How Did The Salem Witch Craft Trials Of 1692

“What caused the Salem Witch Craft Trials of 1692?” This question has been asked for nearly 323 years. Although it is a rather simple question, it does not have a simple answer. The answer is difficult in light of the fact that there are a variety of factors and events that helped create the trials. One aspect of understanding that may have been a factor in the Salem incident, is that the afflicted girls had mental illnesses at the time, causing them to hallucinate and falsely accuse other women of being witches. However, according to many historians today, the Puritan’s religious beliefs of their God and their fear of the Devil, is the more strong and acceptable theory. The Salem Witch Trials of 1692 occurred in the Puritan community of

It became the obligation of every individual to keep in faith with the communal covenant with God. For Puritans, the Bible was God’s direct communication to humans and must be read daily. To commune with Satan, the “lord of evil”, or to enlist in the service of him by inscribing one’s name in a large, black book traced with blood, invited God’s wrath upon the villagers and exposed the entire community to the threat of divine retribution

Congregationalism is a sect of Christianity in which their church is the center of most people’s lives in Salem. A similar view was taken by the People’s Temple, the apostolic socialist congregation led by the eccentric Jim Jones. Secondly, Jim Jones and Samuel Parris (the preacher of the congressional church in Salem) used similar tactics to persuade their followers. For instance, the “scare tactic” was most prominent: Jim Jones brainwashed his followers into believing that the U.S. government was conspiring to shut down Jamestown and capture all, while, similarly, Samuel Parris scared the townspeople of Salem into believing that the Devil was loose in the