words   |  6 PagesBefore 1692, the supernatural was a part of people’s everyday normal life. This is so as people strongly believed that Satan was present and active on earth. Men and women in Salem Village believed that all the misfortunes that befell them were the work of the devil. For example, when things like infant death, crop failure s or friction among the congregation occurred, people were quick to blame the supernatural. This concept first emerged in Europe around the fifteenth century and then spread to