Salem Witch Trials Dbq Essay

639 Words2 Pages

Between June 10 and September 22, 1692, 20 people were hanged in Salem after being accused of witchcraft. The trials began with a group of young girls claiming to be possessed by the devil, accusing local women of being witches and conducting their witchcraft on them. Within Puritan societies, there were very strict gender roles and religious beliefs, along with extreme economic tensions all contributed into the chaos of the Salem Witch Trials. Within Puritan society, women were thought of as less than men which would have caused them to want to seek out and gain attention, therefore having importance in their community. Young girls in particular were making these accusations and spreading the hysteria around. Women would go to the extremes …show more content…

Puritans, for example, believed strongly in God and the Devil. These views may have led them to believe that the Devil was what was causing all of the hysteria and witchcraft in Salem. Document C is an expert from Cotton Mather which states “go tell mankind that there are devils and witches...New England has had examples of their existence” which shows he believes there are witches in Salem that may have been brought upon by the Devil. Mather was thought of very highly in Salem and much of his beliefs and ideas are what everyone followed. He was a Puritan and had very strong beliefs in God and the Devil. Since his word was thought of so highly it may have caused people to help him in spreading false rumors about what was happening due to how they felt about God and the Devil. “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live” (A) displays another point of witchcraft being a religious matter. This quote appears in Exodus 22:18 within King James version of the bible as part of the first 10 commandments. Since at this point there was no separation between church and state, this Exodus may have translated into society and caused the finger pointing to begin, which only lead to continued

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