The Salem Witchcraft Hysteria
The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts between February 1692 and May 1693. The trials resulted in the executions of twenty people, fourteen of them women, and all but one by hanging. Five others died in prison. The question is what caused the Salem witch trials of 1692? This question has been asked for years. No one will probably ever have a definitive answer. Although it is a simple question, it does not have an easy answer. The answer is difficult because there are numerous factors and events that helped create and influence the trials. The main factors that started and fueled the trials were politics, religion, family feuds, …show more content…
In Massachusetts during the 17th century, people often feared that the Devil was constantly trying to find ways to infiltrate and destroy Christians and their communities. As a devout and strongly religious community living in near isolation in the mysterious New World, the community of Salem had a heightened sense of fear of the Devil. Puritans believed in witches and their ability to harm others. They defined witchcraft as entering into a compact with the devil in exchange for certain powers to do evil. Thus, witchcraft was considered a sin because it denied God’s superiority, and a crime because the witch could call up the Devil in his or her shape to perform cruel acts against others. Therefore, in any case when witchcraft was suspected, it was important that it was investigated thoroughly and the tormentor(s) identified and judged. Another religious theory suggested the idea that the witch scare may have been posed by the ministers of the community to drive the mass back to the church. According to Robert Detweiler in his article " History of Massachusetts" the ministers were believed to have encouraged the strange behavior so that they could increase their own influence over the people by showing that they could rid the afflicted from the evil spirits. Another reason the ministers would do this was to use witchcraft as a check on anti-social behavior. The encouragement of the few accused witches would serve …show more content…
It was also the last of the religious witch hunts. Salem Village separated from Salem Town in 1752 and became the town of Danvers. However, this separation did not wipe away the history of the witch trials from its past. For over 300 years, historians, sociologists, psychologists, and others continue to research and write about them to this day, and they continue to serve as a reminder of how politics, family squabbles, religion, economics and the imaginations and fears of people can yield tragic consequences
The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts between February 1692 and May 1693. The trials resulted in the executions of twenty people, fourteen of them women, and all but one by hanging. Five others died in prison. The question is what caused the Salem witch trials of 1692? This question has been asked for years. No one will probably ever have a definitive answer. Although it is a simple question, it does not have an easy answer. The answer is difficult because there are numerous factors and events that helped create and influence the trials. The main factors that started and fueled the trials were politics, religion, family feuds, …show more content…
In Massachusetts during the 17th century, people often feared that the Devil was constantly trying to find ways to infiltrate and destroy Christians and their communities. As a devout and strongly religious community living in near isolation in the mysterious New World, the community of Salem had a heightened sense of fear of the Devil. Puritans believed in witches and their ability to harm others. They defined witchcraft as entering into a compact with the devil in exchange for certain powers to do evil. Thus, witchcraft was considered a sin because it denied God’s superiority, and a crime because the witch could call up the Devil in his or her shape to perform cruel acts against others. Therefore, in any case when witchcraft was suspected, it was important that it was investigated thoroughly and the tormentor(s) identified and judged. Another religious theory suggested the idea that the witch scare may have been posed by the ministers of the community to drive the mass back to the church. According to Robert Detweiler in his article " History of Massachusetts" the ministers were believed to have encouraged the strange behavior so that they could increase their own influence over the people by showing that they could rid the afflicted from the evil spirits. Another reason the ministers would do this was to use witchcraft as a check on anti-social behavior. The encouragement of the few accused witches would serve …show more content…
It was also the last of the religious witch hunts. Salem Village separated from Salem Town in 1752 and became the town of Danvers. However, this separation did not wipe away the history of the witch trials from its past. For over 300 years, historians, sociologists, psychologists, and others continue to research and write about them to this day, and they continue to serve as a reminder of how politics, family squabbles, religion, economics and the imaginations and fears of people can yield tragic consequences