Damned Women: The Salem Witch Trials

In 1692, Puritans in colonial Massachusetts faced an interesting event called the Salem Witch Trials. The first sign of witchcraft was discovered when two girls, Elizabeth and Williams were having “fits.” The local doctor blamed their unusual movements on the supernatural. Satan worried the Puritan community because they believed that they always had to behave to go to heaven. Whether puritans were in or out of their home, they believed the devil was always watching them which is why they were always cautious towards their actions. Satan appeared as another figure to trick the Puritans into sinning which was witchcraft. While religion played a role of creating fear in the Salem Witch Trials, In Elizabeth Reis’s book Damned Women: Sinners and …show more content…
Religion was so vital to the Puritans that they decided to leave England when it created its own church. At first the Puritans were willing to stay if reforms were made to the Church of England, but unfortunately, the king at the time, King Charles I, threatened the Puritans if they did not respect the Catholic church. The Puritans left to freely practice their own religion without interference from the Catholic church. Little did they know that citizens of their community would be faced with sinning through witchcraft. Puritans lived in the town in order to be close to always walk to church. As much as the Puritans tried to stay away from the devil, some women were forced to sign the devil’s book. When a Puritan signed the devil’s book, that was one step towards sinning because they were basically saying that God is inferior to them and the devil has more power. For example, Sara Bridges was on trial for witchcraft but even though she denied it, the sister said that the devil came to her sister and “told his name was Jesus and that she must serve and worship him” (Reis 80). When the devil came up to Bridges, the devil made her renounce her beliefs with God and