What Caused the Salem Witch Trials?

The scandalous Salem Witch Trials commenced in the late 17th century in Massachusetts (Martin, 2012). This occurred after a crowd of young girls from Salem Village asserted that they had been controlled by the devil thus accusing some local women of being the responsible witchcrafts. Close to 200 persons were suspect of witchcraft and when the trials ended, nineteen people had been sentenced to death by hanging and execution (Martin, 2012). Historians approve that the Witch Trials resulted from mass panic there some theories exist that best describes the causes of the disastrous proceedings in America’s history.

To begin with, it is cited that boredom was a primary cause. One philosophy notes that it all began since the village girls were bored since there was not much to be done. More so, the Puritans held some rather strict beliefs which restrained different sorts of entertainment for everyone. For girls, the situation was worse since the restrictions were more serious than those of men (History, 2016). These people were mainly involved in telling and listening to stories which incorporated those of witchcraft.

The other cause was the resilient belief in the existence of witchcraft and sorceresses. Based on their belief, sorceresses were mainly in collaboration with the evil spirit which offered them the power of causing harm (History, 2016). They were mainly suspected of being the source of all misfortunes ranging from drought to illnesses. Based on this belief and the associated explanations the villages believed that sorcery was an actual threat that caused panic (History, 2016).

More so, the existence of disputes, competitions and individual differences fueled the events. Most of those that had been accused of sorcery held unsettled differences with those that accused them or were mainly perceived as a threat to those to the set standards by Puritans (History, 2016). In addition, most of the accused were those that failed to strictly adhere to the set customs, beliefs as well as practices which forced the villages to unite to fight them.

The cold weather theory also explains the cause of the events (History, 2016). In that, based on this theory, the Witch trials may have a connection with the cold weather which mostly involves chase for something or an individual to blame for the experienced problems such as agricultural failure. This theory is backed up by historical reports which depict that the period during the trials was especially cold which was not normal and caused major social and economic challenges (History, 2016).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

History, Lists. (2016). Possible Causes of the Salem Witch Trials. Retrieved from http://historylists.org/events/list-of-5-possible-causes-of-the-salem-witch-trials.html

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Martin, M. (2012). The Salem Witch Trials. Oxford: Raintree.

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