Salem was surprised and scared of what happened during the 1690’s. Rosalyn Schanzer wrote the book Witches! The Absolutely True Tale of Disaster in Salem, which is a book that describes the life in Salem during the witch trials. The witch trials was a period of time when people accused others for being witches and using witchcraft. It was a devastating time for the Puritans. Family accused family and friends accused friends. These accusations lasted from February 1692 to May 1693, and more than 200 people were accused for witchcraft. 19 of the the 200 were were hanged and one was pressed to death. Many people accused others for being witches because of fear, popularity, and revenge.
Fear was one of the main reasons for the witch accusations
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(Schanzer 50). The trials started when the daughters of Reverend Samuel Parris starting acting strange, he took them to the doctor and he said the two girls convulsions were caused by witchcraft. Later that week an old beggar came up to Samuel Parris’s house to ask for food, and he gave her something and the beggar mumbled under her breath. Parris thought she was being cantankerous, so he accused Sarah Good because he thought she was ungrateful for what he gave her. “Maybe their tormentors were the usual suspects, people their family did not like or respect” (Schanzer 27). So many people wanted revenge on someone else that they would get people killed just because they disrespected them. It seems as though nobody was ever embittered about their actions. “Burroughs had escaped from every single Indian attack on the frontier without a scratch. Did Lewis believe he was an ally of the Indians? She thought the Indians were Devils, and she certainly wanted to get him in trouble, because this is what she swore under the oath on April 3:” (Schanzer 69). Many people wanted to get rid of others because of family feuds and new