Salem Witch Trials Essay Example

Salem Witch Trials Superstition and witchcraft resulted in many being hanged or in prison. In the seventeenth century, a belief in witches and witchcraft was an agreed upon opinion. In Salem Massachusetts where the witch trials took place many people that were suspicious were accused of witchcraft and hanged. The Salem witch trials changed many peoples lives and even lead to death for many. There is really no one cause for the events that took place during the Salem witch trials. A combination of different events and factors helped lead to the beginning of the trials. What caused the Salem witch trials of 1692 to begin? Although this might seem like an easy question, it does not have a simple answer. Many different perspectives are taken into account therefore ending in various different answers. Some of the main factors that helped influence and create the trials were politics, religion, family feuds, economics, and the imagination and fear of different people. Many had strong beliefs that Satan was acting in the world. Such satanic acts included disease, natural catastrophes, and bad fortune which all attributed to the work of the devil. Another cause was a belief that Satan recruits witches and wizards to work for him. A time of troubles contributed to the causes making it seem likely that Satan was active. Such troubles consisted of smallpox, congregational strife in Salem village, and frontier wars with the Indians. Having no television, no CD's, and lots of bible reading along with strict and humorless households contributed to teenage boredom which could have been another cause for witchcraft. During this time period it was said to believe that women were starting to have a higher power then men. Therefore many historians believe that the charges of witchcraft were a way of controlling the women who actually threatened the power of men. A major cause of the Salem witchcraft trials was superstition. The Puritans in Salem had even more