Dbq Salem Witch Trials

During the Spring of 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts, panic was spreading over the rising accusations of affiliation with the occult and witchcraft (Goss 1). Salem contained many persons of the Puritan belief, and therefore had a strong affirmation in God and the devil. Along with the belief of these ethereal beings, the townspeople also had a long-held belief in the occult and spirits, which began in as early as the fourteenth century (Goss 2). Puritan belief held dark magic accountable for the bad luck and death revolving around the town, and when witchcraft or black magic was brought into light, the townspeople went into hysteria trying to eradicate every aspect of sin from Salem (Goodheart 1). The mass hysteria all began with a group of young …show more content…
The town set into place their own court system for dealing with those being tried for witchcraft, and the first ever convicted woman was hung in June of 1692 (Goss 16). Increasingly more witches that were tried and punished pointed to others as being in the occult as well. An outbreak of rumors and false reports began, and any act committed by a woman could be thought to be an act of witchcraft. However, regardless of proof or factual evidence, many innocent women and a few men were burned at the stake or murdered on the premise they were practicing witchcraft or coinciding with the devil. The Salem Witch Trials was a very gruesome and infamous hunt of witches, many whom were women which caused a mass hysteria over religion and societal structure (Goss 14). The Salem Witch Trials mainly focused the hunt among women who were corrupt or possessed, but these prosecutions were based not on factual evidence of witchcraft, but instead societal structures that were broken, the role of women at the time, and widespread change amongst the colonies in Salem, …show more content…
Women were seen to be caregivers in the societal structure of Salem (Goodheart 2). Women were not allowed to be in a prestigious role in the community, nor were they allowed to provide for the family. The households of Salem were patriarchal, and did not allow the women to have any power over the husband or father (Goodheart 2). Women were to be properly dressed and covered to prevent men from lusting over them, and anyone deviating outside of the moral standards of dress were seen to be harlots, or prostitutes (Goss 15). Many of the proposed reasons someone could be a witch was developed by a man named Cotton Mather. He believed that women could be linked to evil, and any sign of unordinary behavior such as talking to oneself or hallucinating was being a witch (Mather 1). Cotton Mather was a strong believer in witchcraft and was an important Minister in Salem. However, towards the end of the trials, Mathers changed his viewpoints, and believed that more innocent was being tried than actual witches (Goss 25). However, his views on what made a woman a witch were very important in the wrongful convictions of these women. He put in place the idea that women could assess magical powers, and what symptoms a woman would have if she was a witch. If a woman diverted from the social

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Salem Witch Trials DBQ