The Salem Witch Trials

Introduction 

The Salem Witch Trials remain a dark path in the history of the United States more so from the perspective of religion and the rule of law. The blurring of the division between church and state led to the development of bad laws and bad judicial systems. The culmination of the undoing was the death of 20 innocent people, the tearing apart of a peaceful pioneer community and the eternal tainting of American history. Puritan beliefs that engendered religious extremism were at the center of the crisis, so was the fear of those who seem different (Aronson, 2005) . Social issues such as male chauvinism and economic interests such as land ownership also formed part of the cause of the crisis. The Salem witch trials are well-known events that illustrate how Puritan beliefs, faith, fear and stature in the community led to one of the most hysteria driven times in American history. 

Colony Structure and Lifestyle as Bearing Factors 

Lifestyle Issues 

The Salem witch trials were a culmination of a poor lifestyle combined with poor governance and an extremely poor judicial system. The Puritans had paid a very high price by leaving their homes to come to the Americas, mainly because of their religion thus embracing a kind of extremism. Very strict rules about life were instituted among them and even applied to their children. Play and fun were considered to some extent as sins including childhood activities such as dancing. The Sabbath was keenly observed and only religious activities were allowed (King & Mixon, 2010). As they were pioneers, a lot of work was invested into making a living in the new world yet the little leisure time available was taken up by religious activities. 

The rigorous rules encouraged rebellion including children hiding in the vast bushes to dance and play games. Tension and underlying acrimony were always in existence as a smoldering fire waiting to ignite. Tituba, a slave in the household of the local Reverend was a breath of fresh air for the children who had been brought up in this isolated community. The children would ask Tituba to give them stories about religion in her native Barbados which included some elements of mysticism such as the telling of fortunes and the reading of palms. The stories and activities of Tituba created a connection to witchcraft in the village of Salem and sowed seeds of what was to become the witch trials (MacBain, 2003). The mystic culture of Barbados clashed with the strict culture of the Puritans finally triggering a societal crisis. 

Underlying Grudges 

The Salem trials were to some extent not about witchcraft but rather a means of ventilating grievances and propagating other disputes in the community. Salem was an agricultural community, making the land a prime asset within the community (MacBain, 2003). Differences a rising from land ownership including women trying to own land played a role in the trials. Secondly, the majority of Puritan population wanted a quiet and non-materialistic farming life. A segment of the populace was, however, interested in the riches that commerce had brought to the nearby port town of Salem. There was, therefore, a cultural conflict between those who would have wanted to engage in commerce and get wealth and those who would have wanted to remain humble farmers and pursue a purely puritan religious life (Hughes, 2016). The powerful church, led by the puritans favored farming and had a lot of influence within the government. Finally, there was a division between those considered as normal and those they considered as outsiders. The very first indictments were against a slave, a beggar and the wife of indentured servant . Their identity paints a picture of the insiders fighting against those they consider as outsiders. 

Secondary Bearing Factors 

Secondary issues that acted as general stress factors of the members of the Salem community also contributed to the crisis. Being a pioneer community that relied on agriculture, climatic and environmental factors played a key role in the survival of the community (Hytner & Miller, 1996). The weather conditions in the years preceding the trials had not been very conducive for farming. The fear that lack of enough food would threaten the survival of the community was rife (King & Mixon, 2010). The fact that the weather was not reliable also added to the division as some considered commerce as a means of earning a livelihood because farming was not dependable. Secondly, the New England community had always been in conflict with the native Indian community. The conflict relegated settlements to the coastal area and also limited space making the local community wary of newcomers . Wariness bred suspicion and ill-will all of which contributed to the advent and propagation of the witch trials. 

