The Salem Witchtrial in 1692 was a very mistake in the American history that cause 20 innocent people died from a bias court decision. The main causes of it were sexism, the belief of witchcraft, the village rivalries and the corrupting Salem. among these four causes, two are still exist in and affecting our society today. the traditional Puritan values may contributed to these four causes.
Sexism is the sexual discrimination. Most of times, it is against female. Back in 1600s, people in New England had negative sights on women. Some laws even clearly denied women to inherit their husbands' property, because "the female property owners upset the Puritan social order". The afflicted person could easily accuse those woman with possession of properties, and people would simply believe him/her. Even today, sexism still exists, but not quiet a serious problem. Some people would still believe man is better than woman, and most cursing words are used against female.
The superstitious Puritan believe made the church had too much power, and made the theory of witchcraft uncontested. It also depressed people and contributed to some of their strange behaviors. When te strange acts appeared, people would think they had been conjured. Somebody must be working for the devil, and because of sexism, that must be a witch in town.
The political rivalries in Salem also caused the witchtrial. A person might seize the chance to get rid of their opponents. the western villagers and easter villagers are two groups that are against each other. the western village (Salem Village) was an agricultural village that needed farm land. As the generations go on, less land can be divided to brothers, they developed resentment toward the eastern village (Salem Town). However, people in Salem town depend on the tax they collect from Salem village, so they did not want Salem village to be independent. From the numbers of people accused and the people testified in the court, we can see that westerner were accusing their rivals. Today, politicians attack each other are still very common in the world.
The causes of Salem witchcraft case had been caused by sexism, beliefs in witchcraft, and political rivalries. the influence of Puritan value surely contributed to those causes. As the society became more open, the situation improved, but they somewhat still exist today.