How Did The Salem Witch Trials Affect Society

There are many causes to the Salem witch trials and all of them stem from the church and the direct view of the bible. The way that Puritan society functioned repressed human nature and caused normally good people to lash out at others because of their own sin. They also gained both societal status and monetary value from accusing others. The literal view of the bible led to a very skewed version of the court. Along with this the fact that the Puritans were very isolated from the rest of society made for huge amounts of paranoia. The biased view of women and the lower class led to easy accusing. There was no one factor to the escalation of the Salem witch trials, rather it was a combination of many things that all stemmed from their religion …show more content…
If a person had a large amount of land then others could accuse them of witchcraft and attempt to win their land. This land could be used for farming or other uses that resulted in monetary gain. While the actual physical gain was incentive enough, there was more in the societal part. If someone claimed to be a victim of witchcraft then they got quite a bit of social status and attention. While Abigail might have been not a very well known girl in the town, by the end everyone knew her. This was a way to get attention and have fun in a culture that otherwise allowed very little leeway for recreational activities. Without a way to enjoy themselves, the girls started accusing others in order to make sport of it. This was incredibly easy to do because of the literal view of the …show more content…
While religion can be a fundamental part of a culture, when it gets to the point of repressing human nature then some of the rules of that society should be changed. Also religion should never be viewed as set in stone. While it can provide some guidelines to follow, rules and laws can go out of date and keeping them alive past their usefulness is not a way to run a society. As well as this, the courts should always be non biased, have solid proof as evidence, and work under the belief that every person is innocent until proven guilty. While the puritans had many flaws in their society, our culture can learn from it in order to not repeat mistakes. There were many causes to the mania of the Salem witch trials, though most stemmed from the bible and their strict culture. Not only were the people repressed in admitting their sin, but they also gained from accusing others and the entire culture was paranoid and believed everything. The culture of Salem showed how bad a situation can get if humans are not allowed much if any freedom. Societies today can learn valuable lessons from that time in allowing freedom with some rules but not an overabundance of