ipl-logo

Salem Witch Trials: Puritans Impact

1035 Words5 Pages

Salem Witch Trials: Puritans Impact
New charter government, lethal frontier war, and political and religious conflicts set the perfect stage for Salem, Massachusetts (Paranoia, the Devil, and Witchcraft). That disaster was known as the Salem Witch trials. The trials was a span of time when people believed in the devil's practice of giving certain humans (witches) the power to harm others (Salem Witch Trials). When the people's superstitions became fear a great deal of innocent people were accused, put on trial, and even murdered (Salem Witch Trials). The first trial began when three girls flew into hysterics on January 20, 1692; their symptoms were so extreme, fear spread quickly (Saari 38,39). Thereafter, additional villagers, young girls …show more content…

Puritan laws gave women as little freedom and power as possible because they believed a woman could gain access to power only through communication with the devil (Saari 22). "They used the biblical tale of Adam and Eve to show that women inherited Eve's original sin" (Saari 22). With biblical proof, the Puritans easily shaped the views of women so that women were viewed with strange hatred: that hatred replaced old pagan respect (Paranoia, the Devil, and Witchcraft). Because of Puritan views when the trials hit the streets of Salem women were wrongfully accused, however, a woman accused wasn't just any ordinary woman. She had the characteristics of being the age between fifty and seventy, was likely to be a widow or unmarried, and was poverty stricken ( Salem; The real Problem with the Show). A less commonly accused type of woman that was accused was one of a younger age with a reputation for sexual promiscuity (Salem: The Real Problem with the Show). These women were feared because they could potentially control male desire to manipulate them and then become the dominant sex (Salem: The Real Problem with the Show); men, especially Puritan men, did not want that. Women continued to be accused and would be until the witch trials

Show More
Related

  • Salem Witch Trials Dbq

    375 Words  | 2 Pages

    Salem Puritans accused women of witchcraft, in order to oppress women, and as a reaction to greed and religious fear. The Salem Witch Trials were motivated by the oppression of women. Puritan women could not own land. Women were told to keep quiet and stay in their place.

    Read More

  • Tensions In Colonial Americ The Salem Witch Trials

    826 Words  | 4 Pages

    This Puritan society was deeply rooted in male dominance and as a result many innocent women lost their lives to these false charges of witchcraft simply because they were undesired or challengingly wealthy. This highly religious community used religion to justify a horrific display of

    Read More

  • Essay On What Caused The Salem Witch Trials Of 1692

    639 Words  | 3 Pages

    What Caused the Salem Witch Trials of 1692 In Salem, Massachusetts there were Witch Trials held during the summer months of 1692. Throughout the seventeenth century in New England, witchcraft was said to be a crime punishable by death. Puritans came to New England in the early 1600’s to practice their Christianity in the purest form possible. They believed every word in the bible and that the words of God were to be followed down to the last sentence there was. Havoc started occurring around the town and 19 women along with men were hanged for witchcraft.

    Read More

  • What Are The Similarities Between The Salem Witch Trials And The 21st Century

    956 Words  | 4 Pages

    104 out of the 141 accused and 14 out of the 20 executed during the Salem Witch Trials were females. Beliefs on witchcraft that were based primarily on writings of men portrayed women as “morally and intellectually weaker than men”. This ideology is traced all the way back to Eve, the first female God created, according to the bible. During Genesis Chapter three, Eve is tempted by the devil at the Garden of Eden and takes a bite of a fruit God forbade to eat. This story illustrated women’s inherent weakness in the face of temptation by the devil (Wilson, 79).

    Read More

  • Mass Hysteri The Salem Witch Trials Of 1692

    1309 Words  | 6 Pages

    In the Summer months of 1692, twenty-four innocent alleged witches and wizards had been hung, pressed to death, or died in jail in Salem, Massachusetts. However, what caused the mass hysteria known as the Salem Witch Trials? Puritans based their life strictly on religion and the Bible in which they had no free time, education, and felt pressured just to be alive; the citizens were fearful of their future, causing their religion to overpower scientific and mathematical reasoning. In June 1692, two young Salem girls, Betty Parris and Abigail Williams, accused slave woman Tituba and two other white women of practicing witchcraft after Betty and Abigail began to exhibit strange behavior. Tituba confessed to practicing witchcraft and exclaimed that

    Read More

  • Salem Witch Trials Dbq Analysis

    712 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Causes of the Salem Witch Trials Much of modern America’s fear and infamous interest in witches has been derived most likely from the profound Salem Witch Trials. “The infamous Salem witch trials began during the spring of 1692, after a group of young girls in Salem Village, Massachusetts, claimed to be possessed by the devil and accused several local women of witchcraft,” stated History.com authors. However, many historians still deliberate how such events occurred in the first place. Based on several presented documents, some conclusions suggest that there was a prominent cause to the beginning of the Salem Witch Trials. All in all, the cause of the Salem Witch Trials was the attempt of Salem citizens to either defend or create family

    Read More

  • Essay On The Salem Witch Trials Dbq

    480 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Salem, Massachusetts, Puritans were strong believers in the Bible. The Bible states, “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.” The Puritans beliefs led to them accusing 20 innocent people of being a witch, this resulted in their deaths in 1692. Even though the Puritans couldn’t see it at the time, their accusations were really based off jealousy, lies, and Salem being divided into two parts. One cause of the Salem witch trial hysteria was jealousy.

