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What Are The Similarities Between The Salem Witch Trials And The 21st Century

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In the rational world controlled by science and technology, many still believe in sorcery. From June through September of 1692, during the Salem Witch Trials, hundreds of people were accused of practicing witchcraft (Blumberg). The stories of the witches have been around for as long as humanity itself, expanding and adapting it’s way throughout centuries. Today, in the 21st century, it is especially prominent in Africa, continuously influencing large groups of people and creating convictions based on superstition. Both the Salem Witch Trials and the 21st century witch trials of Africa share their association with Christianity and the devil, with similar yet contrasting key elements such as accused victims and methods of execution. Members …show more content…

104 out of the 141 accused and 14 out of the 20 executed during the Salem Witch Trials were females. Beliefs on witchcraft that were based primarily on writings of men portrayed women as “morally and intellectually weaker than men”. This ideology is traced all the way back to Eve, the first female God created, according to the bible. During Genesis Chapter three, Eve is tempted by the devil at the Garden of Eden and takes a bite of a fruit God forbade to eat. This story illustrated women’s inherent weakness in the face of temptation by the devil (Wilson, 79). On the other hand, young children are seen as most likely to be identified as a witch, or possessed by Satan in Africa today, as they believe that children are weaker and easily manipulated. These “Devil’s children,” are identified to bring diseases, contamination and death to their families (Harrison). In her book, Unveiling the Mysteries of Witchcraft, Helen Ukpabio, Nigeria’s most popular preacher, writes, “If a child under the age of 2 screams at night and is always feverish with deteriorating health, he or she is the servant of Satan.” The churches often offer to run exorcism where pastors attempt to cleanse children who are labeled as witches by shaking them violently, dragging them around the room and pouring potions into their eyes. Then, they are held on chains, deprived of food until they confess to being

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After reading “Devil in the Shape of a Woman: The Economic Basis of Witchcraft “by Carol Karlsen I was intrigued by Karlsen’s interpretation, and upset about the ways women were treated. During these witch hunts women and men alike were accused of the crime, but the majority were women. I found it interesting that she related the commonly known Puritan beliefs, which lead to accusations of witchcraft, with gender roles. She ultimately says that Puritans feared these accused women because they symbolized female independence. I found it shocking that women, often the wealthier, had a greater chance of being let go of their accusations if they had a husband to spoke on their behalf.

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428 Words | 2 Pages

Accused and Betrayed Throughout the late 1600’s women had been accused of being a part of witchcraft. In this time women went through many disgusting torture treatments and got charged with many different things. When a women had been accused she would be “treated” with many different types of torture until they had died or had admitted to doing witchcraft. Some of the tortures were called: “The Garotte”,” Dunking the Witch”, and “The Boots”.

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832 Words | 4 Pages

In Salem, Massachusetts summer of 1692, a group of teenage girls were said to have been “under evil hands”. When the girls were asked, who had done this to them, they accused local middle aged men and women. According to Castillo, “the first three women they accused were Sarah Good, Sarah Osborne, and Tituba, the slave” (1692, Castillo). Tituba claimed to not be a witch however, her mother was. These three women were the first witches to go on trial, all three were found guilty.

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The novel A Delusion of Satan written by Frances Hill describes the history of the Salem Witch Trials (“Salem”) in 1692, the causes and effects of the witch hysteria, and the biographies of major characters associated with the trials. In the novel, Hill started out explaining the Puritans’ beliefs and customs, the gender roles of men and women in Salem and why women were easily accused of being witches and practicing witchcraft in the 17th century. During that time, women were easily accused of practicing witchcraft because they were viewed as physically, politically and spiritually weaker than men. Men were perceived as the power, status, and worthy in the society, and they dominated women’s behavior and social status. In the 17th century,

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What a Horrible World     In today 's day and age we have more technological, medicinal, societal, and worldly advancements than we did in either 1692 or 1947, but we are still just as easily corrupted by jealousy, power, and paranoia. The years 1692 and 1947 are perfect examples of prospering societies that became undermined through very similar processes. In 1629 the Salem Witch Trials and in 1947 the McCarthy Communist Trials- were both held unjustly, involving condemnation based on unfair trial practices. People desperately admitted to being a witch (1692) or to being a communist (1947) only because they didn’t want to die. Even if you were found innocent your life was virtually over because your career and livelihood had been destroyed

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453 Words | 2 Pages

In this story, the women were portrayed as being dangerous and not safe to be around other people. The people thought they were dangerous to the point where they arrested them just because they think they are witches, and without any evidence to prove what

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193 Words | 1 Pages

The Salem Witch Trials were a series of hearings and prosecutions due to the accusations of witchcraft. Many innocent people were either executed or sent to jail for a crime they may or may not have committed. The Salem Witch Trials impacted the history of America tremendously. Without the trials, our country might not be the same as it is today.

