Taking A Look At The Salem Witch Trials

Before the Salem Witch Trials occurred, the people of Salem had already been experiencing high stress levels due many different kinds of factors. They were undergoing threats of Indian Attacks, a Small Pox epidemic, new anti-religion charters made by the King and Queen of England, and their community was becoming more and more divided. Salem consisted primarily of wealthy merchants and middle class farmers. The community was torn in trying to decide whether or not they should separate Salem into two different entities or to remain intact. There were two main families involved in the politics of Salem at the time, the Putnams and the Porters, and they were on two different sides of the issue. The Porters were leading the anti-separation group, being that their wealth was mainly tied into Salem Town’s thriving harbors. However, the Putnams were in favor of the separation, as they claimed that Salem Town’s economy went against the “communal nature that Puritanism mandated.” Though no decision had yet been made, the Putnams formed a separate congregation for those in favor of the separation, and they named Reverend Samuel Parris to be the leader of it. Parris received …show more content…
At first, this theory sounds ridiculous, however it is strange that all of the people who became afflicted with the same “illness” as Parris’ daughter and niece came from families that were connected to the Putnam’s (Krystek). Not to mention that members of one group only ever made accusations outside of their group, never within their own (Shah). This suggests that political conflict could very well have played a big role in the Salem Witch Trials. If the Putnam’s had been targeting the other group, it may have been to get rid of those who were destroying the Puritan values due to their hunger for