Why The Puritans Really Came To America?
Introduction Prior to the Salem witch trials, stranges happenings occurred in Salem. Lacking the knowledge we have today the citizens blamed these events on illogical perpetrators. Some of these perpetrators were other people, which lead to the witch trials themselves. To explain odd occurrences going on in Salem, the citizens looked to witchcraft as the cause as the people of Salem put a strong emphasis on religion and spiritual beliefs.
Puritan History One of the main reasons for the first settlers traveling to America was to seek religious freedom. The Puritans came into existence when Protestant reformers sought to reform or “purify” the Catholic church. When the Puritans saw that little difference was being made a group called the Separatists broke off of the Puritans and decided to start fresh by coming to what would today be America (Why the Pilgrims Really Came to America).With a new life these now called Pilgrims were able to practice what they pleased, given such freedom one can see why they took religion so seriously. They were previously forced to …show more content…
abide by what the Church of England had proclaimed, but now they are free. Using their freedom the Puritans set up their own church appropriately named “The First Church in Salem”(The First Church in Salem, Unitarian). The Puritans founded this church in as a sign of their newly secured religious freedom.
Witch Trials Historians claim that the first event in the Salem witch trials was when a group of young girls, of one of these girls was Abigail Williams, started to display odd behaviors such as seizures and screaming .
Physicians were brought in to examine the girls but could not a find a definite reason why this was happening. As mentioned before, since religion was a big part of life in Salem the citizens turned to religious matters to explain why this was happening (The Salem Witch Trials, 1692). The Michigan State University website page about religious aspects of puritanism states “The Puritan lifestyle was influenced heavily by the church and Christian beliefs. According to Discovery Education, ‘Church was the cornerstone of the mainly Puritan society of the 17th century’”. Using religious points of view, the people had claimed that witches had invaded Salem and that the devil was influencing this group of
girls. The citizens of Salem gathered in prayer in order to try and rid their town of the phenomenon they believed was going on. Religion being such as major aspect in the Salem society that everyone clung to this belief that there were spiritual beings in the vicinity (Salem Witch Trials, 1692). The ridding of this idea wasn’t helped when the girls started to name the “witches” who were causing them to act the way they did.
Conclusion
The main causes of the Salem witch trials can be can be summed up into two main factors: lack of modern knowledge and a strong dedication to religion. However, one should not simply dismiss this a simple misunderstanding as it shows what people can do when they are affected by fear.
Puritan History One of the main reasons for the first settlers traveling to America was to seek religious freedom. The Puritans came into existence when Protestant reformers sought to reform or “purify” the Catholic church. When the Puritans saw that little difference was being made a group called the Separatists broke off of the Puritans and decided to start fresh by coming to what would today be America (Why the Pilgrims Really Came to America).With a new life these now called Pilgrims were able to practice what they pleased, given such freedom one can see why they took religion so seriously. They were previously forced to …show more content…
abide by what the Church of England had proclaimed, but now they are free. Using their freedom the Puritans set up their own church appropriately named “The First Church in Salem”(The First Church in Salem, Unitarian). The Puritans founded this church in as a sign of their newly secured religious freedom.
Witch Trials Historians claim that the first event in the Salem witch trials was when a group of young girls, of one of these girls was Abigail Williams, started to display odd behaviors such as seizures and screaming .
Physicians were brought in to examine the girls but could not a find a definite reason why this was happening. As mentioned before, since religion was a big part of life in Salem the citizens turned to religious matters to explain why this was happening (The Salem Witch Trials, 1692). The Michigan State University website page about religious aspects of puritanism states “The Puritan lifestyle was influenced heavily by the church and Christian beliefs. According to Discovery Education, ‘Church was the cornerstone of the mainly Puritan society of the 17th century’”. Using religious points of view, the people had claimed that witches had invaded Salem and that the devil was influencing this group of
girls. The citizens of Salem gathered in prayer in order to try and rid their town of the phenomenon they believed was going on. Religion being such as major aspect in the Salem society that everyone clung to this belief that there were spiritual beings in the vicinity (Salem Witch Trials, 1692). The ridding of this idea wasn’t helped when the girls started to name the “witches” who were causing them to act the way they did.
Conclusion
The main causes of the Salem witch trials can be can be summed up into two main factors: lack of modern knowledge and a strong dedication to religion. However, one should not simply dismiss this a simple misunderstanding as it shows what people can do when they are affected by fear.