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he Salem Witch Trials could be seen as one of the steps towards America’s democratic emergence. However, instead of blaming the cause of the witch trials on deranged colonists it can be seen as the collapse of religious expression into affairs of state and government. At the time, overly religious and scared villagers made it seem as if the whole trials were the cause of a Devil and spirits. Also the sources today, on the Salem Witch Trials avoid the truth about what really caused the Salem Witch Trials. It can clearly be seen that without the separation of church and government, the religious fears of the colonists found itself into the government.

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505 Words | 3 Pages

In 1692, people were accused of casting spells, which meant they were siding with the devil in Salem, New England. Many people who lived in the countryside of Salem believed that the Holy Bible were God’s direct words and should be followed precisely. Women were more likely to be accused of casting spells because they were expected to be at home, listen to their husband, and weren’t aloud to be ministers so there were more likely to preach the devil. People believe that women aren’t good enough and men are superior to women, even now in this century. There is still a pay in inequality between the average men and women.

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Bridget Bishop, a resident of Salem, was the first person to be tried as a witch. Surprisingly, Bishop was accused of witch craft by the highest number of witneses. After Bishop, more than two hundred people were tried of practicing witchcraft and twenty were executed. Many of these accusations arose from jealous, lower class members of society, especially towards women who had come into a great deal of land or wealth. Three young children by the names of Elizabeth, Abigail, and Ann were the first three people to be “harmed” by the witches.

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466 Words | 2 Pages

The Salem Witch Trials can be compared to many historical events around the world. The Holocaust is one of the most compared events to the Salem Witch Trials. These events are brought together by the facts that both of them were tragic and people died horrifically. Neither of these events were handled in a way that was beneficial for their economies. The Holocaust is a modern day “Witch Hunt” that relates to the Salem Witch Trials due to instinctual prejudice and mass hysteria, but differs in religion and the scale of the executions.

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1008 Words | 5 Pages

Not many people know much about what actually happened in the Salem Witch Trials. Maybe someone would think that it was just about witchcraft and crazy people being hanged, but it is a lot more than that. The Salem Witch Trials only occurred between 1692 and 1693, but a lot of damage had been done. The idea of the Salem Witch Trials came from Europe during the “witchcraft craze” from the 1300s-1600s. In Europe, many of the accused witches were executed by hanging.

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478 Words | 2 Pages

Over 300 years ago, more than 100 citizens of the colony of Massachusetts were accused of the crime of witchcraft, and many executed. Although this era in history, known as the Salem Witch Trials, lasted only mere months, its impact on the American criminal justice system has lasted until present day. Although both the trials in Salem and modern America are based on a similar justice system, there are vast differences, specifically in the rights of the defense, most notable in the separation of Church and State, the standards of evidence, and the presumption of innocence until proven guilty. The modern American criminal justice system, in comparison to that of the time of the Salem Witch Trials, has changed drastically. No longer is the rule of law based on

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1059 Words | 5 Pages

"The story of witchcraft is primarily the story of women . . . ." Karlsen argues for the relevance and importance of women’s roles in the panic of witchcraft fear in 17th Century American society. She subtly contests that specific interests were at work in the shaping of witchcraft accusations; book elaborates that a specific type of woman risked accusation based on her demographic representation in society. Karlsen further elaborates on her theme with,

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710 Words | 3 Pages

Once a woman or girl is believed to be a witch, she is persecuted in order to preserve the safety and purity of the community. Poor health, an accident, loss of jobs or properties - “when people do not have a rational explanation for this they tend to use the supernatural to show that someone somewhere is responsible for this misfortune and to find a way of removing this person so they are no longer able to harm them”, explains Dzodzi Tsikata, a Professor in the University of Ghana’s Department of Development Sociology (Obuoibi). He also states that, in most religions, people believe in good and evil and that the main issue is “how people respond to this belief in witchcraft” (SOURCE). According to the documentary, people in certain areas believe that a god protects their town and in order to preserve this protection, they need to reduce the potency of witches (Witches of

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