Preview

Analysis Of The Puritan Society In Salem: The Salem Witch Trials

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
251 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Analysis Of The Puritan Society In Salem: The Salem Witch Trials
Salem of Massachusetts in 1692 was the residence of a Puritan society accompanied by severe ethics. Along the troubles of trying to preserve agriculture in a cruel climate escorted by uneven ground, Salem also encountered political anarchy as well as economic disorder. In this specific society, a party of young women condemned an Indian slave girl of witchcraft. She, Tituba, confessed due to the harassment from the judiciary administration. Her confession stimulated a search for witches that left nineteen executed by hanging, one tortured to death, and more than 160 citizens were in prison waiting for their trial. This essay will investigate the qualities of the Puritan society in Salem, learn about the Salem witch trials, and attempt to unravel

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    The purpose of this book was to examine the history and social life of Salem Village to try to figure out what was the cause of the events that occurred there. I believe that the authors achieved their objective at least they did to me. Boyer and Nissenbaum's explanation for the outbreak of witchcraft accusations in Salem hinges on an understanding of the economic,…

    • 472 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    When people think about The Salem Witch Trial, the first thing that comes to mind is “oh it 's just a bunch of wannabe witches being killed.” But in reality they were innocent people being accused by a bunch of little girls trying to get got of trouble. People were very suspicious and paranoid about everything back then-if a few people in the village suddenly became ill, it was because of a "witch". Remember, they had no science to explain anything, so they had to make up stuff that seems ridiculous to us today. They feared what they didn 't know and understand, therefore seeking any kind of solution . . . in this case their fear led to The Salem witch…

    • 1070 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Salem Witch Trials "When the lines between reality and delusion become so blurred, you can no longer know what's real and what is not. " This is a quote by A.B. Shepherd. This can be a direct example of those women accused of being witches in the Salem witch trials. For these women, most of their lives during the year of the trials could have felt a little like this.…

    • 1206 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Salem Witch Trials are known as a series of people being accused and prosecuted of witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts beginning in February 1692 until May 1693. The trials began after a group of girls claimed that they were possessed by the devil. Several local women were accused of witchcraft and this began the wave of hysteria that would forever haunt Salem and leave a painful legacy for a long time to come. Nearly every major school of historians has attempted to explain the answer to the mystery of the trials, trying to understand why they occurred. From Marxists who blame class conflict, to Freudians who believe in mass hysteria, the more ecologically based historians who put the blame on hallucinogenic ergot fungus, and now more…

    • 322 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The year 1692 marked a major event in history in the town of Salem, Massachusetts. During the year 1692, Salem, a colony filled with Puritans who believe in religion very strongly, but as their beliefs grow, the more the people were starting to die. The problem or question is what caused the Salem witch crisis hysteria of 1692? There were many causes for the Salem witch trial hysteria but the possible three main reasons were the conflicts between young and older women, the “afflicted” girls were acting throughout the trial, and the town’s differences in wealth and power.…

    • 595 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live” (Exodus 22:18), this was a passage that the Puritans lived by. The Salem Witch Trials took place in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1692 and claimed the lives of many innocent people. It led to the hangings of almost twenty, leaving more than one hundred in prison. A group of young girls in Salem Village accused several local women of witchcraft while being claimed of being possessed by the devil. This is causing a wave of hysteria to spread throughout colonial Massachusetts.…

    • 361 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Salem Witchcraft trials are notoriously known in history for its mass hysteria and paranoia within colonial Massachusetts during the 17th century. This paper will identify social and religious factors contributing to the Salem with-hunt, provide insight to who was behind it and why, and compare and contrast other examples of mass hysteria with that of the Salem witch-hunt.…

    • 913 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Salem Possessed Analysis

