Cause And Effects Of The Salem Witch Trials Of 1692

The Salem Witch Trials of 1692 marked a dark history in New England, filled with widespread terror, panic, and death caused by the ignorance of the mass that was blinded by their religious beliefs to clearly see the truth behind the dark charade. Suspicion arose in Salem that the devil was upon the puritan community to wreak havoc and destruction when two girls were supposedly victims of the Devil’s work. As a result, many innocent people who were accused of witchcraft and compacting with the devil were rounded to be put on trial for false claims orchestrated by people in the community with ulterior motives. Nineteen people were hanged and an addition thirteen people died in prison awaiting trial and execution. The trials came to an end

Recreations such as dancing, gambling, and drinking were banned by puritan law and anyone caught violating the law would be heavily punished. The puritans believed such activities were inherently harmful and immoral. They believed that reading the bible was the only recreational activity needed after working. As a result, the puritan society strictly enforced parents to teach their children to be literate in order to read the bible and attend orations in church. In addition, the role of men and women was unequal in their society. The puritan society was patriarchal, meaning that men held the power in the community and in the family while women were in charge of the house, raising and teaching the bible to the children. Women held little power compared to their male counterpart; for example, voting was only allowed to white male in the community during town meetings and the opinion of men weighted more heavily than the women. The strict puritan society provided an excellent environment for the infestation of hysteria. Panic caused by overzealous religious faith in combination with the strict society of the puritan caused the Salem Witch Trials to

They came to the conclusion that witchcraft was the reason for the unknown illness that plagued the girls. Three women were arrested on the suspicion of bewitching the girls. Two of them denied the charges while one named Tituba falsely confessed to the crime and declared that there was a network of witches in Salem conspiring with the devil. The stimulation provided by Tituba sparked the religious crusade to hunt and execute the witches unless they confessed. From this incident, a widespread hysteria caused by overzealous atmosphere exploded to a tragedy in the small community. However, religious zeal was not the only cause of the trials; some were motivated by their own personal greed. Land ownership in the late 1600s was considered to be a symbol of power and prestige in the community. The more land a person owns the higher their influence is on the city. When a person is convicted of witchcraft, he or she must relinquish their property to the town and the property is sold to buyers. Many saw this opportunity as a way to gain power in Salem or get rid of people that they despised. However, there was no concrete evidence that supported the conspiracy, yet many were convicted and hang. In Salem, a person’s word was taken at face value and many did not scrutinize whether the claims were legitimate or not because