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The Salem Witch Trials: Whicha Crafting?

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Whicha Crafting?
The term witchcraft is widely known for an individual or certain group having the distinct practice to exercise magical skills and abilities. Many believed thought of having the power to act upon spells and invocation of spirits was very frightening and went against their normal “way of life”. One in particular were the Puritans of colonial New England during 1690s. In 1641, witchcraft was to be considered a capital crime! The situation was so bizarre that many people were imprisoned, shunned or even killed for the actions and events relating to witchcraft allegations. The Salem Witch Trials caused a major uproar in Salem Village, Massachusetts.
The New England colonies were built on the belief system of a reformed edition …show more content…

This sparked a hunt to track down every witch in Salem Village. Overall, about 200 people of the community were incriminated on behalf of carrying out acts of witchcraft and close to 15 died due to the strong consequences of the capital crime that they committed. These events were led into a mass hysteria among certain groups. This resulted in positive and negative reactions. It undoubtedly went away with the witchcraft that was taking over the town but negatively affected innocent lives that were damaged without …show more content…

One popular assumption that was made was the idea of the accusers living in boredom. The thoughts and beliefs of a Puritan were of pure quality. They carry strong beliefs in the spirit of God's laws and any deviation in life was a strong setback to their version of a healthy well being. In addition the Puritans also strong beliefs in the power of God. For example, if someone were to die that day, it would be believed as a message from God that the event was destined. They also have the idea that the use of entertainment is only appropriate if it was in the service of God. They hold the thought of benefit of themselves, but the main reason being always for the greater God. The first girls that accused the witches were young ladies who were just plain bored! They became curious to what their future entitled, and went about any means to get it. Whether it be fortune tellers or even the actual idea of Tituba teaching them acts of fortune, the girls were disinterested and went along to become interested in something. The old tale says curiosity killed the cat. Another reason for a widespread hysteria was the already strong belief in witches by the Puritans beforehand. The Puritans were strong believers in the powers of the devil and how strong his influence can be on members of the church. By knowing this, it can be judged that they already had in inclination to believe and already be aware of the real

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n the 1600’s, the town of Salem experienced a mass hysteria that resulted in the death of many innocent civilians that were accused for witchcraft. The town of Salem defined witchcraft as working with the devil: casting spells, singing, dancing, traveling to the forest, where the devil was presumed to be. Although there were no real witches in Salem, the town cried witch on everyone they wished, and the said person would have to go through a trial in court, where the judges were biased and the likely sentence was death by hanging. Neighbors called out neighbors for the slightest inconvenience, in hopes of getting them jailed or worse. Over two hundred people were accused and over twenty were sentenced to death by hanging.

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The Salem Witch Trials of the 1690’s were a period of mass hysteria. Neighbors turned on neighbors and families got torn apart. Salem was full of fear as people accused everyone of witchcraft. Everyone was afraid that the Devil was working to destroy Christian communities. And even more afraid that he was enlisting women in the community to do his work.

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Over the next few months everything went mad, a court was made for the witches, people were hung and killed. But then the Governor stopped from new arrest to happen and let go of the accused witches and eventually got the witches out of jail. But even though this stopped further pain and suffering, it had already caused so much damage to the area. This trial haunted the area for years and the people so much that people even know what the Salem Trials were

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Salem Witch Trials Mass hysteria, social ignorance, and religious intolerance all describe the chaos that took place in Massachusetts during the year 1692. The Salem Witch Trials were not a positive section of American history but have been used as a learning tool for the United States. According to Plouffe, Jr., the trials were the largest of suspected criminals in the colonial period of American history. More than one hundred and fifty people were arrested on charges of witchcraft, and nineteen of these individuals were convicted and hanged (Plouffe, Jr. n. pag.). Many factors play into the long process of the Salem Witch Trials and have had a lasting impact on American history.

