Who Was To Blame For The Salem Witch Trials

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There are many misconceptions the witch trials. Some of the biggest ones are that the witch trials targeted women exclusively, the church was to blame for it, and that millions of people were killed by being burned at the stake. Although most of the victims were women there were men who were accused. There was also no particular church to blame for the trials, although christianity was the basis for it. It was a time period that many believed Satan was “active” with disease and natural disaster running rampant. Now, the Salem witch trials does not refer to the witch trials as a whole, which was a phenomenon across europe that affect and killed much more than the trials in Salem. In Salem, people were hanged, not burned. They were not burned most of the time in Europe, either.…show more content…
The aforementioned belief belief that Satan was “active” is one of the causes that fed the hysteria, along with the belief that he recruits “witches” to do his bidding. It was also believed that there were “symptoms” to being a witch, many of which could have easily been faked. Tituba’s, one of the accused witches, “confession” invoked many of the villager’s imaginations and urged them to believe in witchcraft. Other witches also “confessed” for the same reason as Tituba, to become an informer and avoid death. Old feuds, especially over property, seems to be a common cause of charging others for witchcraft. In addition, some the town’s government used the ordeal to distraction from their own failures in war. The witch trials is an example on how we should safeguard and improve our justice

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