ORIGINS of the Salem Witch Trials
The Salem Witch Trials was only one of many witch trails in history. Some of those witch trials, like Salem, were lead by Puritans. But all of the trials had similar backgrounds, the key essential, that began the event.
Background
Belief in witchcraft"Belief in the supernatural–and specifically in the devil’s practice of giving certain humans (witches) the power to harm others in return for their loyalty–had emerged in Europe as early as the 14th century, and was widespread in colonial New England." “The theologian Meric Casaubon argued in his 1668 book, Of Credulity and Incredulity—that witches must exist because, after all, everyone believes in them. Anything that a large number of people believe must be true.”
Sickness and Fear"...a recent smallpox epidemic and fears of attacks from neighboring Native American tribes ...."
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DISTRUST"... a longstanding rivalry with the more affluent community of Salem Town (present-day Salem). Amid these simmering tensions, the Salem witch trials would be fueled by residents’ suspicions of and resentment toward their neighbors, as well as their fear of outsiders."
DIFFICULT LIFE"...the harsh realities of life in the rural Puritan community of Salem Village (present-day Danvers, MA) at the time included the after-effects of a British war with France in the American colonies in 1689... King Philip’s War, a fifteen-month contest between the settlers and the Native Americans, had ended in 1676. It obliterated a third of New England’s towns, pulverized its economy, and claimed ten percent of the adult male population. Every Bay Colony resident lost a friend or a relative; all knew of a dismemberment or an abduction. By 1692, another Indian war had begun to take shape, with a series of grisly raids by the Wabanaki and their French allies. The frontier had recently moved to within fifty miles of Salem."
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The spark that set off the Salem witch trials
"It all begun when a group of girls formed an informal club in Salem Village, Massachusetts. It was the year 1692, when people still believed in witches. Nearly every day, the girls would gather to hear an Indian slave tell stories filled with magic, superstition, and witchcraft. Since listening to such tales was forbidden, the girls soon became terrified of being discovered. Little by little they began acting strangely, and people thought them bewitched. Fearing severe punishment if they told the truth, the girls accused some of the most respected people in the village of being witches who were forcing them into their 'affliction'. The furor that followed as one innocent person after another was examined, tried, and hanged, forms one of the strangest and most shocking Benjamin Ray (2002) episodes in our history."