Salem Witch Trials Research Paper
The Salem witchcraft trials were a horrific set of events that caused harm to many people, but it was essentially bound to happen. That is not to say that that exact thing had to happen, but due to the society of the day, a conflict of some sort was basically guaranteed. Because of everything going on with politics and religion, combined with the way of society, it was something of a powder keg where no one could guess what, but it could be seen that something bad was bound to happen.
One of the reasons why this series of events was even possible in the first place was the entire world view at that time. Life in New England during the seventeenth century was very different from the way we live now. The world itself was viewed in a way completely …show more content…
One of the main groups hurt by was the women of that time period. Life for a woman was very specific in social station and duty. The basic idea that was shared by both the men and women of that day were that women were “physically weaker than men and that therefore the Devil could more frequently and successfully gain access to and possess women’s souls.” It was due to this that around three-fourths accused during the trial were women. Although they were more charged, this was not a focused assault against women, but rather a statement of the way things were in that day. Because women had such a small role in public society, those who spoke up or acted against the norms, such as women who inherited land, were often charged as witches to keep the societal place of women the same. Women who did not fall into line were either the cause of trouble or a maker of it. Women who ran into troubles with the society because of misfortune such as Indian attacks had no chance of a valuable life because they could not marry were some of the main ones who became so-called victims of the witch attacks. They made a fuss and grabbed the spotlight per se for their chance to be important in society while they could. If it was needed to be a “victim” to do so, there were many willing to do so. That is not to say it was all purely selfish, but the way society had made it for them made their only way to actually have some political power was to make an accusation. “No wonder that they [women who experienced hardship] used their temporary power and prestige to attack…the Puritan establishment which taught its members to accept unquestionably their fate handed down to them by god.” These women were essentially oppressed into a specific role and those that went against it were either the ones doing well that were accused and brought back down or doing poorly and used this as the only way to
One of the reasons why this series of events was even possible in the first place was the entire world view at that time. Life in New England during the seventeenth century was very different from the way we live now. The world itself was viewed in a way completely …show more content…
One of the main groups hurt by was the women of that time period. Life for a woman was very specific in social station and duty. The basic idea that was shared by both the men and women of that day were that women were “physically weaker than men and that therefore the Devil could more frequently and successfully gain access to and possess women’s souls.” It was due to this that around three-fourths accused during the trial were women. Although they were more charged, this was not a focused assault against women, but rather a statement of the way things were in that day. Because women had such a small role in public society, those who spoke up or acted against the norms, such as women who inherited land, were often charged as witches to keep the societal place of women the same. Women who did not fall into line were either the cause of trouble or a maker of it. Women who ran into troubles with the society because of misfortune such as Indian attacks had no chance of a valuable life because they could not marry were some of the main ones who became so-called victims of the witch attacks. They made a fuss and grabbed the spotlight per se for their chance to be important in society while they could. If it was needed to be a “victim” to do so, there were many willing to do so. That is not to say it was all purely selfish, but the way society had made it for them made their only way to actually have some political power was to make an accusation. “No wonder that they [women who experienced hardship] used their temporary power and prestige to attack…the Puritan establishment which taught its members to accept unquestionably their fate handed down to them by god.” These women were essentially oppressed into a specific role and those that went against it were either the ones doing well that were accused and brought back down or doing poorly and used this as the only way to