Context Origins Of The Salem Witch Trials - 1855 Words

Makenzie Wessel HIST 2100 Due date Professor Sommerville The Salem Witch Trials CONTEXT ORIGINS OF THE SALEM WITCH TRIALS 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. In addition, the harsh realities of life in the rural Puritan community of Salem Village (present-day Danvers, Massachusetts) at the time included the after-effects of a British war with France in the American colonies in 1689, a recent smallpox epidemic, fears of attacks from neighboring Native American tribes and a longstanding rivalry with the more affluent community†¦show more content†¦A witchcraft craze rippled through Europe from the 1300s to the end of the 1600s. Tens of thousands of supposed witches—mostly women—were executed. Though the Salem trials came on just as the European craze was winding down, local circumstances explain their onset. In 1689, English rulers William and Mary started a war with France in the American colonies. Known as King William s War to colonists, it ravaged regions of upstate New York, Nova Scotia and Quebec, sending refugees into the county of Essex and, specifically, Salem Village in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. (Salem Village is present-day Danvers, Massachusetts; colonial Salem Town became what s now Salem.) The displaced people created a strain on Salem s resources. This aggravated the existing rivalry between families with ties to the wealth of the port of Salem and those who still depended on agriculture. Controversy also brewed over Reverend Samuel Parris, who became Salem Village s first ordained minister in 1689, and was disliked because of his rigid ways and greedy nature. The Puritan villagers believed all the quarreling was the work of the Devil. In January of 1692, Reverend Parris daughter Elizabeth, age 9, and niece Abigail Williams, age 11, started having fits. They screamed, threw things, uttered peculiar sounds and contorted themselves into strange positions, and a local doctor blamed theShow MoreRelatedThe Salem Witch Trials : A Day By Day Chronicle Of A Community Under Siege Essay1671 Words   |  7 PagesThe book I have chosen to write about is â€Å"The Salem Witch Trials: A Day by Day Chronicle of a Community Under Siege† written by Marilynne K. Roach and published in 2002. Marilynne K. Roach is the president of the Historical Society of Watertown and a member of the Watertown Historical Commission board, she also is an active board member and a curator of the Salem Witch Museum. She has multiple books that have been published about the Salem and the trials that occurred in the late 17th and early 18thRead MoreThe Trials Of Salem Witch Trials2374 Words   |  10 Pagesthe cause of the Salem Witch Trials in 1692 have been offered by historians since the first girl fell ill to bewitchment in December 1961. This marked the beginning of the witch hunt that ended with the death of twenty convicted â€Å"witches†. Historical writers have tried to allocate one particular factor or event as the cause of the Trials, but it is more likely that many of these factors and events are connected and a number of these issues are at the centre of the trials. The context that these historiansRead MoreEssay on Primary Sources for the Salem Witch Trials1731 Words   |  7 Pagescases of witch-hunting/trails and ultimate executions. 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