The Salem Witch Trials
In March 1692, Rebecca Nurse, an elderly woman and respected member of Salem Village, was arrested on suspicion of witchcraft. She was accused based solely on the testimony of four young girls who claimed that the apparition of Rebecca Nurse had severely harmed them. Many witnesses testified in favor of her, but ultimately the "afflicted girls" prevailed. Nurse was executed on July 19, 1692. She was one of twenty people executed in Salem in 1692 on witchcraft allegations. While it is clear that this witch hysteria had a profound impact on the community of Salem, what is unclear is why this event occurred, and more specifically, why did it occur in 1692? The main cause behind the Salem Witch Trials was the Puritan Religion which led to beliefs in the supernatural, strong associations with the Devil, as well as an a strong divide between
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Puritans believed that God was constantly at work within their lives, tempting them as well as rewarding them (Winthrop). When God chose to warn people, he either chose to inflict the warning himself or he chose to do it through the Devil. For example, when Minister Cotton Mather’s infant son died suddenly, Mather knew that either the devil was acting in a witch who in turn harmed his child or it was the will of God to directly harm his son (Godbeer Document 3). Mather himself states, “I made little use of, and laid little stress on, this conjecture, desiring to submit unto the will of my heavenly father, without which not a sparrow falls unto the ground.” Another example of the devil working in the lives of the Puritans was interactions with Native Americans. Many colonists were convinced that Native Americans worshiped the devil and practiced witchcraft. (INSERT EXAMPLE OF TESTIMONY INVOLVING NATIVE