Salem Witch Trials In Religion

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The Massachusetts Bay Experiment was deeply grounded in religion. The Puritans wished to create a God fulfilling paradise, or, as John Winthrop stated, they wanted to create a “city on a hill.”[1]In effort to establish this bliss, they dedicated their lives to God, completely submerging themselves into their faith. Soon, the Puritans became an extremely close society as they had been spending hours with one another at the daily service. The Puritans became dependent upon the church, as whenever a complication was to arise they would look to the church for a solution. Thus, it is understandable that the Witch Trials in the Massachusetts area would create such delirium. Though many historians have attributed the cause of the Salem Witch…show more content…
In the interrogation of suspected witches many of the questions were focused upon the devil and various religious points. During the trial of Sarah Good, March 1st, 1692 she was asked questions like, “Sarah Good what evil spirit have you familiarity with,” as well as “have you made no contract with the devil,” this reveals a religious structure, that was a base to the trials [2]. Another example would be the Mary East trial in April of 1692 during which she was asked, “how far have you complied with Satan whereby he takes this .advantage at you.” Simple convulsions, spasmodic fit, and “which-marks”- an indication of the devil-served as evidence of witchcraft. A clear depiction of accusers inspecting for witch-marks is the painting of “Examination of a Witch,” in the painting a women is being thoroughly examined, any mark on her body may be used as evidence to be accused. To the deeply religious Puritans, who wished to purge themselves and their society of all sin, such obscure evidence gave reason for…show more content…
Within the hundreds that were accused, a number of them were not of the same faith. For example, the West Indian servant Tituba was one of those to be accused. Throughout the Witch Trial records, Tituba is recognized as “Tituba an Indian Woman servant.”[3] She was seen as different in faith as well as race. In the trial of Sarah Good emphasis of religion is clearly demonstrated in her interrogation. During which she was asked questions like, “what god doe serve” showing the significance of denomination. Furthermore, without religion, pure jealousy of economic achievement and intolerance of independent women could not have caused the Salem Witch
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