ipl-logo

Blind Certitude Salem Witch Trials

1177 Words5 Pages

Blind Certitude: The Calamitous Repercussions of Lacking Skepticism Hysteria and intolerance have existed since the beginning of modern civilization. The Salem Witch Trials thoroughly exemplify an instance in which intolerance led to hysteria. In March 1692, Samuel Parris took his 11-year-old niece, Abigail Williams, and 9-year-old daughter, Elizabeth Parris, to the doctor because they began acting strangely. According to Samuel, Abigail and Elizabeth screamed, threw objects, made peculiar noises, and contorted themselves into abnormal positions. Unable to find a diagnosis, the doctor blamed the two girls’ actions on bewitchment. The doctor surmised that the Parris family’s indentured servant, Tituba, performed witchcraft on the girls. After …show more content…

Extremist religious beliefs of the supernatural and religious intolerance in Salem acted as a catalyst of the Salem Witch Trials. In England, talks of moving to America for religious freedom disseminated rapidly due to British stigma against puritanism. Puritans came to America and began practicing puritanism freely. Even for this time, Puritans practiced their beliefs orthodoxly. Puritans believed that solely God’s grace allowed them into heaven, and that they had almost no way of interfering with their own salvation. Puritans believed in evil supernatural beings like witches, werewolves, and the devil. Their beliefs of these supernatural presences led them to accuse women of witchcraft because they believed the devil possessed women and made them his servants. Ultimately, they put these women on trial, thus starting the Salem Witch Trials. Additionally, their spiritual intolerance manifested in their disdain for Native

Show More
Related
480 Words | 2 Pages

The puritans came to New England so they could experience and practice christianity in a new form.[background] Puritans believed every word in the bible was the word of god. That said, the bible mentions Devils and witches. They believed a witch was a person who was controlled by the devil. For example, The devil can make a young girl cry in church. One way the court accepted evidence the suspect in question was a witch was when a woman confused the words when saying the lord's prayer.[background] Because of these actions more people were being accused of being a witch.

Read More
1926 Words | 8 Pages

In Salem, Massachusetts the villagers were Puritans. The religion of the Puritans, Puritanism, derived from Protestantism. Puritans decided that the Protestant religion did not go far enough in the reforming doctrines and structure of the church and so the new religion was born. Puritans set out to seek the purity of worship. These people lived their life, according to their religious belief, very purely.

Read More
641 Words | 3 Pages

They came to New England to practice Christianity in a new way.” (Background Essay) Puritans believed in predestination, this means that God had already determined who is going to heaven and who is going to hell. They believed if they worked hard enough and did enough good they would be able to go to heaven. Puritans were scrupulous and

Read More
375 Words | 2 Pages

Salem Puritans accused women of witchcraft, in order to oppress women, and as a reaction to greed and religious fear. The Salem Witch Trials were motivated by the oppression of women. Puritan women could not own land. Women were told to keep quiet and stay in their place.

Read More
2248 Words | 9 Pages

When Elizabeth “Betty” Parris, Abigail Williams, and the other young girls started to experience strange fits and hallucinations, doctors struggled to find the cause, as Gale Encyclopedia of U.S. History explains, “The girls began having hallucinations and strange physical ailments, some of them babbling incoherently. Doctors were called in and diagnosed witchcraft”. Most of them had never heard of an extreme case like Salem was encountering, so it was hard for them to diagnose exactly what the problem was. Eventually, “they [doctors] deemed the symptoms to be so unusual as to be supernatural, essentially passing the problem on to religious leaders. From that point the problem was viewed as a spiritual one, and the ministers became involved” (Carlson 51).

Read More
224 Words | 1 Pages

The Salem Witch Trials of 1692 left an indelible mark on Massachusetts, revealing deep-seated societal tensions and profoundly influencing perceptions of witchcraft, religious fervor, and gender dynamics. The trials were a manifestation of Puritan anxieties about the supernatural and the moral purity of their community, exacerbated by economic hardships and political instability. The accusations and subsequent executions of 20 individuals highlighted the fragility of justice in an environment fueled by fear, superstition, and religious zealotry. This period underscored the unchecked power wielded by Puritan men in positions of authority, who played pivotal roles in initiating and perpetuating accusations. The trials also exposed the vulnerabilities

Read More
215 Words | 1 Pages

Religion affects what people believe, therefore, puritans were religious and believed there was a God and Devil. Their belief had eventually come to the Devil had arisen upon Salem. Reverend Parris speculates there may be a Devil upon Salem after the unexplainable sickness Betty obtained in act one. “Parris: A wide opinion’s running in the parish that the Devil may be among us…” Eventually everyone began to believe there were witches that work with the Devil. Therefore, the Salem Witch Trials began and all the puritans investigate into this matter.

