the colonists of Massachusetts Bay expected to have trouble settling in the New World, far from their English heritage. Growing rapidly from the outset, the newcomers busied themselves establishing a governmental and religious order in a purely Puritanical method. With such success, the population expanded as well, shattering the relative tranquility the people of New England had known in the early years of their colonization. For example, in the mid-1600s, Salem divided into two communities: Salem Town and Salem Village, causing strain on the political, religious, and economical institutions of the people. Beyond these social difficulties, one cannot exclude human character and personal vengeance when considering what prompted the hysteria …show more content…
The increased population and decreased living area resulted in the Town selectmen beginning to make grants to the interior lands starting in 1636. The General Court allowed the Town of Salem in 1639 the legal right to settle the lands to the west of the Ipswich River. The names men who moved into the interior land - "Prince, Putnam, Swinnterton, Porter, Hutchinson, Ingersoll...would appear over and over again on the witchcraft documents of half a century later. For this was the beginning of what in time would be called Salem Village and then, still later, the town of Danvers." The interior land had no separate identity from the Town of Salem, although many referred to it as Salem Farms. Members of this outer community soon began to resent the power that Salem Town held over them, and sought greater freedoms and authority regarding their personal interests. Those who resided in the Town did not feel that this autonomy needed to be granted, and as early as 1643 with the case of Wenham, communities began to break away to form independent towns. When Salem Farms petitioned for their independence in the late 1660s, the Town refused, and a dangerous wedge formed between the two