Salem Witch Trials: Accusations Rooted in Social Disparities

The book Witches! The Absolutely True Tale Of Disaster In Salem by Rosalyn Schanzer is about the Salem Witch Trials. In January 1692, three women were accused of being witches by two girls who claimed to be “tortured” by them. More and more women and men were accused for about a year until the trials stopped. Overall, more than 200 people were accused, but why? There had to be a reason for these people to be accused. Some of the top reasons for people to be accused of witchcraft were poorness, feuds or revenge, and different opinions/beliefs.
One main reason for accusing a person could be because they were poor. People like Sarah Good were accused. “-for early in February a homeless woman named Sarah Good came knocking at Parris’s door, begging for food for her baby and her four-year-old daughter...Were her words curses, the king that caused crops to fail and

livestock to die?”(Schanzer 22). Would girls who were having the convulsions accuse someone just because they are poor? “The family was regarded as a nuisance to the town, and by 1692 they were virtually beggars”(Sarah Good). Apparently the whole town fervently disliked poor people. However, the people of Salem could have disliked Sarah Good for her attitude because she is described as “ an ungrateful, pipe-smoking beggar. She had to be a witch”(Schanzer 28). Either way, they thought that Sarah Good was horrid.
Another reason for witch accusations could be feuds or revenge in families.

One example of a person accused because of revenge is George Burroughs. George Burroughs was a well liked minister, “-most everybody liked and respected their minister, a short, strong, dark-haired man named George Burroughs with a history of performing heroic deeds for his neighbors” (Schanzer 63). But the Putnam family had a feud with Burroughs over money that he owed, so they never liked him, and the witch accusations gave them a chance to accuse him of being a wizard. “If the Putnams and others every laid plans to ensnare any one person in the course of the witch-hunt, that person was [George] Burroughs”(Revenge in Salem). So soon enough, Ann Putnam claimed to see an apparition of the minister. Ann even claimed that the man had told her “he was above a witch, he was a conjurer”(Schanzer 66). However, Ann Putnam could have just been running out of people to accuse. It is not for sure that she was accusing him just for revenge or because of a feud. She could have just been an imp trying to get attention by accusing someone

popular.
The last reason for witch accusations different opinions or beliefs. An example of this was Mary Warren. Mary Warren, a former accuser herself, claimed that “she had been lying when she accused people of being witches...the other’s girls’ fits were faked”(Schanzer 53). But since she had a different belief than everyone else, they accused her of being a witch. Even though she recanted, no one else liked her anymore because they strongly believed that witches were real. Probably some people knew that it was the truth, but they did not like that she was disagreeing. “[John Proctor] believed it as nonsense and threatened to beat Warren if she didn’t behave.”(Mary Warren). It was brave of Warren to try to make restitution in Salem by confessing, but she was accused for it. Her comments were unheeded. However, maybe they accused her because they thought her confessing meant she was trying to protect her “witch” friends. Since she didn’t want to be accused she decided to act afflicted again-“Yet as soon as Proctor left home on business shortly after, Warren’s fits returned and she joined the ongoing witch trials as a witness,”(Mary Warren).
There were many reasons why a person could be accused of witchcraft, like poorness, feuds or revenge, or different beliefs or opinions. However, some of the people could have been accused just because they weren’t accusing others. Or maybe people were accused just because the accusers felt the had to accuse others to not be accused. The common thread in all these accusations is that they all were unfair and unjust, and caused many killings and town-wide spread of fear. The outcasts of the town were normally the ones who were accused. This is important to know so that we can understand why the people of Salem accused others and so that we can make sure it doesn’t happen again.