    Read More

  • Puritan Attitudes Towards The Witch Trials

    550 Words  | 3 Pages

    Ignorance of medical and scientific explanations: Puritan attitudes towards the witch trials were largely governed by the authoritative figures present at the time. Any medical explanation given was disregarded, thus showcasing how the villagers’ views could be easily manipulated. They chose to only consider two possible extremes for the cause of this outbreak; either the women were possessed or they were fabricating such behaviors. Chadwick Hansen describes the behavior of the bewitched being a 'neurotic syndrome '. It was known patients experiencing this disorder turned "their mental worries into physical symptoms such as blindness, paralysis of various parts of the body, choking, fainting, or attacks of pain"(The

    Read More

  • Chapter Summary: The Salem Witch Trials

    1223 Words  | 5 Pages

    REVIEW OF LITRATURE A.) SUMMARY SOURCE A Although the whole book had information on the Salem witch trials. The introduction, chapter 1 and 2 and the conclusion had information regarding the research needed • Introduction: states what the Salem witch trials where and who they accused.

    Read More

  • Witch Dbq

    1436 Words  | 6 Pages

    Mostly woman were accused of witchcraft during this time period, however, men could be dragged into the accusations and sometimes persecuted as well. Citizens that were high in the community usually did not bother to believe those who were accused of being witches, however, if someone was accused of being a witch and they were not high up in the community, then they were usually accused and convicted. These types of cases were not fair to the slighted and was a major reason why the Puritan religion had some bad qualities behind

    Read More

  • Gender Roles In The Salem Witch Trials

    893 Words  | 4 Pages

    With the Puritans having strict religious beliefs about the devil and God, it gave them strong feelings about the ways in which women impacted their community. Along with their religious beliefs, their society had certain beliefs about women and the way they should act which led them to suspect anything out of the “norm” as a sign of the devil. While some of this could be on women and the way we speak, the Puritans already had such strong feelings toward the vulnerable mind of women that it wouldn’t matter. The women were represented by weakness in nearly every aspect a person can be judged on and this thought of them as the weaker vessel is what ultimately led to them being accused and persecuted more than men during the Salem Witch

    Read More

  • Tituba's Manipulation In The Crucible

    789 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Puritans ran from persecution but then used the witch hunt to persecute innocent people based on the word of the women and men who had ulterior motives. The women used this opportunity to punish people they long had problems or resentment for. These women- Abigail, Tituba, and Mary- were aware of the power they felt when they were being heard by people in their community who were deemed Godly, upstanding citizens. So, they loved the sense of power they felt. Although the townspeople of Salem used religion as the reason for the witch hunt, the witch hunt created chaos because people started using it a revenge mechanism.

    Read More

  • Summary Of A Delusion Of Satan By Frances Hill

    1532 Words  | 7 Pages

    The novel A Delusion of Satan written by Frances Hill describes the history of the Salem Witch Trials (“Salem”) in 1692, the causes and effects of the witch hysteria, and the biographies of major characters associated with the trials. In the novel, Hill started out explaining the Puritans’ beliefs and customs, the gender roles of men and women in Salem and why women were easily accused of being witches and practicing witchcraft in the 17th century. During that time, women were easily accused of practicing witchcraft because they were viewed as physically, politically and spiritually weaker than men. Men were perceived as the power, status, and worthy in the society, and they dominated women’s behavior and social status. In the 17th century,

    Read More

  • The Causes And Effects Of The Salem Witch Trials

    1008 Words  | 5 Pages

    Many practicing Christians, at the time, believed that the Devil could persuade people to use the powers that he gave them to harm others. The Salem Witch Trials occurred because of resource struggles, many women were accused and tortured, and in the end the Governor realized that it was a big mistake. (“Salem Witch Trials”, 1). In 1689, English rulers William and Mary started a war with France in the American colonies which sent many refugees into the Essex County and Salem Village.

    Read More

  • Paranoia In The Crucible

    1246 Words  | 5 Pages

    During the 1600’s, a group known as the Puritans founded colonies in America to pursue religious freedom. With the Puritan faith being so strict in following the bible, many Puritans feared those who did not comply with the specific rules of the faith. They called those they feared witches and were afraid these witches would harm others in the the town. The fear that these witches would harm others lead to an event known as the Salem Witchcraft Trials in Salem, Massachusetts. Arthur Miller began to research the Trials long after they occurred and became very interested in what had happened in Salem during this time.

    Read More

More about Salem Witch Trials: Puritans Impact

Open Document