How Did The Salem Witch Trials Affect Society

Semester Essay The Salem Witch Trials, by Laura Marvel covers the tragedy from the era of witchcraft.. To give a brief overview of the historical event would be tough. Although it was a huge event that happened, most have heard false accusations that did not actually happen. Taking place in Salem Massachusetts, over 200 people were accused of practicing witchcraft, also known as the Devil’s Magic! A total of 20 were actually executed, some hung, some burned, and some drowned. It was a matter of whether the judges and court liked you or not, or if you were wealthy. They very much envied people with money or large plots of land. Such a tragic event shaped the society we live in today. The trials impacted the society in many ways, this essay

At the time there was no in place form of government. The colony created their own form of a legal system. Made up by community members, the system obviously failed. The first problem is the fact that anyone could be part of the “government”, now one might see where that could go wrong. There were two main parts one could say Salem had. Those who wanted to stay separate from Salem, and those who wanted to be part of Salem. The Putnams were the leaders of the separatists group mainly because they owned almost all of the farmland in the Salem village. They really wanted to join the two parts together, so everyone would get along. Which led to establishing a congregation. The leader was Reverend Samuel Parris. There was not much diversity due to over half of this congregation was Putnams. Most people were not too thrilled about it, but could manage to live with it. “Parris was treated with many things including free house, free firewood, and more land. This made many very angry, so they refused to worship, and pay taxes. Both in which how they had money to pay Parris his very good salary” (Marvel 34). This led to the fallout of the accusing. Everyone was mad at each other for doing nothing wrong, it was just so tense. Now it is a huge process to choose a government. Your average Joe Shmoe can’t just be in the government because he wants to. The legal system took

The Puritans was a huge deal in the 1600s. It consisted of colonists who were seeking religious tolerance. Puritans were so strict that it was so far fetched from tolerant. One would be punished to not attend church, it was against the law. Men and women were separated through the day long services. It was against the law to speak out and have opinions, being expected to work hard was not out of the ordinary. Puritans were expected to live by a strict moral code. Believing that all sins should be punished. “They believed that God would be the one punishing for sins and bad behavior. Friends that suffered from loses, and misfortunes would not be helped by Puritans” (Marvel 73). Puritans thought that the Devil was about as real as God is. It is said that they believed Satan would select the weakest out of them all, which was mostly women, children, the insane and punish them. The ones that followed Satan were considered witches. This was one of the greatest crimes say the Puritans. These kind of things truly shape how the religion is now. You can follow and worship anything or anyone. It is totally up to one to chose if they believe in God or not. Some might say that the Puritans resemble a cult because they had such tight rules, and no room for mistakes. They were mistreated plus could never have opinions. Most would realize how strict the Puritans were and wanted to be the exact