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Puritans/salem witch trials
How does fear affect the mccarthy era in the crucible
Puritans/salem witch trials
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Fear is inevitable. Throughout McCarthyism and the Salem Witch Trials there was a constant panic. People did not know if they were going to be accused next. Fear can cause people to tell lies, manipulate others, and The Salem Witch Trials caused mass hysteria. If anything unusual happened, it was ruled to be the work of the devil. When someone was accused of being a witch, they were jailed. If they could not prove their innocence, they could confess to being a witch, or be hung. “Confession seems foolhardy to a defendant who is certain of his or her innocence.” (I don’t remember how to cite stuff: Witchcraft in Salem, USHistory.org). If they confessed, they would spend the rest of their life in prison. In order to avoid being hanged, people
The Salem witch craft trials are the most learned about and notable of Europe's and North America's witch hunts. Its notoriety and fame comes from the horrendous amount of people that were not only involved, but killed in the witch hunt and that it took place in the late 1700's being one of the last of all witch hunts. The witch craft crises blew out of control for several reasons. Firstly, Salem town was facing hard economic times along with disease and famine making it plausible that the only explanation of the town's despoilment was because of witches and the devil. As well, with the stimulation of the idea of witch's from specific constituents of the town and adolescent boredom the idea of causing entertainment among the town was an ever intriguing way of passing time.
The Salem Witch trials were when hundreds of citizens of Salem, Massachusetts were put on trial for devil-worship or witchcraft and more than 20 were executed in 1692. This is an example of mass religion paranoia. The whole ordeal began in the home of Reverend Samuel Parris. People soon began to notice strange behavior from Parris’s slave, Tituba, and his daughters. Many claimed to have seen Parris’s daughters doing back magic dances in the woods, and fall to the floor screaming hysterically. Not so long after, this strange behavior began to spread across Salem.
During the time of the Salem Witchcraft Trials of 1692, more than twenty people died an innocent death. All of those innocent people were accused of one thing, witchcraft. During 1692, in the small town of Salem, Massachusetts many terrible events happened. A group of Puritans lived in Salem during this time. They had come from England, where they were prosecuted because of their religious beliefs. They chose to come live in America and choose their own way to live. They were very strict people, who did not like to act different from others. They were also very simple people who devoted most of their lives to God. Men hunted for food and were ministers. Women worked at home doing chores like sewing, cooking, cleaning, and making clothes. The Puritans were also very superstitious. They believed that the devil would cause people to do bad things on earth by using the people who worshiped him. Witches sent out their specters and harmed others. Puritans believed by putting heavy chains on a witch, that it would hold down their specter. Puritans also believed that by hanging a witch, all the people the witch cast a spell on would be healed. Hysteria took over the town and caused them to believe that their neighbors were practicing witchcraft. If there was a wind storm and a fence was knocked down, people believed that their neighbors used witchcraft to do it. Everyone from ordinary people to the governor’s wife was accused of witchcraft. Even a pregnant woman and the most perfect puritan woman were accused. No one in the small town was safe. As one can see, the chaotic Salem Witchcraft Trials of 1692 were caused by superstition, the strict puritan lifestyle, religious beliefs, and hysteria.
Year 1692, Hundreds of people, accused with the conviction of witchcraft, stoned to death, or in confinement with no justice trials. “From June through September of 1692, nineteen men and women, all having been convicted of witchcraft, were carted to Gallows Hill, a barren slope near Salem Village, for hanging” (The Salem Witchcraft Trials of 1692) What caused the mass hysteria and disaster of Salem; for, the answer is unknown. Yet, many events and factors had contributed to the accusations, the punishments, and the confessions of the sentenced. Many colonists in Massachusetts were puritans, seeking religious tolerance. Ironically, the Puritan code was strict and disciplined. Dress was dictated to the church and the public were anticipated
When panic and fear ensue within a community the line between fact and lie often muddle together, only adding to the hysteria. This can be displayed by the society of lies and fear within America during the Red Scare and Salem Witch Trials, as displayed in The Crucible. In particular the Red Scare was fronted with massive propaganda campaigns that pushed false information, “I have here in my hand a list of two hundred and five that were known to the Secretary of State as being members of the communist party and who. … shaping the policy of the state department”( I have here in my hand). The president here adds volatility to the claims of soviet spies being within the government.The reinforced scare and fear tactics pushed by every aspect of the government, including the president, enforces the idea that everyone should everyone else to be a threat. This is false evidence and only continues a trend of ignorance only creating more distrust and fear waslt it legitimized the claims. This is also evident in The Crucible when so many of the girls have solidified the claims of witchcraft and startled the town into thinking the devil was within salem. They are able to lie successfully many times over and hide the truth to wreak havoc on the town. Because of the false claims of witchery and devil worship proven in the courts of
Once the accusations began, many innocent people in the community were taken away. They were then either forced to admit that they were witches, to free themselves from a public hanging, or deny that they were witches, saving their integrity, but subjecting themselves to an unjust public hanging.
