Salem Witch Trials Essay

The Salem Witch Trials were one of the most intriguing and mysterious times in the 1600s. The Salem Witch Trial were led by the English Puritan colony living in Massachusetts Bay. The Puritans established their colony because they wanted to practice their religion freely. The Puritans were a "City on a Hill" because they thought they were the model city and everyone would look up to them. But in Spring of 1692, everything escalated with talks and accusations of witchcraft in Salem. The trials started when a group of girls claimed they were possessed by the "devil." Later, two more girls, Betty Paris and Abigail, were also diagnosed with witchcraft. After the identification of witchcraft, many of the town girls suddenly became "sick" with witchcraft.

Sarah married Daniel Poole, who later died, then re-married to William Good. Sarah Good's original husband, Daniel Poole, was in debt, and when Sarah married William, William was forced to pay off the debt. Sarah and William did not have enough money combined to pay off the debts but need to compensate the debt, and became homeless by the beginning of the witch trials. Sarah Good was determined a witch by Tituba. Also, Sarah's 4 year old daughter, Dorcas Good, named her a witch. Many of the girls of the town accused Sarah Good of stabbing them, but it was just a lie. She was said to be guilty from the moment she was accused by Tituba. She died on July 9 and before when she refused to confess, Sarah told Minister Nicholas Noyes that, "You are a liar. I am no more a witch than you are a wizard, and if you take away my life God will give you blood to drink." Minister Nicholas Noyes later died of an internal hemorrhage, bleeding heavily from the mouth. It had seemed her curse became

One theory of why the trials may have started is that the Puritans strongly believed in the supernatural, in this case, witches. Witches were associated with the "devil" and it was mostly likely that the townspeople blamed the supernatural for the strange behavior of the girls. Another theory is the rivalries between neighboring families. An example is the Putman family were rivals with the Porter family. The Porter family attempted to stop the trials and nineteen of their helpers were accused of witchcraft. The accused helpers were probably accused by the Putman family. Lastly, another theory of why the trials began is a rare case of food poisoning called Ergot. Ergot thrives in cold and damp weather, and the year before the trials began, 1691, it was particularly