Tituba Inside The Salem Witch Trials

Part of the culture in Salem in the late 1600’s was that children were expected to be very mature - almost adult-like. “Children were expected to do chores, excel in school, and attend all religious events” (Brooks). Children acted, and were treated, much differently than what we see in today’s society. There were no toys, little reading, few peer interactions, and therefore there was a great lack of imagination. This is believed to be a major factor in why the girls were so intrigued by Tituba’s fortune-telling games and magical stories (“Inside the Salem Witch Trials”). These stories and games of Tituba’s, a slave in the community, were illegal. It was thought that the girls’ behavior was a result of the stories that Tituba told them - among

Scapegoating began taking place everywhere and soon chaos broke out. People were accusing other simply because they, themselves, had been accused and they wanted to blame to be passed on to someone else. Accusations were being made at enemies and those that someone had a grudge on - rarely were accusations made in an honest manner. “Any unlikeable characterist could get someone accused of witchcraft” (“Five Myths about the Salem Witch Trials”). A great level of paranoia grew around the town of Salem because one never knew when he/she would be accused of the witchcraft. Accusations were even being made solely in an attempt to get something from the person being accused, like their land. Eventually, it got to the point where it was simply one man’s word against another’s and there was no way of verifying what was or was not

Unfortunately, the detestable events caused lingering effects, some of which are still around today. These lasting effects are evident when one thinks of the lives that were taken during the events - the lives that cannot be taken back and the deaths that cannot be reversed. In addition, more lasting effects could be seen as soon as the trials were over, when people were stuck in jail and were not released. “Despite the trials being over, many were still in jail due to the fact that they could not afford to pay for their release” (“Five Myths of the Salem Witch Trials”). This left many families in different pieces and prevented them from getting all their work done. Families were breaking apart and failing as a unit. In addition, property was confiscated from those who were convicted of witchcraft (“Five Myths of the Salem Witch Trials”). With this being said, whether you made it out of jail or not, your life was starting over again at ground zero. Most people lost everything they had, despite the fact that the trials were over. The government even went to lengths to make it up to the people of Salem who were affected by the