    • 774 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Salem Possessed redefined the standard for the possibilities social history offers to understand the events and people of early America. Through a painstaking look at local records such as legal records, the Salem Village record book, the minister's book, and tax records Boyer and Nissenbaum discovered a long-standing pattern of contentious behavior of which the witchcraft accusations in 1692 was just one episode. Their analysis provides an invaluable insight into the social history of New England generally, and the factions of Salem Village that led to the tragic events of 1692, in particular.…

    • 774 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    A legitimate cause for the accusations may result from a mental disorder. In the article The Witchcraft Trials in Salem: A Commentary, it is acknowledged that, “The cause of her symptoms may have been some combination of stress, asthma, guilt, boredom, child abuse, epilepsy, and delusional psychosis” (Linder). Many of the possible symptoms may have caused the outbreak, yet delusional psychosis is more sensible. The form of a mental disorder causing the symptoms is a probable cause. The people of Salem were completely oblivious to the additional causes of the accusations. Salem could have avoided several lives may have been saved if some form of common knowledge was used.…

    • 418 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In The Crucible Miller demonstrates the evils within the human nature through the experience of the Salem Witch Trials. Many characters in this play endure their own personal crucibles. First, Elizabeth Proctor has the ignominy of keeping a terrible secret. Also, Giles Corey goes through a deadly trial trying to protect his neighbor. Finally, Mary Warren, a shy and timid girl, has the impossible task of going against Abigail and the court. Each of these characters’ crucibles are very excruciating, but only some pass while others fail.…

    • 576 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Society has been affected by religion ever since mankind existed. People’s values and morals could be altered from the belief of any religion because religion sets rules for one who chooses to believes it. If a rule were to be broken, a sin is presented upon the person. Society back in Salem Massachusetts of 1692 believes there are witches among the town. Anyone who doesn't believe there are any is automatically assumed to be working with the devil or is a witch. Religion may or may not be a big factor in the results of the Salem Witch Trials. Religion has not only been part of the Salem’s government system, but it has also been affecting the decisions of society.…

    • 373 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Salem Witch Trials

    • 1112 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The Salem Witch Trials has been a debatable topic for many historians enamored by its deviation from the normal as seen in Europe or other European Colonies in North America. As presented in Bryan Le Beau’s book The Story of the Salem Witch Trials, the story of Salem is unique in that it is centered primarily around the communities incapability to harmonize with one another. In the first two chapters, the book introduces its readers to a brief history of witchcraft trials, including how they began in Europe and followed colonists to the New World. In chapter three, the book describes Salem as it was before the trials and its ultimate path to the devastation it eventually created. It describes the division of the community and how that led to “…the point of institutional, demographic, and economic polarization” (p.50). Le Beau’s thesis is that “New England communities…suffered from the economic, social, political, and religious dislocations of the modernization process of the Early Modern Period, but to a greater extent than others,” he believed, “Salem village fell victim to warring factions, misguided leadership, and geographical limitations that precluded its dealing effectively with those problems” (p.43). The chapters following Le Beau’s thesis chronologically present the Salem Witch Craft trials and what was left in the wake the realization that followed.…

    • 1112 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Bibliography: Adams, Gretchen A. The Specter of Salem: Remembering the Witch Trials. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2008.…

    • 2692 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The belief in witchcraft, or supernatural actions and the devil’s ability to give certain humans the power to harm others, in return for their loyalty, had been a part of traditional village culture in Europe since the 14th century. (history.com) The Salem witch trials took place between 1692 and 1693 in colonial Massachusetts. Two hundred people were accused of witchcraft and twenty people were executed. (smithsonianmag.com)…

    • 74 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Breaking the law was no joke back in colonial times. Punishment were extremely harsh. The convict will be punished by physical pain or sometimes death. Do to the poor judgment from the court's most of the accused were innocent. Even the defendants of the accused were punished, if the accused were proven guilty. One of the crimes that were taken really seriously was Witchcraft, which was punished by death. A lot of innocent women died during those year in Salem. The punishments for crime in colonial times were not fair.…

    • 520 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays