the colonists of Massachusetts Bay expected to have trouble settling in the New World, far from their English heritage. Growing rapidly from the outset, the newcomers busied themselves establishing a governmental and religious order in a purely Puritanical method. With such success, the population expanded as well, shattering the relative tranquility the people of New England had known in the early years of their colonization. For example, in the mid-1600s, Salem divided into two communities: Salem Town and Salem Village, causing strain on the political, religious, and economical institutions of the people. Beyond these social difficulties, one cannot exclude human character and personal vengeance when considering what prompted the hysteria …show more content…
The increased population and decreased living area resulted in the Town selectmen beginning to make grants to the interior lands starting in 1636. The General Court allowed the Town of Salem in 1639 the legal right to settle the lands to the west of the Ipswich River. The names men who moved into the interior land - "Prince, Putnam, Swinnterton, Porter, Hutchinson, Ingersoll...would appear over and over again on the witchcraft documents of half a century later. For this was the beginning of what in time would be called Salem Village and then, still later, the town of Danvers." The interior land had no separate identity from the Town of Salem, although many referred to it as Salem Farms. Members of this outer community soon began to resent the power that Salem Town held over them, and sought greater freedoms and authority regarding their personal interests. Those who resided in the Town did not feel that this autonomy needed to be granted, and as early as 1643 with the case of Wenham, communities began to break away to form independent towns. When Salem Farms petitioned for their independence in the late 1660s, the Town refused, and a dangerous wedge formed between the two
There were two Salems in the late sixteenth century one being known as Salem town and the other as Salem village. Salem town is what is now known as modern Salem. It sat on the Massachusetts Bay and had a large population. Salem village, on the other hand, was a small village around ten miles inland. The population was only around five hundred.
To understand why and how these issues arose in Salem, first look to the history of the Puritans. The Puritans believed that the Anglican Church needed to be purified of the Catholic ideologies. With monarchs of their time disinterested in the idea of reform, many Puritans became discouraged and thought the colonies would give them a better chance to reform the church. John Winthrop along with a few other Puritans in the New World decided to create City on a Hill to set an example of good behavior and religious purity. The Puritans believed that God had made a special covenant with them so they could live according to scripture, reforming the Anglican Church, and set a good example for those who were still living in England.
Fear The Court, Love Your God! Salem Massachusetts 1692, the early americas, still under the control of Great Britain. Early settlers daily life consisted of farming, church, cooking and what not. It was a necessity for men and boys to farm to provide food for the family, and to sell at market.
Bacon’s rebellion resulted in, “The governor fleeing the burning capital of Jamestown”(Zinn 39). Order in the town was difficult to manage, so much so that the town had been burned, and chaos was spreading rapidly with the common goal of establishing a government to satisfy the demands of the citizens. In Salem, there were so many cases of hangings in the town that, “The Supreme Court of Judicature took over the witchcraft court... the new court released those awaiting trial and pardoned those awaiting executing. The Salem Witch Trials were over”(Salem Witch Museum).
Jamestown and Plymouth the two locations that had been found by leaders. Who are these leaders? Jamestown was discovered by a man named John Smith, He was a braggart. The Plymouth plantation was discovered by a man named William Bradford.
In 1689, a man by the name of Samuel Parris opened up a new church in Salem Village, Massachusetts. Parris had attended Harvard University a few years prior before leaving to pursue a career in ministry. At the time, the village of Salem was divided into two different parts: Salem Town and Salem Village. The two parts of the village were set apart according to their economy, class, and character.
After the Salem witch trials diminished, in the late 17th century, the colonies in the East Coast began to flourish with agriculture and newborn children. Later on, in the 18th century,
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.
Salem was a town divided into two sides, the west side being poor, and the east side being where wealthy people stayed. Document E shows that the accusers were mainly on the west side, and the accused witches were mostly on the east side, this showing that the poor were the ones mainly accusing the rich and wealthy. Document E’s evidence is backing up the theory that another cause of the Salem witch `trial hysteria was Salem being divided, with one side accusing the other. “Although” statement where you agree there might be other contributing causes. It is true that other causes may help explain the hysteria.
Description The Jamestown[1] settlement in the Colony of Virginia was the first permanent English settlement in the Americas. William Kelso says Jamestown "is where the British Empire began ... this was the first colony in the British Empire."[2 ] Established by the Virginia Company of London as "James Fort" on May 4, 1607 (O.S., May 14, 1607 N.S.),[3] and considered permanent after brief abandonment in 1610, it followed several earlier failed attempts, including the Lost Colony of Roanoke. Jamestown served as the capital of the colony for 83 years, from 1616 until 1699.
Life in Colonial America was different for all those involved, which were the settlers of Jamestown, Plymouth, and Massachusetts Bay colony.. Jamestown, Plymouth, and Massachusetts Bay had similarities and differences. They each had their own unique leaders, form of government, economics, and ways of life, although all the settlers in these colonies had a deep dependence on God. Jamestown was the first permanent settlement in North America, founded in 1607.
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 this article, the author, Edmund S. Morgan discussed how witch trials became an issue in the Salem Village which dispersed to other towns. The witch trials were well known in the sixteenth century. In the beginning, Morgan stated “the trials occurred at a time when the people of Massachusetts were passing through a very difficult time.” (Morgan, 47) The author clearly wanted to inform the readers that Massachusetts was already in a rough state to begin with until the witch trials came along.
I founded interesting that the author noticed that the Salem village is the center of the witchcraft misbelief. By everything the evil noted in Goodman Brown; it makes sense that Hawthorne would use a Salem village for this story. In my reflection about the story, I realize that is a place where the events continuously happened because it has a different incidents or devices that are widely found in the literature and recognized as motifs appear. Hawthorne, Nathaniel. "
These refugees were from northern New York, Nova Scotia, and Quebec. The displaced people created a strain on Salem’s resources because they did not have their own resources and they used others. That aggravated existing rivalries between families with ties to the wealth port of Salem. (“Salem Witch Trials”, 1). The first witch case involved Reverend Parris’ daughter Elizabeth, age 9, and his niece Abigail Williams, age 11, in January 1692.