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How Did The Salem Witch Trials Affect Society

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Several centuries ago, people had the believe that the devil gave power to harm people in return for their loyalty. Things really turned chaotic in the town of Salem, Massachusetts, when a group of girls claimed to be possessed by the devil. These dark fearful times were known as the Salem Witch Trials. During the witch trials people were constantly fearing their life. People turned on each other due to the fear that was spreading and sought revenge. This was the reality for hundreds of people. Social cohesion during the Salem Witch Trials impacted individuals and society during this time which lead to the executions of innocent people.
The notorious Salem witch trials began in the summer of 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts.
A wave a mania took people by surprise, leaving them in shock and fear. After a group of young girls declared to be possessed by the devil, the people of the town started to take this seriously. The belief in supernatural power began to emerge in Europe as early as the 14th century. The Salem witch trials would be surfaced by residents’ …show more content…

The majority of the townspeople were Puritan Christians. There was strict code that everyone expected to follow including children. The Puritan legal code which was made in 1691, that stated crimes would have the punishment of death which include: idolatry, witchcraft, blasphemy, murder, poisoning, and bestiality. One of the biggest crime someone could commit was witchcraft. Nobody wanted to be accused of being a witch because it would give them a bad reputation so in order to draw attention away from them they would accused other people of worshipping the devil. This is all started with the niece and daughter of Samuel Parris, the reverend of Salem, who accused began to display unusual behavior. Sarah Good, Sarah Osborne, and Tituba were the first three to be accused by these two girls. They would be the first of hundreds to be accused of

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In 1692, as the puritans of Salem Massachusetts over-turn on each other, they started scapegoating many of their villagers with witchcraft. During this time many were murdered unfairly. The Salem Witch Trials was a reformation of the government. People believed that this was an era where the devil gave certain humans powers to harm others in joining them into their beliefs. It was certain to happen, because many had personal envy which caused many of the accusations,trials, and the implementations.

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In 1692, A town in Massachusetts by the name of Salem Village became known for one most documented cases of mass hysteria in history. This saga started with three girls: Abigail Williams, Elizabeth Parris, and Ann Putnam a neighborhood friend. Abigail Williams, the niece of the town’s minister, began to display weird and questionable behavior. The town’s physician,William Greggs, was called to determine the cause of this sporadic behavior. The town’s physician determined that the three girls were under “the Devil’s influence” and they had been bewitched.

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The town itself was on edge, and things only got worse when two young girls, Abigail Williams and Elizabeth Parris, began suffering in January from a series of seizures and other illnesses. But no matter what was done, nothing seemed to cure or help the girls, and things only began to get worse in late February when they began to enter trance-like states and shouts followed along with their fits. Feeling pressured and desperate to explain their predicament, the two girls blamed three women for using unforeseen forces and factors against them to cause the illnesses. Sarah Good, Sarah Osborne, and an Indian slave, Tituba, were the first to fall victim to the Salem Witch Trials, and blamed for witchcraft. After these accusations against them, more and more were called to trial, and thus began the infamous Salem Witch Trials.

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Witchcraft was considered a capital offense. The first to be accused of witchcraft was Tituba and Sarah Good. Tituba was the servant of Reverend Parris. The Salem accusations began in Reverend Parris’ kitchen.

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The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts between February 1692 and May 1693. Many people were accused and many died. There are many theories of what caused the salem witch trials but the main cause of the salem witch trials was caused by mass hysteria. It is important to learn about this today so that the same problem does not repeat in history. In the book, “Witches! by Rosalyn Schanzer the madness began in February 1692 when 9-year-old Betty Parris and 11-year-old Abigail Williams began to twist and turn in the home of the Reverend Samuel Parris there was only one possible reason for it: witchcraft.

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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.

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The Salem witch trial was a time about accusing your fellow neighbor or being accused yourself, this all began in 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts. During this time many people were being accused of being a witch, a majority of the time it was because either someone truly believed that you were a witch and were reeking havoc or they were trying to find someone to take the blame if they were to being accused. So this leads us to question, what began the Salem Witch Trials? There were at least three causes of the Salem witch trials hysteria. These were Betty Parris and Abigail Williams story, Ergotism, and the acknowledgment of hysteria.

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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.

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