Salem, Massachusetts is most famously known for the execution of innocents known as The Salem Witch Trials.Many people still debate as to what really caused the horrific event. There are many beliefs as to what caused these trials, vengeance, actual witchcraft, food poisoning, and the pressures of society. The Salem Witch Trials began by the social pressures forced on people due to their religious beliefs and lifestyle.
Hundreds of people were accused during the trials, filling prisons of Salem and many neighboring towns. Nobody questioned if the “enchanted” girls were lying about who was a witch, but once the girls started to accuse the most kindhearted of people, the town started to question the trials. Rebecca Nurse was a woman who everyone …show more content…
The court was blindly convicting people off of fear of what extremely convincing teenage actresses pretended to see had the possibility to be true. The court was not even allowed to base laws off of religion; their main evidence was if the accused could recite the Lord’s Prayers. Unfortunately they did which eventually led to their royal charter being taken away. After the prayers they had four more pieces of evidence for a person to be a witch. First they had to have physical marks such as warts, moles or birthmarks. Then there were the witness testimonies, which means that they could have been lying out of revenge or because they were forced to. There was spectral evidence which no one ever saw and lastly there was the confession; many people lied and did confess for it meant keeping their lives(“The New England Colonies” …show more content…
In England witches were mostly the poor and ragged, the people more likely to be seen as evil or even just plain desperate. In Salem witches were wealthy and well known. Salem was already in so much stress from being isolated and not having money that the government took advantage of the trials. If the wealthy confessed the government had all the rights to their money for they were no longer considered people. Also since most witches were women many of them were widows. Being a woman they had no rights to anything, but this meant that the money and land could not go to the sons or any male relatives(Rebecca Brooks). The courts could have known that the girls were lying but continued the murders to obtain the money of the people.
The lives of puritans constricted many freedoms leading to rebellious children pressuring each other to lie in order to achieve far-fetched goals, which resulted in the Salem Witch Trials. The society had no breathing room which caused many people to snap and do whatever necessary to get what they want. The trials at the time was something that people would actually believe even though today accusations of witchcraft would just be laughed at. The way society thought at the time and the controlling rules set caused chaos and turmoil, leading to the tragic
Hundreds of people were accused during the trials, filling prisons of Salem and many neighboring towns. Nobody questioned if the “enchanted” girls were lying about who was a witch, but once the girls started to accuse the most kindhearted of people, the town started to question the trials. Rebecca Nurse was a woman who everyone …show more content…
The court was blindly convicting people off of fear of what extremely convincing teenage actresses pretended to see had the possibility to be true. The court was not even allowed to base laws off of religion; their main evidence was if the accused could recite the Lord’s Prayers. Unfortunately they did which eventually led to their royal charter being taken away. After the prayers they had four more pieces of evidence for a person to be a witch. First they had to have physical marks such as warts, moles or birthmarks. Then there were the witness testimonies, which means that they could have been lying out of revenge or because they were forced to. There was spectral evidence which no one ever saw and lastly there was the confession; many people lied and did confess for it meant keeping their lives(“The New England Colonies” …show more content…
In England witches were mostly the poor and ragged, the people more likely to be seen as evil or even just plain desperate. In Salem witches were wealthy and well known. Salem was already in so much stress from being isolated and not having money that the government took advantage of the trials. If the wealthy confessed the government had all the rights to their money for they were no longer considered people. Also since most witches were women many of them were widows. Being a woman they had no rights to anything, but this meant that the money and land could not go to the sons or any male relatives(Rebecca Brooks). The courts could have known that the girls were lying but continued the murders to obtain the money of the people.
The lives of puritans constricted many freedoms leading to rebellious children pressuring each other to lie in order to achieve far-fetched goals, which resulted in the Salem Witch Trials. The society had no breathing room which caused many people to snap and do whatever necessary to get what they want. The trials at the time was something that people would actually believe even though today accusations of witchcraft would just be laughed at. The way society thought at the time and the controlling rules set caused chaos and turmoil, leading to the tragic