Salem Witch Trials
Many of the American colonists brought with them from Europe a belief in witches and the devil. During the seventeenth century, people were executed for being witches and follower of Satan. Most of these executions were performed in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. Mostly all of the accused were women, which makes some modern historians believe that the charges of witchcraft were a way of controlling the women who threatened the power of the men. During the witchcraft trials, hundreds of arrests were made, and some were even put to death on Gallow's Hill (Karlsen 145).In 1698, the villagers of Salem won the right to establish their own Church. They chose the Reverend Samuel Parris as their minister. Many of the villagers were then sorry that they had done so because of his harsh demands. They then vowed to force him out. There was much pressure surrounding the Parris family. The children of the family would entertain themselves by listening to stories told by Tituba, their slave (National Geographic). January of 1692 is when the mass hysteria of the Salem witch trials first began. The Puritans of this time were very harsh, unyielding, and quick to judge. They condemned innocent women on the basis of int
From the Spring of 1692 to the Fall of 1692, men and women were tried and convicted of being witches. The new Governor, Sir William Phips, who was sent from England, set up a special Court of Oyer and Terminer to hear and decide the remaining witchcraft cases. Appointed as judges were Lt. Governor William Stoughton, Nathaniel Saltonstall, Bartholomew Gedney, Peter Sergeant, Samuel Sewall, Wait Still Winthrop, John Richards, John Hathorne, and Jonathan Corwin. These magistrates based their judgments on intangible evidence, such as forced confessions, so called "witchmarks", and reactions of the afflicted girls (Salem Home Page). Brown, Richard D. Massachusetts, A History. New York: W.W.Norton and Company, Inc., 1978. angible evidence, confessions, and such things as "witchmarks" (Hill). As Dorcas Hoar said, "I will speak the truth as long as I live" (Salem Home Page). The Puritans of Massachusetts were the first to enforce a sense of political correctness. There were led by God, ran inquisitions, and created the "witch-hunt" of Salem. The Salem witch trials is just one example of types of hunts that have gone on in American history. The McCarthy trials and Watergate are other forms of hunts in the political spectrum (American Fanaticism).
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1463
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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