Salem, Massachusetts Is A Coastal City First Settled By Europeans

They claimed that many members of the agricultural/middle class, were mainly located in Salem Village. Most notably the Putnam family, who were threatened by the economic and political connections of the more affluent Salem Town. This included the famous Porter family. Salem Village was trying to distance itself from the Town by establishing its own church. Those who lived in the Village with relations to the Town were seen as threats to the Village’s freedom. Because of this the majority of the accusers were from the Village and the majority of the accused lived in the western side of the Village near the Town. George Jacobs Sr.'s son, George, was a good friend of the Porters. This made the family vulnerable to accusations, especially from the

xi). “The residents of Salem were after all, Puritans, which means they viewed their community not just as a group of individuals, but as a single entity united under God” (Possible Causes… Par.3). The social tension caused by the differing opinions on the separation of the village from Salem Town strongly contradicted their religious ideals that they were all supposed to be as one. The farming people in Salem Village thought that the thriving economy of the harbor in Salem Town made it far to individualistic (Sutter Par.3).

Salem, Massachusetts became famously known for the witch trials that took place in the late 1600’s. For the men and women residing in Salem, Massachusetts it was a time in which they lived in fear of allegations and deceit. Twenty men and women lost their lives during what is known as the Salem Witchcraft Hysteria. Socioeconomic tensions within the community are to blame for the witchcraft hysteria in Salem, Massachusetts during the late 1600’s. Factors such as politics, religion, and social status all played a role in the deadly and devastating era.

Putnam is a high ranking individual in the village of Salem due to the large amount of land he owns, which makes him very wealthy by comparison to the average Salem resident. Putnam has resentment for Reverend Parris because Putnam’s brother-in-law, Reverend Bailee, had applied to be minister of Salem, but did not get the position, which was a massive blow to Putnam’s ego. Thus, there is a great deal of conflict between Reverend Parris and the village due to his concern for self preservation, his sermons which scare the congregation, and the resentment towards him from a high ranking member of Salem society.

The purpose of this book was to examine the history and social life of Salem Village to try to figure out what was the cause of the events that occurred there. I believe that the authors achieved their objective at least they did to me. Boyer and Nissenbaum's explanation for the outbreak of witchcraft accusations in Salem hinges on an understanding of the economic,

Salem was one of the larger towns of the Massachusetts Bay area. It was first occupied by in 1626, and was originally called Naumkeag; a word that derived

During the time period of 1691 to 1692 the town of Salem, a small thriving community within the Puritan Massachusetts Bay colony, was struck by widespread hysteria in the form of witch trials. The way these trials and accusations played out are historically unlike any other witch trials found in European and American history. Historians have pointed to a number of economic, political, and social changes of the then existing institutions throughout the Massachusetts Bay area to be the cause of the Salem witch trials, along with the direction they took. If studied closely however, it becomes apparent that the main cause for the Salem witch trials can be found in the way the people of Salem viewed and

In 1692 the area of Salem town and Salem village became very vulnerable to conflict. Severe weather such as hurricanes had damaged land and crops, the effects of King Phillips War began to impact New England society, and colonists were being forced off of the frontiers by Native peoples. The Church and the government were in heavy conflict. And those residing in Salem began to grow suspicious of one another when some prospered and others hadn’t (Marcus, p13).

In the winter of 1628-1629 Massachusetts was a dark and reveling place. Puritans colonized Salem in 1628. It was the beginning of Massachusetts Bay Colonies. Salem was being considered as the largest trial American history has seen (Hoffer), a place of devil worship and deception. Many English protestants, also known as Puritans were being accused of witchcraft and worshiping the devil. Witchcraft was known as giving the devil permission to go into that person’s body, take their shape and go around harming other people. As hysteria spread, more women were hearing of this matter, a witch-hunt began in the village of Salem.

Colonial Massachusetts in the late 1600s was very complex. The small colony consisted of mainly puritans, who had come to escape from the Church of England. Puritans believed that those chosen by God to be saved — the elect — would experience "conversion." In this process, God would reveal to the individual His grace, and the person would know he was saved. One of the many issues within the society was religion. A very big problem that would cause a lot of tension and problems later on was witchcraft. The Salem witchcraft hysteria started because of personal jealousies, it targeted those who went against puritan beliefs, and it was an explanation of all the weird things happening.

The town of Salem, Massachusetts in 1692 was very separated by wealth and political power. The non wealthy people living in the west side of salem were jealous of the wealthy people living on the east side of Salem. The non wealthy people were mad that they had hard jobs with very little pay and the East side had easy jobs with good pay. Political power was very important too because the East side had more power which also made them have more money. On the other hand the West side of salem had very little political power in which made them have very little

First of all, Salem itself was not a single town. Salem village, where the trials took place, was a poorer agrarian community contrasted by the wealthier merchants of Salem Town. In Salem, the community supported two very large families. “(Salem Village) was

The weather in Salem was varying and could frequently wipe out the year’s crops; effectively ensuring families could not support themselves (Scott). This in addition, to the decrease in land size of the village during this time period (Doc 2) incentivized those who could to garner more land. Those who accused most often were the ones who profited from the accused, they would gain property from the “witches” (Linder). Those within Salem were incentivized to turn on their neighbors so that they might inherit their property. Those who accused were oftentimes wealthier families and individuals (Doc 5), this kept the power in the hands of those who already possessed it. This concentrated the power of the village in those who owned property and made it easier for the wealthier to accuse the impoverished or working class—this effectively split the

According to the in-class notes, “anxiety affected Salem greatly on two levels”. The first is political and the second is social. Over the years, Massachusetts, Plymouth, and Main were combined, and the population of the new colony was less similar and religiously single-minded than the original Puritan colony was. “Class tensions; regional hostilities imported from England… teenage hysteria, political instability; trauma induced by Indian attacks” (Schiff, 4). The changes that they faced, attached with the fear of attacks by the Indians, made the world more unsettling. Along with this, other tensions engrossed Salem. The residents of Salem were divided into two main parts. The Salem Town and the Salem Village. The residents of the Salem Village were mostly underprivileged farmers that made their living by cultivating crops, and most of the residents living in the Salem Town were wealthy merchants.

To have a clear understanding of what happened in Salem, one must first understand the Puritans. This group of people greatly disagreed with the ways of the Church of England and desired to “purify” their religion. Their main desire was to be more doctrinally sound in their teaching, and to have more religious freedom. It is from them, that we have modern day Baptists. But to accomplish this, they departed from England and moved to Massachusetts. Originally, they were located in Plymouth, but over the course of time, the group began separating into different parts of Massachusetts. In 1606 Salem was founded, and this is where the Witch Trials occurred.