Preview

Causes Of The Salem Witch Trials Ignorance

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
418 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Causes Of The Salem Witch Trials Ignorance
I believe that the real cause of the Salem Witch Trials stemmed from sheer ignorance from the Puritan people. The first factor in the ignorance displayed by the people of Salem was a result of their religion. The Puritans held a firm belief in the Bible and had a strict interpretation of the meaning of what was in the Bible. So they took the Bible passage that reads, "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live," seriously. I think that this is the very root of the problem: ignorance as a result of religion. Had the people of Salem not have taken the words in a book to be actual instructions for life, there would have been no ill feelings towards "witchcraft" in the first place. It would not have been a "sin" or a crime. In turn, there would be no
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    Brief Summary: The Salem Witch Trial
    • 1070 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Brief Summary: The Salem Witch Trial

    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
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Summary: The Salem Witch Trials
    • 322 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Summary: The Salem Witch Trials

    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
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Salem Witch Trials Dbq Research Paper
    • 635 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Salem Witch Trials Dbq Research Paper

    Overall I think the salem witch trials were caused by ergotism, growing lies and fame/jealousy. Ergotism was causing many problems throughout the colonies which eventually caused innocent men and women to be hanged. Also once the girls started lying, they could not stop because their superstition kept growing. Lastly the girls might have wanted to get famous for their work and to get rid of…

    • 635 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Witchcraft Trials In Salem: A Commentary
    • 418 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The Witchcraft Trials In Salem: A Commentary

    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
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    What Caused The Salem Witch Trials Hysteria Of 1692?
    • 247 Words
    • 1 Page

    What Caused The Salem Witch Trials Hysteria Of 1692?

    In 1692, an event called the Salem Witch Trials occurred, because of this, the people from a village called Salem, Massachusetts were fearful because they could be accused a witch. This all started when a group of young girls began to act very strange. The behaviors of the girls’ ranged from, screaming, copying body movements, pain, falling on the floor, twitching, and many other symptoms.…

    • 247 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Salem Witch Dbq
    • 241 Words
    • 1 Page

    Salem Witch Dbq

    Nowadays people will look for reliable evidences before they accuse someone. However, the Salem Witch Trials show that people are mindless when something is about witchcraft. Many people do not believe that there’s witchcraft in the world today, but in the Salem Village in the 17th Century, people believe that witchcraft exists and they are scared of the witchcraft, they are scared that other will use witchcraft to harm them, so people just use this opportunity to eradicate other people that might harm them or people that they dislike when the trials are going on. The Salem Witch Trials show that women have low social status in the society in the 17th Century, most likely women were executed from the trials since witches are most likely are…

    • 241 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Essay On Salem Witch Dbq
    • 807 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Essay On Salem Witch Dbq

    The first idea of what caused the Salem Witch Trial Hysteria of 1692 is: biased amongst the community. There are a few documents that support this idea, they are: Documents: B,C,D, and E. Going though them in order while only using one: Document B is a great backup for the subject: Biased. In this document, sourced by: "John Demos, "Underlying Themes in the Witchcraft of 17 century New England." American Historical review, June, 1970", shows the marital status and age of the accusers and accused. This shows a lot of evidence that the Salem Witch Trials were a lie. As we can see from the document, mostly all the accusers are single women ages, 16-20. While the accused were mostly married, ages 41-60. With this information we can tell that the single women that accused…

    • 807 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Role Of Vengeance In The Crucible By Arthur Miller
    • 530 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The Role Of Vengeance In The Crucible By Arthur Miller

    It would take alot of greed to accuse someone of witchcraft to have them executed so that their land would be auctioned off. Vengeance played another key role in salem, if it weren’t for vengeance the witch trials would have never happened. In the beginning of the Elizabeth wanted revenge on goodie proctor, because she felt that she was the reason john proctor wouldn’t marry her. Because of this she accused Goodie proctor knowing that would surely get rid of her.…

