To begin with, there was a severe lack of organized government in Salem. Salem Village was one of the first communities to gain legal recognition for its desire to be independent. However, it failed to receive any real authority or decision making power. In fact, the merchants of the town outnumbered the farmers by six to one as Town selectmen during 1665-1700 (87). This meant that the villagers were "left to feel their way through unfamiliar and even alarming terrain" (52). For the most part, villagers had to answer to the authorities of Salem town. This was unfortunate since they faced a severe shortage of representation in the town government. This sever

In the midst of great instability, the villagers faced a severe shortage of good leadership. Given this, many of them let themselves fall prey to the twisted ideas of Reverend Parris, the new minister of Salem village. Reverend Parris had been a man in search of economic prosperity through the expanding commerce of mercantilism. Reverend Parris was a failure in the business world so he decided to try the ministry instead where the pursuit of wealth continued to be one of his top priorities. The many disappointments and frustrations that Parris had experienced in the world of business had taken a toll on his mind and caused him to be psychologically impaired. Since Parris seemed unable to gain control over his personal life, he instead established control over the villagers through his Puritan ministry. Sadly, many of the villagers were vulnerable to Parris' irrational thought patterns and twisted sermons. Parris did experience much opposition to his expanding ministry. However, Parris was quick to denounce the opposition as wicked and Satanic which assured his followers of his purity. Parris, with his focus on the powers of Satan, created an atmosphere of fear and suspicion in the village. It is no wonder that the first witchcraft accusations occurred within two weeks of Parris's first sermon. Parris was instrumental in polarizing the village. The church spoke for one group while the Village Committee spoke for another. In one of his sermons, Parris stated, "Here are but two parties in the world: the Lamb and his followers, and the dragon and his followers ... Everyone is on one side or the other" (175). By creating such black and white divisions within the village, people became afraid to question his sermons or the witchcraft hysteria. To question either of these would mean identification with the devil. This dangerous fear tactic greatly influenced the spread of the witchcraft madness.

It would be untrue to say that these current events are affecting people same way today that the Salem witch trials affected the Salem villagers of the 1600s. The Salem witch hysteria affected the Salem residents on a very personal level since they experienced

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Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)