Salem Witch Dbq Essay

The devil is the most vile and wicked being to ever exist. He is smart and cunning that he can take over a person’s body and turn them into a witch, giving them unimaginable powers. In 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts, many of the residents believed in the devil and witchcraft. Soon their belief became stronger, as strange events started happening around the town. Without anything to lean on they blame the devil and witches for the causes of the unknown. Soon accusations of witchcraft began, friends turned on one another, families turned against each other. In the end 19 people died and 1 pressed to death. But belief alone couldn’t have started the whole hysteria, there are many contributors that could have helped fan the flames. I believe the

In Doc. E, recreated by Paul Boyer and Stephen Nissenbaum, it shows a map of Salem and locations of accusers, defenders and accused witches. In the west side of Salem it is shown that there are more accusers than in the east side. (Doc .E) The same as in the east side but there are more accused than accusers. There is a reason behind more accusations on the east side. The east side had been gaining more political power and were more economically financed then the west side which had poorer farmlands and were losing political power. (See note: Doc. E) It would be more reasonable to accuse residents on the east side, if one was from the west side. The town was divided by money and power, leading to hatred and resentment of the rich that added fuel to the

An example of this is from Doc. C, recorded by Samuel Parris, a minister of Salem Village. It is a record examination of Bridget Bishop’s trial, the first person to be executed for witchcraft. She was tired of 3 girls who claimed she was a witch. (Doc. C) Whenever Bridget moved, the girls would scream in pain, go into fits, and turn their eyes up. All three girls simultaneously moved at the same time and had the same movements. In the words of Charles Upham an 19th century historian, “no doubt they were great actors”. (Doc. D)They were acting to get into the action. Most possibly they were acting because they dug too deep within their lies, and were afraid they would get caught. To avoid great punishment they acted, they lied to save themselves and in result had innocent people