During the seventeenth century, in the hot summer of 1692, approximately 20 Puritan men and women were put to death in Salem, Massachusetts, for practicing witchcraft. The Puritans were Protestant Christians who settled in New England, because of religious circumstances where they were unhappy with their mother church in England. They left and came to the new world to practice Christianity in its purest form. The Salem Witch Trials in 1692 were caused due to fundamentalism, social status envy, and entertainment in which young people tried to seek attention. Puritans were fundamentalists, who believed in the literal meaning of the Bible. The Devil, known as Satan, was a dark force lurking in the wilderness; he would enter a person’s body and
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“Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live,” (doc A) is an excerpt from the King James version of the Bible. In other words, a witch should not be allowed to live. If a Puritan witnessed or heard of someone practicing witchcraft they would kill them. The reason for this is because they were considered unholy, since they were working with the devil. Cotton Mather, a leading minister and intellectual said that there is no way to get rid of evil spirits, such as the devil, because they’re everywhere (doc C). A witch was not considered good, they were an enemy of God, therefore they should die. Religion played an important role in the Salem Witch Trials, because the Puritans were extremely religious people. They only followed the Bible and God’s rules. After all, witches were in alliance with the devil, and the Puritans did not agree with this, which were why these witches were killed.
Another noteworthy reason for the Salem Witch Trials was the social status among the Puritan population. People were accusing each other due to jealousy. The poor were jealous of the rich, and the single women were jealous of married women. According to some statistics, there was an underlying …show more content…
Another significant reason for the Salem Witch Trials was that people were seeking attention; they were bored and didn’t have anything to do. These people were behaving very childish because they would make pretend to be inflicted with the evil spirit for a community reaction (doc G). People would fake symptoms so they can be considered a witch. Ann Putnam, apparently saw a vision of Rebecca, a nurse, who according to Ann, right away burden her with the evil spirits (doc K). Ann Putnam thought she had been cursed, because she had the symptoms of a witch. One can say that this situation can be consider the placebo effect, in light of the fact that Ann thought she had something and instantly acted a certain way. In document L, Ann Putnam’s mother, as well as Ann, “saw visions” too. In her vision Rebecca confessed to all her doings. This is considered a childish behavior, because Rebecca and the Putnam’s have a bad history (doc M). The Putnam’s are trying to get back at Rebecca because of what Rebecca’s husband did about 20 years ago. People were bored, and started to behave childish to seek attention. They would either pretend to have these symptoms by putting on a show, or lie to get revenge on someone. They caused these deaths for their own entertainment and enjoyment, and additionally for their egotistical
“Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live,” (doc A) is an excerpt from the King James version of the Bible. In other words, a witch should not be allowed to live. If a Puritan witnessed or heard of someone practicing witchcraft they would kill them. The reason for this is because they were considered unholy, since they were working with the devil. Cotton Mather, a leading minister and intellectual said that there is no way to get rid of evil spirits, such as the devil, because they’re everywhere (doc C). A witch was not considered good, they were an enemy of God, therefore they should die. Religion played an important role in the Salem Witch Trials, because the Puritans were extremely religious people. They only followed the Bible and God’s rules. After all, witches were in alliance with the devil, and the Puritans did not agree with this, which were why these witches were killed.
Another noteworthy reason for the Salem Witch Trials was the social status among the Puritan population. People were accusing each other due to jealousy. The poor were jealous of the rich, and the single women were jealous of married women. According to some statistics, there was an underlying …show more content…
Another significant reason for the Salem Witch Trials was that people were seeking attention; they were bored and didn’t have anything to do. These people were behaving very childish because they would make pretend to be inflicted with the evil spirit for a community reaction (doc G). People would fake symptoms so they can be considered a witch. Ann Putnam, apparently saw a vision of Rebecca, a nurse, who according to Ann, right away burden her with the evil spirits (doc K). Ann Putnam thought she had been cursed, because she had the symptoms of a witch. One can say that this situation can be consider the placebo effect, in light of the fact that Ann thought she had something and instantly acted a certain way. In document L, Ann Putnam’s mother, as well as Ann, “saw visions” too. In her vision Rebecca confessed to all her doings. This is considered a childish behavior, because Rebecca and the Putnam’s have a bad history (doc M). The Putnam’s are trying to get back at Rebecca because of what Rebecca’s husband did about 20 years ago. People were bored, and started to behave childish to seek attention. They would either pretend to have these symptoms by putting on a show, or lie to get revenge on someone. They caused these deaths for their own entertainment and enjoyment, and additionally for their egotistical