Salem Witch Trials: The Trial Of Bridget Bishop

Salem Witch Trials

A certain set of unique factors had to align all at once to create the short-lived but vivid intensity of the Salem Witch Trials. In this historic event, many colonists were accused and tried of witchcraft, with 20 colonists executed for their charges. With the use of Mary Easty’s Testimony, the Trial of Bridget Bishop, and the case of Sarah Abbott v. Martha Carrier, one can analyze how false accusation, Puritan extremism, a lack of due process, and the presence of disputes between colonists lead to the Salem Witch Trials.

One catalyst instrumental in setting off the Salem Witch Trials is the role of false accusation for arbitrary reasons unrelated to witchcraft. In the seventeenth century, belief in witchcraft was common.

In 17th century colonial America, belief in the supernatural was entirely regular, with the ongoing idea that Satan was present and active on earth. A majority of the colonists in the Salem Village area was staunchly Puritan, and this belief in the supernatural was a simple component of Puritanism in this time. It was often preached in sermons that to deny the existence of witches, apparitions, evil spirits, or demons, was also to deny the existence of God. The theme of piety is present through much of the trials, and in the fourth document, Mary Easty’s Testimony, this is evident. She recalls the fact that she had been through a trial once, and was considered so pious and dedicated to Puritanism that she was considered innocent by the court and set free. However, when she is convicted again, she appeals to the piety of the judge, claiming that God gave her innocence, and that she is in no deal with the devil. This time, it is not enough, and she is sentenced to death. Truly the only matter given consideration in her trials was religion, and it can be reasoned with other support she could have been proven innocent once more. As well, many accusations were simply women acting on their piety. If asked if they had signed the devil’s book, most women would say yes, something any good Puritan would say, as they did not believe themselves, or any person, to be entirely free of sin. This was interpreted as a confession of witchcraft, when they only meant to say that they had sinned at least once before in their lives. Claiming they were entirely clean from sin was simply not a part of Puritanism’s view of God and sin in the town’s