Paul Boyer and Stephen Nissenbaum wrote Salem Possessed: The Social Origins of Witchcraft to present a new interpretation of the Salem witchcraft trials. They used accurate information to expose the mystery behind the outbreak of witchcraft in Salem Village. Most writings based of the Salem witchcrafts have been distorted and altered to create more interest for the reader, rather than tell the facts. The fact is that economic and social power caused arguments between the Salem Villagers, and the disputes between the Salem Village people caused the Salem witchcraft trials. The controversy between the Salem Village and the Salem Town played a big role in the witchcraft trials. The Village wanted independence from the town for many reasons. They were tired of traveling the distance between the village and the town to attend …show more content…
Why should they have to pay for things they were not close enough to use? The people within the Village that lived closer to the town thought they should remain a part of the town and continue to pay taxes and attend the Town church. Naturally most of those people were opposed to Parris. Salem Villagers that supported Parris tended to be farmers and live in rural parts of the village. The disputes between the people in the Town and Village eventually caused a big controversy between the Village people themselves. Salem Village was a part of Salem town but wanted independence because they had no political or religious power. Half of Salem village wanted to remain with the Town, while the other half struggled and fought for independence. Wealth was also a main cause for arguments between the people in the Village. While it can be broken down as simple as the rich versus the poor, it was much more complicated than that. Instead it was the Porters versus the Putnams, two of the richest families in Salem Village. The Porters were opposed to Parris
The Salem Village is described as a theocracy. The narrator describes the village, “Salem developed a theocracy, a combine of state and religious power whose function was to keep the community together, and to prevent any kind of disunity that might open it to destruction by material or ideological enemies” (1101). So, the village’s system is that God was the true leader of society, which complicates scenarios in the play. Since the town views everything from God’s perspective, they soon go on a wild goose hunt for witches, which they assume is the root of all of the town’s problems. Reverend Parris is a very concerned character who wants to defend anything negative that could be said about him or his family.
Parris was the man to bring the Puritan belief into the village of Salem. With it Paris also brought a bigger split of ideals. The village was now split between pro- and anti- Parris factions. One of the slaves that Parris brought with him was a woman whose name was Tituba.
Another purpose as to the root cause of the Salem Witch Hysteria is because economic dislocation. Documents 5, 4, and 3 are charts representing the location of thing that occurred and were there placed. The charts are socially stratified. They were separated economically, also if you look closely the people who are like leaders of the village are actually more richer. Document 9 is a photograph of Matthew Hopkins the witchfinder.
This extreme tension in such a small community created a powder keg of pent up hostilities toward one another. This problem was most evident in Salem, Massachusetts during the Salem Witch Trials. Although a very different class from that of the south it was a class struggle at its core nonetheless. The majority of those accused of being witches were on opposite sides of the social classes. Either they were considered very poor and of low social position or they were wealthy by way of inheritance or their own making and thereby challenged the social hierarchy of men in charge within the Puritan community.
Salem, Massachusetts, is Infamous in history for the Salem witch trials. A town in despair claims that witchcraft is among them. A theocracy that struck fear into many. In Salem where The Crucible takes place, there is much corruption. People are scared for their life.
Both were religious communities, but the town of Salem was strictly Puritan. They believed women and men had certain roles within the community, everyone should go to church, and if they sinned they would go to hell. One of the biggest sins one could commit in this society was to be accused of working for the Devil. The punishment for this was hanging, after they had been found guilty at their “trail” of course. I say “trial” because the witch trials were merely a formality, if one was accused they could expect to be hanged soon.
The Causes of the Salem Witch Trials Much of modern America’s fear and infamous interest in witches has been derived most likely from the profound Salem Witch Trials. “The infamous Salem witch trials began during the spring of 1692, after a group of young girls in Salem Village, Massachusetts, claimed to be possessed by the devil and accused several local women of witchcraft,” stated History.com authors. However, many historians still deliberate how such events occurred in the first place. Based on several presented documents, some conclusions suggest that there was a prominent cause to the beginning of the Salem Witch Trials. All in all, the cause of the Salem Witch Trials was the attempt of Salem citizens to either defend or create family
The town Salem decided that the people in their town that resembled witches would be put on trial and persecuted, but the people weren’t witches and were being killed for being different from the rest of society. The convictions of the first people started a continuous strain of executions and imprisonments throughout the community. The courts of the time were corrupted with religious views and biased, so convictions were not far when it came to the accused. No one from this community was safe from the chance of being accused of being a witch. Salem, Massachusetts was a very religious community that held a fairly large amount of power over the people and laws.
In Salem, Massachusetts, Puritans were strong believers in the Bible. The Bible states, “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.” The Puritans beliefs led to them accusing 20 innocent people of being a witch, this resulted in their deaths in 1692. Even though the Puritans couldn’t see it at the time, their accusations were really based off jealousy, lies, and Salem being divided into two parts. One cause of the Salem witch trial hysteria was jealousy.
Even though the trials were over, of the town of Salem would never remane quite the same. After a long while the colony of Salem and Massachusets addmited that the trials, were in fact, not legitimate and a huge blemish on the American reputation and a massive mistake. Many people went around Salem and near by communitys and, for what its worth, appoligized to the familys affect. Studys have shown that the trials were a result of a certain level of paranoia amung the townspeople of Salem. The people of Salem may have used the trials as a scapegoat to explaine certain events going on in the town, and or a way to settle some of the fear caused by the war or local native american tribes around the area.
The Salem Witchcraft Trials had many effects on the town of Salem, Massachusetts. A lot of the effects were negative, destroying the community, government, even individuals. The Witch Trials affected the community of Salem in multiple ways. The witch trials created many tensions between several families in the town. The most acknowledgeable dispute from the play was between the Putnam’s and the Nurse’s.
Analyzing Paul Boyer and Stephen Nissenbaum's book, Salem Possessed leads to the exploration of the pre-existing social and economic divisions within the Salem Village community, as an entrance point to understanding the accusations of witchcraft in 1692. Salem Village and Salem Town were politically a single unit, but socially as well as economically the two were diverse and because of this, it caused a rivalry. Salem Village had a lot of farmland, poorer people and was more rural as well as conservative. ; the Village was led by the Putnam family. Salem Town was more sophisticated, nautical, and prosperous, with wealthier and more respected people; They were interested in the mercantile and political life of Salem Town and were led primarily
In Witches: The Absolutely True Tale Of Disaster In Salem by Rosalyn Schanzer people in the town of Salem were Condemned for being witches. By the end of it all more than 200 people were accused and 20 were executed. Horridly they accused people from all ages, everyone from teenager to ancient was accused. But why? The Salem Witch Trials were caused by hysteria, popularity, and revenge.
The Salem witch trial was a time about accusing your fellow neighbor or being accused yourself, this all began in 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts. During this time many people were being accused of being a witch, a majority of the time it was because either someone truly believed that you were a witch and were reeking havoc or they were trying to find someone to take the blame if they were to being accused. So this leads us to question, what began the Salem Witch Trials? There were at least three causes of the Salem witch trials hysteria. These were Betty Parris and Abigail Williams story, Ergotism, and the acknowledgment of hysteria.
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.