The Salem Witch Trials Essay - 1292 Words

The Salem Witch Trials is one of many events in America that will always be remembered, but not in a good way. People look back and think of all the rather terrible things that occurred in the town of Salem. The Salem witch trials happened in 1692 through 1693 and was a series of people being accused of witchcraft. More than two hundred innocent people were accused with practicing witchcraft and 20 were wrongfully executed. Eventually the town of Salem said that the trials were a terrible mistake and regretted what they have done to all the people they wronged. The worst part is that everyone that was accused and pleaded innocent turned up to be guilty and wasn t able to prove themselves otherwise. The problem they had back then was that†¦show more content†¦Moving to America also allowed them to have freedom with religion because if the government questions their actions the government is accused with questioning the divine authority. As you may know puritans live for the church and christian beliefs. At this time puritans have extremely strict rules and moral codes that they have to follow. Anything that went against the code would be considered a sin and they would get punished. God s wrath was strongly believed and puritans would do anything to never experience it because to receive god s wrath you’ve done something unforgivable (Blumberg). Puritans also thought that Satan was also as real as God. If someone strayed from the puritan ways they would be on the path to Satan. This is why the witch scare was taken very seriously because others thought that they were consulting with Satan and had to be punished. According to the puritans being a witch was the ultimate sin anyone could ever commit, which would be punishable by death. There were many so called tests that would prove if someone was a witch or not. The most common way was eye witness testimonies which is where someone would tell the council that they saw someone practicing black magic. That would be enough for the accused to be arrested and tried for witchcraft even if they did no such thing. Another way was bound submersion which is where