The Salem Witchcraft Trials
The Salem Witchcraft Trials
“The Devil in Salem” by Peggy Robbins addresses the Salem witch trials that occurred in colonial Massachusetts in 1692. The Massachusetts Bay Colony was where it was more likely for people to believe in witchcraft in which it was known to be believed by the people that Satan would take use of human beings to carry on his war against heaven. It has been recorded that in Salem Village in the year of 1692, alone 170 witches were imprisoned and 20 were sentenced to death. The number of people who suffered the harsh brutalities of the trial in Salem was very small in comparison to the thousands of people who had been persecuted in Europe which was where it all started, but had started to die down. The start of witchcraft in Salem I believe may have stemmed from religious beliefs along with many other reasons. The Puritans were known to be a very religious group of people who considered the devil to be their enemy. They believed that their religion was the truest of them all and it was the one religion that Satan was set to destroy. The slightest inconveniences such as a cow not having the ability to give milk, a housewife not being able to get the butter to come out or a horse going lame was easily labeled as the doings of a witch. Robbins states in the essay that preacher Parris’ 9 year old daughter Betty was going through sudden weeping spells and his 11 year old niece Abigail Williams was starting to engage in lustful conversations about the devil. Tituba who was the slave of the Parris’ household was known to be the witch that started it all. It was in the kitchen where she had started gathering girls from the community and shared her stories of magic and showing them fortune telling tricks. One of the other reasons that I believe this arose from was boredom. The essay states that many of the older girls that worked as servants in the community would stop by the parsonage for exciting moments whilst on errands. After
“The Devil in Salem” by Peggy Robbins addresses the Salem witch trials that occurred in colonial Massachusetts in 1692. The Massachusetts Bay Colony was where it was more likely for people to believe in witchcraft in which it was known to be believed by the people that Satan would take use of human beings to carry on his war against heaven. It has been recorded that in Salem Village in the year of 1692, alone 170 witches were imprisoned and 20 were sentenced to death. The number of people who suffered the harsh brutalities of the trial in Salem was very small in comparison to the thousands of people who had been persecuted in Europe which was where it all started, but had started to die down. The start of witchcraft in Salem I believe may have stemmed from religious beliefs along with many other reasons. The Puritans were known to be a very religious group of people who considered the devil to be their enemy. They believed that their religion was the truest of them all and it was the one religion that Satan was set to destroy. The slightest inconveniences such as a cow not having the ability to give milk, a housewife not being able to get the butter to come out or a horse going lame was easily labeled as the doings of a witch. Robbins states in the essay that preacher Parris’ 9 year old daughter Betty was going through sudden weeping spells and his 11 year old niece Abigail Williams was starting to engage in lustful conversations about the devil. Tituba who was the slave of the Parris’ household was known to be the witch that started it all. It was in the kitchen where she had started gathering girls from the community and shared her stories of magic and showing them fortune telling tricks. One of the other reasons that I believe this arose from was boredom. The essay states that many of the older girls that worked as servants in the community would stop by the parsonage for exciting moments whilst on errands. After