Salem Witch Trials Research Paper

Have you ever wondered how the Salem Witch Trials impacted your daily life? For many, the Salem Witch Trials was a tragedy that may have had a major or minor impact on their lives. Although people were wrongly executed due to the Salem Witch Trials, it had an overall positive impact on media and culture due to the justice system improving, advances in modern science, and the improvements in the fashion industry. This essay will establish how the Salem Witch trials had a profound impact on modern media and culture and why it is important for the improvement of today's society. In spite of the Salem witch trials, black and white belief system allowed for many improvements in today's modern society. Primitively, the Salem Witch Trials had a profound

(“Reckoning With—and Reclaiming—the Salem Witch Trials.”). Given the time period there were a lot of things that were allowed to be used as evidence such as spectral evidence which relied solely on the witnesses accounts. “The process of identifying witches began with suspicions or rumors” (Wallenfeldt). The evidence that got the accused condemned as witches wasn't ethical, which led to the changes in the judicial system later on. “Guarantee of the right to legal representation, the right to cross-examine one’s accusers, and the presumption of innocence rather than guilt” (Wallenfeldt). The new laws that were created protected all people who lived in a community, which created regulations for the court and reduced its power overall. Although the Salem witch trials resulted in people being accused falsely, it allowed for changes in the judicial system to require certain rights for people. Additionally, there were scientific advances due to the symptoms of the accusers that claimed to have been bewitched. This led to further studies in the future, which led to scientists finding the more likely cause of these strange

During the Salem witch trials, some were even pressured to name their tormentor despite the other possibilities that could’ve caused their illnesses. For example, Wallenfeldt, Jeff. The “Salem witch trials | History, Summary, Location, Causes, Victims, and Facts” states, “Pressured by Paris to identify their tormentor, Betty and Abigail claimed to have been bewitched” (Wallenfeldt). Which proves that even though there could’ve been another reason for their illnesses due to the Salem witch trials, there was an increased pressure to admit the culprit of that. These factors have proven that the trials have improved modern science. Furthermore, the fashion industry improved with the inspiration from the ridiculous gowns that the accused witches wore. Smithson Magazine states, “The fashion designer Alexander McQueen’s Fall/Winter 2007 collection in memory of Elizebeth How, 1692 was based on research into his ancestor Elizebeth How” (“Reckoning With—and Reclaiming—the Salem Witch Trials.”). The Salem witch trials resulted in inspiration from the outfits that the accused witches