Causes of the Salem Witch Trials

Joseph Ng

In the 1600’s, people living in Salem were Puritans. There were many causes for the Salem Witchcraft Trials. It was a Puritan society. Puritan beliefs gave people the idea that if one wasn’t devoted enough to God, then they must be devoted to the Devil. The belief in witchcraft caused people to be alarmed of the Devil. Also, personal conflicts and resentment between the two communities in Salem caused the Salem Witch Trials. Because of these factors, twenty innocent people were killed.

Religion was a big part of people’s lives. Puritan society was overwhelmingly strict, and critical. Puritans had a lot of rules to live by, and everything had to be pure and tasteless. There was little to live for, and there were little privileges. Also, there was little or no privacy within the society or in their houses. "… Community was an entire living organism living under a covenant with God." What people did would either help or hurt their reputation.

The belief in witchcraft also affected the trials. "Witchcraft was traditionally defined as misfortune caused by a magical adult agency, overwhelmingly in women." Witchcraft can vary from "causing cheese to spoil to the family cow drying up, to actually causing the deaths of people." Also, whatever that was unexplainable would be blamed on witchcraft. Witchcraft was the basis of the trials, but it was the accusations and the belief that it existed that started it.

Salem was a divided community. It was divided into Salem Town and Salem Village. The two communities were different socially and economically, but the same politically. The villagers had to travel to the Town to worship because the Village didn’t have their own place to worship. The villagers wanted it’s own place to worship, but since the Town receives taxes from the villagers, the Town naturally tried to stop them. The villagers finally got their own minister in Samuel Parris, however he didn’t receive full support. He only received support from one faction, and because of tax and other issues, there was animosity, and either they were Pro, or Anti Parris. In the divided community, the western half of the village accused the eastern half of the village of witchcraft.

There were many reasons for the Salem Witch Trials. The Salem Witch Trials were a result of the society (puritan), the belief of witchcraft, and the enmity between the communities.