Political Instability In The Salem Witch Trials

The Salem Witch Trials were created out of a myriad of complex issues, many of which cannot be explicitly defined. Thus, political instability may not have been as significant to the escalation of the hysteria. For instance, while it is true that the beginning of the conflict began during the inter-charter period, the witch trials continued even after the reestablishment of the royal charter. Benjamin Ray addresses this in his paper, stating, ”By mid-June, the government was fully restored, yet the onslaught of accusations and trials progressed unabated” (44). He suggests that this fact alone disputes the inter-charter theory, as the trials reached their peak despite the presence of a government. Furthermore, the fact that the church continued …show more content…
Additionally, while the church did continue to be prevalent in society, there were instances when its authority was attacked, most notably under the leadership of Andos (source?). This, combined with the fact that church membership was declining, meant that the church was losing its hold on the people, which resulted in a panic as religious leaders scrambled to restore their power. Finally, court proceedings did not have many limitations preventing abuses of power, but such a case of improper court practices was still unusual for that time. As Benjamin Ray explains, the amount of false evidence and poor decisions the court made was unprecedented (52). Even in a time with little legal protections, what the courts did during the Salem Witch Trials stood out as unusual, indicating that there are reasons beyond the surface responsible for this behavior. Ultimately, it is difficult to determine precisely the cause of the situation in Salem, but the assumption that it occurred because of political instability proves to be sound when examining the historical circumstances and trends of that time