Causes of the Salem Witch Trials There were many cases of people being accused of witchcraft throughout America during the 1600s and 1700s with many of these accusations leading to the deaths of the accused. But there is one event in particular that stands out more than the rest, the Salem witch trials. This event is the biggest massacre known of people being accused of being a witch in United States history. The Salem witch trials are such a catastrophic event that museums, documentaries and even a famous play the Crucible were dedicated to it. The three main causes of the Salem witch trials are believed to be a result of town’s folk being manipulated by their strong religious beliefs, the economic and political climate at the time or a
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Soon after Reverend Parris moved to Salem with his wife, daughter Elizabeth, niece Abigail Williams and two slaves named John and Tituba Indian. After some time passed his daughter Elizabeth and niece Abigail started to show signs of weird behavior that the local doctor, Mr. Griggs, believed to be witchcraft. Soon three others joined them in their abnormal behavior. But this was only the beginning. Soon more girls joined and then they started to accuse select citizens of Salem of being witches. The girls would say that the witches’ were tormenting them and trying to get them to sign the devils book. As days passed on not only women were accused but men as well as men and children. In the beginning the victims were a normally people who didn’t fit in well with the Puritan values like Sarah Osborne who was an elderly woman who hadn’t attend church because of illness and was rumored to marry her male servant. Soon they started to accuse highly respected people such as Rebecca Nurse a good Christian woman or Reverend George Burroughs. By the end of the trails in all 20 people died either in jail, torture or mostly by being hung at Gallows …show more content…
Lori Lee Wilson wrote in her book The Salem Witch Trials about the Puritan’s religion saying: “Puritans believed they could lose God’s favor if they failed to lead pure and upright lives. They wanted to purify themselves and their communities. […] Puritans thought witches were guided by the devil, and they did not want the devil in their midst”. They believed that killing the witches was sort of a “purification process” that cleansed the town of any signs of the devil and his work. There is also the treatment of children during this time period that leads into this event. Children were considered workers for the family instead as before being for affection. The Puritans believed they were young sinners that needed to disciplined and scared into good behavior. Many kids were concerned of the fate of their souls due to the harsh religious believes that the Puritans had. Many say that this was a major contributed to the girls starting such a pivotal point in history. The symptoms that the girls were having are very suspicious to Historians today because in most cases they would have fits at the same time. Making many to believe that they were faking it and using these strong religious believes that were drilled into them against the citizens of the town. It was also said that afterwards on one of the afflicted girl’s on her death bed admitted to faking the fits
Soon after Reverend Parris moved to Salem with his wife, daughter Elizabeth, niece Abigail Williams and two slaves named John and Tituba Indian. After some time passed his daughter Elizabeth and niece Abigail started to show signs of weird behavior that the local doctor, Mr. Griggs, believed to be witchcraft. Soon three others joined them in their abnormal behavior. But this was only the beginning. Soon more girls joined and then they started to accuse select citizens of Salem of being witches. The girls would say that the witches’ were tormenting them and trying to get them to sign the devils book. As days passed on not only women were accused but men as well as men and children. In the beginning the victims were a normally people who didn’t fit in well with the Puritan values like Sarah Osborne who was an elderly woman who hadn’t attend church because of illness and was rumored to marry her male servant. Soon they started to accuse highly respected people such as Rebecca Nurse a good Christian woman or Reverend George Burroughs. By the end of the trails in all 20 people died either in jail, torture or mostly by being hung at Gallows …show more content…
Lori Lee Wilson wrote in her book The Salem Witch Trials about the Puritan’s religion saying: “Puritans believed they could lose God’s favor if they failed to lead pure and upright lives. They wanted to purify themselves and their communities. […] Puritans thought witches were guided by the devil, and they did not want the devil in their midst”. They believed that killing the witches was sort of a “purification process” that cleansed the town of any signs of the devil and his work. There is also the treatment of children during this time period that leads into this event. Children were considered workers for the family instead as before being for affection. The Puritans believed they were young sinners that needed to disciplined and scared into good behavior. Many kids were concerned of the fate of their souls due to the harsh religious believes that the Puritans had. Many say that this was a major contributed to the girls starting such a pivotal point in history. The symptoms that the girls were having are very suspicious to Historians today because in most cases they would have fits at the same time. Making many to believe that they were faking it and using these strong religious believes that were drilled into them against the citizens of the town. It was also said that afterwards on one of the afflicted girl’s on her death bed admitted to faking the fits