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The Salem Witch Trials were not due to actual witchcraft, but occurred due to socioeconomic tensions, ergot poisoning, and religious persecution. The infamous trials sparked from the hysteria after a group of young girls in Salem Village, Massachusetts, had claimed to be possessed by the devil and accused several local women of witchcraft. As it spread throughout colonial Massachusetts, a special court began to hear the cases of the accused, beginning the Salem Witch Trials. Belief in the supernatural and specifically in the devil’s practice of giving certain humans the power to harm others in return for their loyalty had emerged in Europe as early as the 14th century. They believed that the devil was giving people the ability of witchcraft

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Salem Witch Trials The Salem Witch Trials were a series of accusations of witchcraft brought against the women, men, and children of Salem, Massachusetts, during the late 1600s. This event in early American history shaped not only how America conducts its justice, but also how we view it. The Salem Witch Trials were started in Salem, Massachusetts in February of 1692. These witch trials resulted in 25 deaths which at the time was considered to be a very large number of deaths for one singular event, and also is possibly one of the most known and covered mass persecutions for witchcraft in history.

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What really happened? The Salem Witch trials were the most notorious killings of 1692, 20 people were put to death with little to no evidence. During the late months of summer in Salem, Massachusetts rumors of witches swept the town. Many different theories have been stated on why the the salem witch trials happened and why the girls did it.

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All the facts collected point to one thing: The real cause of the witch hysteria was the juvenile immaturity of a few young girls. The Salem Witch Trials were a period of hysteria and suspicion all through a small area surrounding Salem Village in Massachusetts

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Unexplained occurrences spread through the town, calling a religious perspective to be taken on the situation. Christians blamed those who faltered in the ways of Christian life, thus deeming them witches. Trials were held and people were hung, but what caused the Salem Witch Trials hysteria? The Salem Witch Trials hysteria

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The witchcraft hysteria was exacerbated because of the Puritan religion and the crippling fear of the Devil and his unpredictable tendencies. The Puritans liked security, God provided that and the Devil did not so that meant no one was safe from the deception of the Devil. The whole idea of the Salem Witch Trials was an act for attention from the young group of girls from Salem Village and the entire town that was infected with the fear of the witchcraft hysteria. The Puritans and their belief in witchcraft left a mark on the Massachusetts Bay Colony that has been felt in Massachusetts for centuries after all the hangings and will never be

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Hysteria is defined as uncontrollable excitement, especially among a group of people. In the book there were a group of people (the Puritans ) who all were paranoid over something that isn’t even that large of a conflict. In the book accusations of neighbors, sisters, brothers, mothers, and even fathers being witches spread like a wildfire. “By March,

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According to Richard Sibbes, a Puritan Minister, "The whole life of a Christian should be nothing but praises and thanks to God, we should neither eat nor sleep, but eat to God and work to God and talk to God, do all to His glory and praise" (Faiza,2008). Their belief that the devil could be amongst them was one of the main factors of the start of the Salem witch trials. The Puritans wanted their communities to only be made up with believers and followers of God and they thought that by hanging anyone suspicious of being "touched" by the devil they would accomplish that goal. According to Faiza (2008), one theory remains that ministers spread the rumor of witchcraft to bring more people into the churches.

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These Puritan ideas were ones of extreme punishment for sins and supernatural evils. The townspeople's extreme religious beliefs of the devil and witchcraft caused paranoia. They began accusing women, children, and the insane of witchcraft.   In order for the courts to accuse those they felt were guilty, they used spectral evidence.

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Back in 1692, witchcraft was a very popular topic of conversation. Witchcraft became so bad in a town by the name of Salem. The Salem Witch Trials became very popular and lead many people to their death. Girls were caught dancing in the woods and was accused of doing witchcraft. By the end, everyone was accused of witchcraft and many people were executed.

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Twenty people was executed because of this. But eventually the colony admitted that the trials was an mistake. Many practicing Christians and other religions had a strong belief that the Devil could give certain the witches powers to harm others in return for their loyalty. The witchcraft rippled through Europe from 1300s to 1600s, it was mostly women who was executed. This event took place during a difficult and confusing period for Salem Village.

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