Salem Massachusetts became the center of a horrible tragedy, which changed the life of many people. It was a hard time, because of the bad crops and diseases. The people in Salem had to blame someone or something. This people accused innocent people by calling them witches. They were accused by having contact with the devil, hurting people, to pinch people on their bodies and more. These actions were result of hysteria. Maybe those extraneous symptoms were result of an illness or bacteria. On the Bible says “thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.” This mean that any type of witch or curse will not live, so I think that quote or versus in the Bible want to explain that we need to fight against the devil, those people who are practicing witchcraft need to be light, to be with God. Those people were confused because is not necessary to kill innocent people and the Bible says that if someone kills is a sin.
To better understand the events of the Salem witch trials, it is necessary to understand the time period in which the accusations of witchcraft occurred. There were the ordinary stresses of 17th-century life in Massachusetts Bay Colony. A strong belief in the devil, factions among Salem Village fanatics, and rivalry with nearby Salem Town all played a part in the stress. There was also a recent small pox epidemic and the threat of an attack by warring tribes created a fertile ground for fear and suspicion. Soon prisons were filled with more than 150 men and women from towns surrounding Salem.
The Salem Witchcraft Trials of 1692 were the largest outbreak of witch hunting in colonial New England up to that time. Although it was the largest outbreak, it was not something that was new. Witch-hunting had been a part of colonial New England since the formation of the colonies. Between the years 1648 to 1663, approximately 15 witches were executed. During the winter of 1692 to February of 1693, approximately 150 citizens were accused of being witches and about 25 of those died, either by hanging or while in custody. There is no one clear-cut answer to explain why this plague of accusations happened but rather several that must be examined and tied together. First, at the same time the trials took place, King William's War was raging in present day Maine between the colonists and the Wabanaki Indians with the help of the French. Within this war, many brutal massacres took place on both sides, leaving orphaned children due to the war that had endured very traumatic experiences. Second, many of the witch accusations were based on spectral evidence, most of which were encounters of the accused appearing before the victim and "hurting" them. There were rampant "visions" among the colonies' citizens, which can only be explained as hallucinations due to psychological or medical conditions by virtue of disease, or poisoning.
What caused the Salem Witch Trials? This question has been asked for hundreds of years, yet the world still isn't sure of the answer. The only statement that can be proven is that there were multiple causes (salemwitchtrials.com). No one factor pushed the trials into existence. Even simple things, like fear, took a part in the overall cause. To this day, scientists and researchers alike still argue over the answer to this riddling question.
For centuries the Salem witch trials have astonished historians, and people in general. People were executed based on accusations of being a witch. People were afraid of being accused. Chaos continued to ensue as neighbors, friends, and family turned against one another. The very people who lived under the same roof turned around accused their own flesh and blood of witchcraft. The events that occurred during the Witchcraft crisis would claim the lives of nearly 20 men and women via execution. Witchcraft was considered a capital crime and anyone accused was tried and potentially executed. The only escape from execution was to confess. Several girls, women, and even men stood at the center of a pivotal event in history. There is no real answer
There are some events in history that put the human race to shame; however, these occasions can change our future forever. Society cannot deny that social injustices occur almost every day, maybe even more than once. One large blemish in our history, the Salem Witch Trials, alienated a certain group in our society. These trials were an unfortunate combination of economic conditions, a flock’s strife, teenage boredom, and personal jealousies.
... Fear makes people do things they normally would not. Because of fear, people overlook things they normally would notice immediately, especially in the case of something being moral or immoral. McCarthy was described as "paranoid" and for whom ".life was a series of conspiracies, the most fiendish of which were directed at him.
The witch trial in Salem, Massachusetts that occurred in February 1692 to May 1693, were there version of accusations based on malicious intentions. Such as the world is today by branding individuals with racism or those coming from a particular area with poverty, by labeling them as criminals and murderers. The price of those who were accused of being witches had serious repercussions, such as losing their wealth, their social profile crumbling in front of their eyes, and worst of all was death by hanging. During the Salem witch trials women had less authority during the Puritan society, they were devalued and were seen as human sacrifices in order to keep harmony in the community. Their lack of authority occurred because many men felt that God was viewed as male, did not want females to established feminine authority that could challenge the faith they followed or the principles they follow since birth.
The Salem Witch Trials began in Massachusetts around 1692 and lasted till 1693. People started to get accused of practicing witchcraft which was known as “Devil’s magic” to the point where it was thought that nearly 200 colonist might be in the practice. Many religious people, most of which stood by the Christian faith, assumed that the Devil himself could give people the power to hurt others way of life in exchange for their loyalty.