The Salem witch trials had a long-lasting impact on the American justice system. Salem had an impact on the justice system by helping to create the idea that all men are innocent until proven guilty. Salem helped create this idea due to the fact that during the trials if a person were to be incriminated of being a witch they would consequently be put on trial. The person on trial wouldn’t receive a lawyer and no investigation was done. The trials didn’t require real evidence to be used. For example, the trails would consist of evidence such as a person saying they could feel the person biting them from across the room. This was considered spectral evidence meaning if a person was a good enough actor they could claim that anyone was a witch
The Salem witch trials managed to kill many innocent people. These “mobs” or groups of people would convince each other that the person or people that were on trials were guilty. This is comparable to times in the 1950s when Joseph McCarthy had accused certain politicians and people serving the government at that time of practicing communism. These accusations led to many of them losing their jobs and society status.
This article is interesting but for scholar it doesn’t give enough information about Salem Witch Trials as a whole. Ray, Benjamin. “Salem Witch Trials”. OAH Magazine of History 17, No. 4 (2003) 32–36. Accessed Sept. 9, 2015
What Caused the Salem Witch Trial Hysteria of 1692? The Salem Witch Trials of 1692 were a large source of chaos for the small town that ruined the lives for people and their families. During this time many innocent people were accused of witchcraft and were thrown in jail while some were even hanged. It was a terrible event in history that was caused by jealousy, town division, and young girls.
The court system during this time was full of confusion and paranoia. These cases influenced the improvement of the justice system, since a lot was learned from what happened over the course of the trials. Between 1692 and 1693, the events took place in the town of Salem and nearby towns in Massachusetts. The whole
The conflict of the Salem Witch Trials had a lasting effect on the community even after a compromise was found. More than 3 centuries later the Salem Witch Trials are one of the most disturbing and shameful events in American History (Blumberg; how). Many people’s lives were changed through the trials. The Salem Witch Trials also ended in conflict. During the trials everyday tasks were overlooked like; chores, business matters, and other activities, so Salem in a state of ruin for years to come.
What is The Salem Witch Trials? Is it people going crazy? Young girls asking for attention? Is it panic in the towns, like not knowing whats going on? Or is it just people not liking peoples religion?
Many of these troubles are believed to be the cause of the Trials. The Salem Witch Trials were in the shadow of the French and Indian War. This was believed to have serious repercussions on the small community. Also around this time Indian attacks were increasingly common causing the community to be very fearful and on edge. Salem had just been through a smallpox epidemic, one of the coldest winter yet, and the small community was growing at an alarming rate, making it increasingly hard to acquire land.
In 1692, the most famous trials of all time was held in Salem Virginia, they were the Salem Witchcraft Trials. According to Document A, it states that people think that since they haven’t seen a witch before, they don’t exist. But, “We never met with any robbers on the road, therefore there never was any padding there.” This means that people think that they have to see the thing, in this case is witches, to believe that they are real.
Unfortunately, the detestable events caused lingering effects, some of which are still around today. These lasting effects are evident when one thinks of the lives that were taken during the events - the lives that cannot be taken back and the deaths that cannot be reversed. In addition, more lasting effects could be seen as soon as the trials were over, when people were stuck in jail and were not released. “Despite the trials being over, many were still in jail due to the fact that they could not afford to pay for their release” (“Five Myths of the Salem Witch Trials”). This left many families in different pieces and prevented them from getting all their work done.
Through analysis of the event and its causes, one can conclude that the citizens of Salem had significant evidence to back their belief in witchcraft. What is arguably the most prominent factor in the Salem Witch Trials is religion. The entirety of the Puritan society was based on
Over 300 years ago, more than 100 citizens of the colony of Massachusetts were accused of the crime of witchcraft, and many executed. Although this era in history, known as the Salem Witch Trials, lasted only mere months, its impact on the American criminal justice system has lasted until present day. Although both the trials in Salem and modern America are based on a similar justice system, there are vast differences, specifically in the rights of the defense, most notable in the separation of Church and State, the standards of evidence, and the presumption of innocence until proven guilty. The modern American criminal justice system, in comparison to that of the time of the Salem Witch Trials, has changed drastically. No longer is the rule of law based on
The Salem Witchcraft Trials had many effects on the town of Salem, Massachusetts. A lot of the effects were negative, destroying the community, government, even individuals. The Witch Trials affected the community of Salem in multiple ways. The witch trials created many tensions between several families in the town. The most acknowledgeable dispute from the play was between the Putnam’s and the Nurse’s.
In Salem, Massachusetts a series of hearings and prosecutions started, commonly known as the Salem Witchcraft Trials. The witchcraft trials in Salem became a big concern after two-hundred innocent people were accused and twenty people were executed. Many people of Salem believed the court was just in accusing all these victims. A seldom amount of people went against the court in saying that the court was a fraud and that the decisions were biased being made. Abigail Williams held all the power in the court and determined who was “guilty” or not.
This was more commonly found in women more so than in men, this is able to be seen in (Document N and E). While looking at the two tables in (Document E) it is divided into two subjects The Accused and The Accusers, in each table we see the majority of each table is centered around women. A majority of the people that consumed bread and showed the symptoms could be seen as a witch, the symptoms were usually a crawling of the skin sensation, hallucinations, delirium, etc. If you were seen in public seeing things that weren 't there or scratching your skin as if things were on your body you could potentially end up being seen as a witch and killed. This evidence helps explain the hysteria and the hangings because it showed that everyone was on high alert at all times everyone around them could be seen as a someone to blame or as a
Not many people know much about what actually happened in the Salem Witch Trials. Maybe someone would think that it was just about witchcraft and crazy people being hanged, but it is a lot more than that. The Salem Witch Trials only occurred between 1692 and 1693, but a lot of damage had been done. The idea of the Salem Witch Trials came from Europe during the “witchcraft craze” from the 1300s-1600s. In Europe, many of the accused witches were executed by hanging.