Read More
836 Words | 4 Pages

However, in 1692, the idea of witchcraft sparked a crisis of community fear when hysteria and fear of witches broke out in 1692 in colonial Salem, Massachusetts. When Puritans first settled into Massachusetts, their goal was to create a perfect religious society that worshipped as purely as possible. Neighbors looked to each other for evidence of a pure soul and conformity

Read More
789 Words | 4 Pages

The Puritans ran from persecution but then used the witch hunt to persecute innocent people based on the word of the women and men who had ulterior motives. The women used this opportunity to punish people they long had problems or resentment for. These women- Abigail, Tituba, and Mary- were aware of the power they felt when they were being heard by people in their community who were deemed Godly, upstanding citizens. So, they loved the sense of power they felt. Although the townspeople of Salem used religion as the reason for the witch hunt, the witch hunt created chaos because people started using it a revenge mechanism.

Read More
480 Words | 2 Pages

In Salem, Massachusetts, Puritans were strong believers in the Bible. The Bible states, “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.” The Puritans beliefs led to them accusing 20 innocent people of being a witch, this resulted in their deaths in 1692. Even though the Puritans couldn’t see it at the time, their accusations were really based off jealousy, lies, and Salem being divided into two parts. One cause of the Salem witch trial hysteria was jealousy.

Read More
1045 Words | 5 Pages

If they admitted to the accusation, they were spared from execution but ostracized from society. Over the years, several theories have appeared to explain the cause of the hysteria, including religious extremism, socio-economic tensions, and personal vendettas. The first significant factor that contributed to the Salem Witch Trials was the religious beliefs of the Puritan settlers. In the background essay, it discusses the Puritans, who were Protestant Christians unhappy with their church in England, had migrated to New England in the 1600s. They looked to practice Christianity in ways they felt were pure.

Read More
611 Words | 3 Pages

The puritan religion is a very restricted ,now when someone is accused of witchcraft this is punishable by death. But in order to convict someone of witchcraft,you had to prove that by the law this was considered witchcraft. Practicing witchcraft according to theologians was that witches are servants to the devil and were out to do his bidding(p23).In most cases the puritans just wanted to know who the witch and to punish

Read More
624 Words | 3 Pages

The Salem Witch Trials accusing others of a feared crime showed definite evidence that mass hysteria was to blame. Salem was a religious settlement, following Puritan beliefs (Miller, 6). A large fear for everyone in Salem was the touch of the Devil (Miller, Arthur). According to Puritan beliefs, if a man or woman was touched by the Devil he would convince them to do witchcraft. Once word was mentioned the Devil had possibly touched Salem, the fear spread.

Read More
482 Words | 2 Pages

There were in turn many causes for these trials. Most Puritans believed in witchcraft as the source of power to harm others. They believed that the witchcraft was linked with the devil, giving certain members evil powers in order to perpetrate members of the colony. For those religious members who lived in the same town of Salem were against witchcraft because it was

Read More
841 Words | 4 Pages

Review of Literature The religiously motivated Salem witch trials of 1692 left a permanent stain on Massachusetts’ history, but one overlooked factor could have sparked the tragic ordeal. The trials are best summarized as an inexplicable and unforeseen frenzy of accusations, aimed at the social pariahs of the community, that led to multiple deaths in a previously tranquil place. An intense type of food poisoning known as convulsive ergotism provides a seemingly simple, yet understandably deceptive to the ignorant, explanation. Due to optimum conditions for the disease, the correlation between the bewitched and the expected symptoms, and the religious fanaticism of the time, one can conclude ergotism was an influence on the Salem witch trials.

Read More

More about Blind Certitude Salem Witch Trials

Open Document