Witchcraft In American History

Witches are viewed in modern eyes as a typical halloween costume with little significance. In reality, though, most witches in American history have not been anywhere close to that! Most were common folk falsely accused of witchcraft. The influence of historical witchcraft is found in literature, movies, and shaping decades of American history. The origin of the term ‘witch’ was “... adopted by the early Christian church as a way to label and condemn the practitioners of the ancient pagan religions as godless heretics and worshippers of Satan” (“Spirit Walk”). Unfortunately, these religions were just misunderstood. They were usually the continuation of native spiritual and cultural beliefs. Traditional “witches” picked up many beliefs and customs from the Pagan religion, German and Dutch immigrants, and Native American customs. As time went on and early America was colonized by European Christians, these people were condemned as witches. From the first American witch hunt, which was in Hartford, Connecticut in 1662 (Klein), to the rise of modern tv witches in the 1960’s, America has seen a lot. In March of 1662, eight year old Elizabeth Kelly was allegedly “possessed” by a woman named Goody …show more content…
The trials started with Elizabeth Parris, the daughter of Reverend Samuel Parris, his 11 year old niece, and their 11 year old friend. There are many alleged reasons for the witchcraft chaos, but the main contributor was Reverend Parris, “who the people of Salem generally thought of as greedy and rigid…” (“History of Witches”). Nineteen people were hanged as witches during this time known as the Salem Witch Trials. The town remained ashamed of the trials for hundreds of years until the release of the TV series Bewitched and the novel The Crucible, which is about the Salem witch trials, helped the town experience an economic resurgence (“History of