    • 530 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Salem Witch Trials Research Paper
    • 436 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Salem Witch Trials Research Paper

    The Salem witch trials were caused by jealousy, paranormia,and teenagers. Jealousy was a huge part because of the rich people having better land or have more money so people accused them to be able to own their stuff. Paranormia was a part of it because people were scared that the devil was entering their body to make them do bad things. Teenages were also part of it becsuse teeagers didn’t get a long with everyone, so when they didn’t they acted like the person was put a witchcraft spell on them. This is why the Salem witch trials in 1692…

    • 436 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Historical Events In American History: The Salem Witch Trials
    • 839 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Historical Events In American History: The Salem Witch Trials

    In conclusion, religion is the main cause of the Salem Witch Trials due to many reasons. Christian Puritanism controlled the town of Salem. It influenced the citizens to think a certain way as well and it planted these thoughts in their heads. For example, believing that women are weaker than men and so on. According to the research conducted, one can see that the political cause was what made the most impact. Though, this does not mean that the environmental, economic and social causes are any less important…

    • 839 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Essay On The Salem Witch Trials Dbq
    • 534 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Essay On The Salem Witch Trials Dbq

    The Salem Witch Trials of 1692 is one of the most well-known historical events. In 1692, 20 people were hanged for being a so-called “witch.” Most accusations were made by six girls, which included Betty Parris, Abigail Williams, and Ann Putnam Jr.. Witches were people whose bodies had supposedly been taken over by The Devil. But what really caused the Salem Witch Trials hysteria? The three reasons that caused the mass hysteria were how certain people, ages, genders, and marital statuses were targeted, the fact that the girls were so good at acting, they were able to fool the entire village, and that neighbor conflicts created tension and jealousy.…

    • 534 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Role Of Reputation In The Crucible
    • 618 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The Role Of Reputation In The Crucible

    It all seems like nobody wants to take the blame in Salem. What is everyone’s deal? Could it perhaps be that they don’t want their reputation to be ruined or their lives to be endangered due to witchcraft? The people of Salem are making up excuses to make themselves seem pleasing and innocent to others. They are putting the blame on everyone else but themselves. These statements have been carried on until this day. The ways of the puritans have transformed a lot but some of the “techniques” back then still remain.…

    • 618 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Devil's Snare
    • 459 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The Devil's Snare

    In early times people didn’t understand reason. Especially the Puritans who only saw God’s will and the evilness of the devil. During the Salem witchcraft crisis, Puritans struggled to decipher communal security and find the truth around them. They believed that Satan recruited humans to do his evil and be servants to him, i.e. witches. The witches had a magical power that allowed them to harm others. To protect the community the judges of the town took it upon themselves to hold jury trials and hang the witches as punishment. Many believed the witches were burned at the stake, however that is untrue.…

    • 459 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Salem Witch Trials: A Dark Time In American History
    • 272 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The Salem Witch Trials: A Dark Time In American History

    The Salem Witch Trials of 1690s was an extremely dark time in American history. More than 200 people were accused of practicing witchcraft and 20 were killed during the hysteria. The events that led to this hysteria caused the people of Salem to be deeply affected by this terrible time in our history. With that in mind, the outcome of these trials caused people to be killed even if they were innocent. Historians believe that this time in our history was immensely unfair and no one had a fair trial.…

    • 272 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Salem Witch Trials In The 1600's
    • 571 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The Salem Witch Trials In The 1600's

    The first cause of the Salem Witch Trials was fear of superstition among the Puritan community. The Puritans were pious and believed in the Devil, and believed that God would punish them horridly if they went against their strict moral code. “This is why the witch scare was taken so seriously and the accused were punished harshly” (“The Salem Witch Trials”). Because the Puritans were superstitious, when problems in Salem began, the community was quick to maliciously “blame the Devil and the witches that were carrying out his work for him” (“The Salem Witch Trials”). When the Puritans had no explanation for the girls’ strange behavior, “Salem…

    • 571 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More

Related Topics