More handpicked essays just for you.
National influences on salem witch trials
Salem witch trials elizebeth postive influences
New england puritans society
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
The novel A Delusion of Satan written by Frances Hill describes the history of the Salem Witch Trials (“Salem”) in 1692, the causes and effects of the witch hysteria, and the biographies of major characters associated with the trials. In the novel, Hill started out explaining the Puritans’ beliefs and customs, the gender roles of men and women in Salem and why women were easily accused of being witches and practicing witchcraft in the 17th century. During that time, women were easily accused of practicing witchcraft because they were viewed as physically, politically and spiritually weaker than men. Men were perceived as the power, status, and worthy in the society, and they dominated women’s behavior and social status. In the 17th century,
Religion was a very strong influence in the lives of Puritans as they followed a very strict moral code and based their entire lives on their faith. Most Puritans were taught from the Bible that "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live" (Doc. A), which explains why the witch scare was taken so seriously and why the accused were punished so harshly. They believed and feared that "evil spirits were all around" (Doc. C) as noted in Memorable Providences Relating to Witchcraft and Possessions by Cotton Mather, who at that time was a reputable expert in the "invisible world. " It seems strange to 21st-century dwellers that people believed that witches could be identified by marks of the devil, as portrayed in an 1853 painting by T.H. Matteson (Doc. D).
The Salem Witch Trials; Madness or Logic In Stacey Schiff’s, List of 5 Possible Causes of the Salem Witch Trials and Shah Faiza’s, THE WITCHES OF SALEM; Diabolical doings in a Puritan village, discuss in their articles what has been debated by so many historians for years, the causes of the Salem Witch trials. Schiff and the Faiza, purpose is to argue the possible religious, scientific, communal, and sociological reasons on why the trials occurred. All while making word by word in the writer’s testimony as if they were there through emotion and just stating simply the facts and theories. They adopt the hectic tone in order to convey to the readers the significance, tragedy, logic, loss, and possible madness behind these life changing events,
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.
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.
In his book, “A Modest Inquiry into the Nature of Witchcraft (1702),” clergyman John Hale comes forth to confront the recent events going on at the time. Initially, Hale alludes to the questionable actions and activities of the townspeople being accused of witchcrafts, and being imprisoned as punishment. In addition, he discloses how everyone suspicious will be accused, not even young children are safe from the hands of this fate. Hale’s purpose of publishing this book was to describe the incident of the Witch Trials, and to reveal his experience of the trials, since his own wife was accused. By employing a didactic tone, Hale relays the actions of the past that targeted the Puritans and those wrongly accused of witchcrafts, so this occurrence
“But God made my face; you cannot want to tear my face. Envy is a deadly sin, Mary.” (pg.115). During this time people of the town were easily persuaded to persecute their fellow neighbors, due to their religion and it’s principles. Thirty years before the infamous Salem Witch Trials there was a witch scare in Hartford,Connecticut, resulting in raised tensions about witches, making the hangings of 20 people more of a safety precaution rather than a righteous and fair trial.
This is shown when Rebecca Beatrice Brooks stated, “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 and then experienced a ‘trigger’ when Tituba, one of the accused witches, confessed that she and others were in fact witches working for the Devil” (Brooks). This example shows how the Puritan society transitioned to the blaming of witch-craft in order to avoid the real situations. An example of hysteria in the play is, “I--I heard the other girls screaming, and you, Your Honor, you seemed to believe them, and I-- It were only sport in the beginning sir, but then the whole world cried spirits, spirits, and I--I promise you, Mr. Danforth, I only thought I saw them but I did not” (Miller).
Nearly anyone from the New England has heard of the famous Salem Witch Trials. A year of persecution, leading to the accusation of nearly 200 citizens of all ages. No one was safe; men, women, children, even pets stood trial and 20 were hung for the supposed crime of witchcraft (Blumberg). 1692 was a year of witch hunting. Most today blame the trials on hysteria, or perhaps a bad case of paranoia.
More than 200 people were accused of practicing witchcraft—the Devil's magic—and 20 were executed (Blumberg). It was a very uneasy time in early colonial America during this time where paranoia was at an all-time high. The author of “Young Goodman Brown”, Nathanial Hawthorne, depicts the mass hysteria of the era by casting the entire village of Salem as devil worshipers (Modugno). Hawthorne’s own great-great grand-father, John Hawthorne was one of three judges that presided over the Salem Witch Trials. Because of Hawthorne’s family connection and history, it is both an interest and conflict for Hawthorne that came out in his writings.
When thinking of witchcraft, one’s mind immediately goes to a woman with green skin, moles, and a pointy nose. Witches stand around a cauldron with their wild hair, summoning spirits or fly around terrorizing those around them. However, as we find out in Arthur Miller’s 1952 play, The Crucible, the accused were anything but. The victims accused of witchcraft within The Crucible were targeted for not fitting the social norms of the time, breaking Puritan code, or posing a threat to someone else. In our world today, we can still see the effects of the Salem Witch trials through accusing those who are on the margins of deeds we don’t want to take responsibility for.
The Salem Witch Trials were a time during which the way people viewed each other was in complete control of life or death situations. It is an excellent background to build upon, considering Miller’s secondary goal of indoctrinating readers with a belief in the utter necessity of a good reputation. It creates an implied mentality of honor over life, because in this setting, there is no survival for those who lack high
In The Crucible Salem, Massachusetts suddenly has a problem with witchcraft. Most of the townspeople and farmers accuse one another of witchcraft either for land or revenge. In “It’s okay --
It is also worth to notice that John Hawthorne, one of the Salem Witch Trial Judges, was his great grandfather (Concise Dictionary of American Literary Biography). Since Salem was his hometown, he developed his writing through the gospel of American Puritanism and intend to spread those principles through his literature which also gives the focus of his literature. Hawthorne’s writing style was unique and was well-regarded for several reasons. First of all, Hawthorne induces readers to use their own imagination to interpret the meaning of the tale, as it is evident in “The Minister’s Black Veil”. Moreover, he likes to present multi-fold and multi-perspective of a character.
During the hysteria of 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts, many people were accused of practicing witchcraft. Therefore, their reputation, was ruined. Other people committed many sins in order to keep their reputation clean in town. For instance, some characters had to lie, fight, and accuse other people of witchcraft which could get the individual out of trouble and keep their hands clean. when a person got accused of being a witch, the person’s reputation would get ruined and the person would go to jail or be hanged.