The dominance of the Puritan Faith and Male Gender 

Among the major bearing factors in the Salem trials and a contributor to the errors that took place was the dominance of the Puritan faith even in administrative issue and male chauvinism (Reed, 2007). The original convicts of witchcraft were all women and non-puritans. Secondly, the most powerful man in most of the trials was also the community leader of Salem and the local pastor Samuel Parris. Rev. Parris, in his position as the Puritan pastor, had great control over the community including from an economic perspective (Hughes, 2016). It was the responsibility of the community to provide material support for Parris including food and clothes for him and his family. Further, the community followed where Rev. Parris as their Puritan leader led. When he said that there were many witches in the community and in the church, many believed him and this fueled the flames of the trials. Parris testified in nine of the trials and children associated with him was the main complainants in several of the trials. 

Thomas Putnam a wealthy landowner in the village of Salem also played a leading role alongside Parris in inciting and instigating the indictments and trials. His role comes in second from that of Parris in getting the trials started and driving them. Most trials would begin with a young girl complaining of being bewitched. Putman filed most of these complaints and made it his obligation to bring these girls to the authorities alongside the women they accused of witchcraft (Hughes, 2016). The worlds of little girls making weird claims would seldom have led to the level of crisis that ensued. However, in this case, the girls had the backing of the local Puritan Reverend and Putman, one of the richest men in town. It was easier to follow the lead of these two great men, more so when the accusations were against women who were considered to be outsiders (Reed, 2007). 

The Mass Hysteria 

The combination of afflictions and the accusations of witchcraft whipped up the town into a mass hysteria. The movement started very small with Betty Parris and Abigail Williams, a daughter, and niece of Rev. Parris respectively showing signs of what was considered an affliction (Kiger, 2016). The girls would have weird behavior such as acting wild and hiding and they also had markings on their bodies. The local physicians exacerbated the situation by claiming the girls had been bewitched (Aronson, 2005). The claim of witchcraft played right into the belief of Puritans and the girls were put under pressure to identify who had bewitched them. The girls would later identify Tituba, the slave from Barbados, laying the foundation for the first trial and sowing seeds for the mass hysteria. The first trial ended with three convictions and two hangings and would have ended there had Ann Putnam, Jr., daughter of Thomas Putnam not started exhibiting signs of affliction (Hughes, 2016). From then on, the hysteria spread fueled by Rev. Parris and Mr . Putnam. Soon after, many girls started showing signs of affliction and wild accusations flew around to different member of the community. The mass hysteria soon reached its zenith and the little town was in chaos. It is, however, the doctors who, being unable to understand the cause of the behavior of the girls, claimed it to be witchcraft, who wrought the worst damage (MacBain, 2003). 

Women a Majority of the Trials 

The dominant gender put on trial, convicted and even executed in the Salem Trials were women with the men coming in much later, mostly for defending the women. The first culprit was Tituba, a slave in the household of Rev. Parris and was initially accused by the daughter and niece of the Rev (Blumberg, 2007). Torture and harassment were part of the judicial process at the time and under pressure, Tituba confessed that she was a witch and even named Sarah Good. Because of the confession, Tituba escaped execution but remained in jail for 13 months since she could not afford her jail fees. Sarah Good was seen as an outsider and was not a Puritan (Hughes, 2016). Being the subject of much animosity, her trial was expedited. To defray negative attention from herself, she incriminated Sarah Osborne. The trial team, however, managed to harass Good’s five-year-old daughter to testify against her mother, leading to Good’s convicting and eventual execution. Sarah Osborne was also not a very popular member of the male-dominated community as she had tried to take over her husband’s property after he died. Osborne was also old and impoverished (Blumberg, 2007). This made her unpopular and gave credence to the accusations against her. Osborne was not executed but she still died in prison. The three women create a trend where the trials were more of a persecution for being women and outsiders rather than for being witches. 

