The Crucible; On Church and State
The Crucible Essay Two
1
Separation of Church and State
Madison Marshall
The Crucible Essay Two
2
Arthur Miller’s play the Crucible, was written in a setting of a time before America was ever established. After reading Miller’s play of the witchcraft trials that occurred in the town of Salem, I have found examples as to why our founding fathers made the decision to include a separation of church and state during the creation of our nation. During the witchcraft trials in Salem, there were multiple people put on trial. One of these people was a man named John Proctor. Mr. Proctor had been accused of performing witchcraft and so he was sent to the court to be placed on trial. Throughout his trial he continued to state that not only had he never committed any witchcraft but he also had no belief that such a thing even exists. The judge of these trials, Judge
Danforth, declared Mr. Proctor as guilty for he could not prove that he had never committed any witchcraft and so Mr. Proctor was sent to jail. Three months passed and since Mr. Proctor continued to plead not guilty, but the day had come for Mr. Proctor to be hung for his accused actions. Before he was to be hung, Mr. Proctor was allowed to have one last conversation with his wife, in hopes that she would be able to convince him to change his mind and tell the court that he did in fact perform witchcraft. Mrs.
Proctor was able to convince John to change his mind and so he went back to the judge to give his confession. John is forced to not only give a verbal confession to the court
The Crucible Essay Two
3
but he must also write it on a piece of paper, write his signature, and allow the court to hang his confession on the church door for the entire town to see. John begs Danforth to not hang his confession and just to accept his signature, but when
1
Separation of Church and State
Madison Marshall
The Crucible Essay Two
2
Arthur Miller’s play the Crucible, was written in a setting of a time before America was ever established. After reading Miller’s play of the witchcraft trials that occurred in the town of Salem, I have found examples as to why our founding fathers made the decision to include a separation of church and state during the creation of our nation. During the witchcraft trials in Salem, there were multiple people put on trial. One of these people was a man named John Proctor. Mr. Proctor had been accused of performing witchcraft and so he was sent to the court to be placed on trial. Throughout his trial he continued to state that not only had he never committed any witchcraft but he also had no belief that such a thing even exists. The judge of these trials, Judge
Danforth, declared Mr. Proctor as guilty for he could not prove that he had never committed any witchcraft and so Mr. Proctor was sent to jail. Three months passed and since Mr. Proctor continued to plead not guilty, but the day had come for Mr. Proctor to be hung for his accused actions. Before he was to be hung, Mr. Proctor was allowed to have one last conversation with his wife, in hopes that she would be able to convince him to change his mind and tell the court that he did in fact perform witchcraft. Mrs.
Proctor was able to convince John to change his mind and so he went back to the judge to give his confession. John is forced to not only give a verbal confession to the court
The Crucible Essay Two
3
but he must also write it on a piece of paper, write his signature, and allow the court to hang his confession on the church door for the entire town to see. John begs Danforth to not hang his confession and just to accept his signature, but when
References: Miller, A. (1953). The crucible. (p. 1272).