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. The use of “spectral evidence”, such as using dreams can be used in court as evidence, legally. …show more content…
Current sources state that the cause of the Salem Witch Trials were all due to the fears, and strict religion of the colonists. However no sources state the religion affecting the government and the government's actions. The role of religion played a huge role during the Salem Witch Trials. In the present time, thanks to the constitution we have a clear separation of religion and government. Unlike the time during the Salem Witch Trials, before the Constitution was written, there was no clear separation between the government and church. With the people continuously adding their personal opinions and religion into the government, the government starts to fall with the belief of the colonists. The colonists who made up the government also start to use their own opinions while judging for the trials, leading to a misjudgement. Therefore due to the continuous reinforcement of religion into the government, the lives of many innocent colonists were lost. Although present sources don’t show the religion affecting the government during the Trials, the continuous pressure of religion on the government was always there, and always will …show more content…
Due to the constant fear of religion pressuring the government, the government legalized “spectral evidence”. By legalizing spectral evidence is starts to show the effects of religion on the government. The colonist’s fear of the “witches”, finds itself into the government, making them use “imaginary” evidence as a legal form of someone accusing another colonists of being a witch. As a result many colonists lost their lives by false accusation due to jealousy, anger, and fights. Without the separation of government and religion, it is clearly shown that the outcome of the two are devastating. The government continuously tried to “solve” the problem, that was terrorizing the people in their town. However without realizing, while trying to find a solution to the problem, the government allowed themselves to be manipulated by the religion that was the problem they were trying solve in the first place. Although it cannot be seen, religion was always the “problem” that inflicted the fears into the townspeople. The “problem” that affected the people, also inflicted the government, which made the government use “imagination” as part of legal evidence. Which was their attempt of “solving the problem” that controlled their people, however it ended up controlling the government
In 1692, as the puritans of Salem Massachusetts over-turn on each other, they started scapegoating many of their villagers with witchcraft. During this time many were murdered unfairly. The Salem Witch Trials was a reformation of the government. People believed that this was an era where the devil gave certain humans powers to harm others in joining them into their beliefs. It was certain to happen, because many had personal envy which caused many of the accusations,trials, and the implementations.
The Salem Witch Trials: The How In the spring of 1692, the lives of the people who lived in Salem began changing. It is an event that can never be erased from history; lives were changed, and lives were lost. The Salem Witch trials began in a time where people felt vulnerability and fear to anything that they may not understand.
A diverse array of historiographical arguments concerning the preliminary causes of the Salem Witch Trials have emerged subsequently to their occurrences, clashing along a vastly debatable spectrum of economic, social, and political influences (Brinkley, 2014, 74). Escalating accusations backed by miniscule evidence reaped terror among the Salem community. No one was truly immune to an accusation, and being accused had a high probability of ruining one's reputation for the remainder of their lives. Conversely to the linear notion of believing a singular cause was responsible for the atrocities among the Salem community, an intertwined network of various tensions set the anemic foundation for a monstrosity of inhumane punishment and hollow allegation
The Massachusetts Bay Experiment, despite the fact that it began as a business endeavor, was profoundly grounded on religion. As John Winthrop said, they needed to make a "city upon a slope," or an ideal world where God's support could be accomplished. To accomplish this Promised Land, the Puritans dedicated themselves to their congregation life and God. Investing hours at administration consistently, the Puritans were a nearly weave group because of the force of the congregation. At whatever point any issue in the group developed, the Puritans looked to the congregation to give them an answer.
Thesis statement: the instability of the government and religious beliefs led to paranoia among the colonist during the salem witch trials. Question: How did the religious aspects and unstable government in the colony affect the outcome of the Salem witch trials?
Throughout history there have been many events which fit into the criteria of a witch hunt, literally and metaphorically. From the Salem Witch Trials of 1692 portrayed in The Crucible and McCarthyism during WW2, to modern day issues such as terrorism witch hunts have plagued history. Today, these “witch hunts” have gotten more realistic and are backed up by actual threats to society. Although, they are still related to the original witch hunts of Salem as there are many people searching for large amounts of a certain type of people. However, modern day witch hunts clearly have the same cause/ effect as the actual Salem witch trials.
During the late 1691 several young girls began to suffer fits and nightmares, attributed by their elders to witchcraft (Foner 106). Tituba who was a slave from Barbados that lived with two of the girls that were having fits as a servant. The girls invited several friends to share this delicious, forbidden diversion. Tituba’s audience listened intently as she talked of telling the future. Villagers sat spellbound as Tituba spoke of black dogs, red cats, yellow birds, and a white-haired man who bade her sign the devil’s book.
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
Through analysis of the event and its causes, one can conclude that the citizens of Salem had significant evidence to back their belief in witchcraft. What is arguably the most prominent factor in the Salem Witch Trials is religion. The entirety of the Puritan society was based on
Although many people have their assumptions as to what specifically caused the Salem Witch Trials, no one has a definite account of what caused them. One must use logic and knowledge to come to choose and realize multiple factors that played a part. The Salem Witch Trials were caused by religion, politics, teenage boredom, family feuds, economic conditions, and fears of the people. The overall effect of the trials did not have a serious effect on American society as a whole, but only as Salem as a whole. During the spring of 1692, a hysteria swept through the little town of Salem, Massachusetts (present-day Danvers, Massachusetts) that will end as quickly as it began.
The Salem Witch Trials was an event caused by much more than a town full of “witches”. The small town in New England in 1962 faced one of the United States’ most disastrous mass genocides. A group of ten young girls accused roughly 200 people of making deals with the devil. Many of the accused were hanged at Proctor’s Ledge by Gallows Hill, while a few died in the jails waiting for their death sentence. The accusations were based almost entirely on spectral evidence, or evidence from the supernatural.
Religious ideas played a central role in the way people understood and reacted to the world around them in colonial America. The colonies were founded by various religious groups seeking freedom to practice their faith without persecution. Religion influenced many aspects of colonial people's daily life, from politics and social order to economic practices and daily life. Religious ideas were not only important but often the cause of antagonism and violence in colonial America. One example of religious antagonism in colonial America can be seen in the Salem witch trials of 1692 (American YAWP, 3.5).
The Salem Witch Trials; Madness or Logic In Stacey Schiff’s, List of 5 Possible Causes of the Salem Witch Trials and Shah Faiza’s, THE WITCHES OF SALEM; Diabolical doings in a Puritan village, discuss in their articles what has been debated by so many historians for years, the causes of the Salem Witch trials. Schiff and the Faiza, purpose is to argue the possible religious, scientific, communal, and sociological reasons on why the trials occurred. All while making word by word in the writer’s testimony as if they were there through emotion and just stating simply the facts and theories. They adopt the hectic tone in order to convey to the readers the significance, tragedy, logic, loss, and possible madness behind these life changing events,
Have you ever seen a government accuse a person of a crime he or she did not commit? Well, one of the best examples of this is in the town of Salem, Massachusetts. In this town in 1692, the courts not only wrongfully accused one person with sufficient evidence, but wrongfully accused 150 people of witchcraft. Furthermore, these people were accused without any scientific evidence. Even more terrible, though, is that 19 of these people were executed for this reason.
Many practicing Christians, at the time, believed that the Devil could persuade people to use the powers that he gave them to harm others. The Salem Witch Trials occurred because of resource struggles, many women were accused and tortured, and in the end the Governor realized that it was a big mistake. (“Salem Witch Trials”, 1). In 1689, English rulers William and Mary started a war with France in the American colonies which sent many refugees into the Essex County and Salem Village.