Most of the men who were accused of witchcraft came into the limelight either for defending women who stood accused or for speaking against the trials. Male chauvinism is also reflected in the fact that it was when men began to become victims of the trials that the trials were put to a stop. John Proctor’s wife was accused of witchcraft and he not only defended her but also spoke against the trials. Proctor is also said to have punished one of his slaves for acting like a witch (Hytner & Miller, 1996). He was accused during the course of his wife’s trial, convicted and eventually executed at the height of the mass hysteria. The trial of Proctor led to a cascade that saw John Willard, Minister Burroughs, George Jacobs Sr., and Giles Corey all accused, quickly tried, found guilty and executed. The only exception was Giles Corey who never took a plea in spite of being tortured. Taking a guilty plea would have led to execution and taking a not guilty plea would lead to a show-trial and an execution. Either way, Corey’s beneficiaries would have lost their inheritance. To save his estate, Corey declined to take a plea and was tortured to death (Hughes, 2016). 

The Role of Superstition 

Puritans, the religion that dominated Salem was riddled with superstition. The people believed in God and his victory over evil, thus they also believed in evil. Good things were brought about by God while bad things were brought about by the devil and evil spirits. The strong and superstitious belief in good and evil, God and the devil laid a foundation for the belief in witchcraft (Kiger, 2016). Religion was also very powerful and acts or omissions that seemed to be against the church such as children’s games or working on the Sabbath would also be against the law. The mass hysteria took place because of beliefs and fears that had already been in existence amongst the people in Salem and New England at the time (Hughes, 2016). The Puritan faith in general and its superstitious nature, therefore, played a significant role in creating the mass hysteria that led to the trials and the errors relating to them. 

End of the Trials and Conclusion 

After several trials, a lot of torture, 19 executions, mainly of women, a number of acquittals and the proliferation of acrimony that was spreading into the rest of New England, the trials were eventually halted. Historiography has been unanimous that the Salem witch trials were a manifestation of injustice. The accusations of witchcraft were mostly unfair, unfounded and unsubstantiated (Kiger, 2016). In most cases, secondary factors such as religious differences and land issues were the cause for the accusations. Modern experts believe that the girls who were considered as afflicted leading to the mass hysteria may have been suffering from mental illness. Others consider it a physiological problem caused by fungus due to the consumption of too much rye. Yet others consider the behavior to have been an act by the girls as they sought attention in rebellion to the strict puritan rules they grew up under. All these hypotheses point the accusing finger to the physicians who, unable to correctly diagnose the children pointed the finger at witchcraft (MacBain, 2003). From there, the extremism of the Puritan faith and lack of proper division between church and state took over and exacerbated the situation. The belief in evil by the church played a crucial role in enabling a belief in the reality of witchcraft. The fear that came with the hysteria augmented the overall influence of the church, a fact that was exploited by Rev. Parris. Eventually, the rule of the wrong law perpetrated one of the worst miscarriages of justice in the history of the United States. 

References 

Aronson, M.H. (2005). Witch-Hunt: Mysteries of the Salem witch trials . New York, NY: Simon & Shuster. 

Blumberg, J. (2007, October 23). A brief history of the Salem witch trials. Smithsonian. Retrieved from https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/a-brief-history-of-the-salem-witch-trials-175162489/ . 

Hughes, H. (Narrator). (2016, September 13).  The Salem witch trials explained  [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d12pIpTuiiI . 

Hytner, N. (Director), & Miller, A. (Producer). (1996, November 27).  The crucible  [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.amazon.com/Crucible-Daniel-Lewis-Winona-Ryder/dp/B003YVNZXG/ref=tmm_aiv_title_1?_encoding=UTF8 

Kiger, P. (2016, March 11). The Salem witch trials: How evil controlled a community . National Geographic. Retrieved from http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/the-story-of-god-with-morgan-freeman/articles/the-salem-witch-trials-how-evil-controlled-a-community/. 

King, E. W., & Mixon, F. G. (2010). Religiosity and the political economy of the Salem witch trials.  The Social Science Journal ,  47 (3), 678-688. doi:10.1016/j.soscij.2010.01.008. 

MacBain, J. (2003). The Salem witch trials: A primary source history of the witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts . New York, NY: The Rosen Publishing Group. 

Reed, I. (2007). Why Salem made sense: Culture, gender, and the Puritan persecution of witchcraft. Cultural Sociology , 1 (2), 209–234. doi:10.1177/1749975507078188