Salem Witch Trials Cause And Effect Essay

A dark time in American history in the late sixteenth hundreds when men and women were believed to be in the mist of evil sprits. The Salem witch trials were a chain of trials against supposed witches in Salem Massachusetts. The initial event that started the beliefs was when the Betty, the ten year old daughter of Reverend Samuel Parris and his niece, eleven year old Abigail began to have sudden uncontrollable bodily convulsions which mimicked demonic actions; which led Parris, ministers, and the local doctor to believe that the cause was witchcraft. During this time there had been a large number of accusations of people practicing witchcraft, satanic rituals, and ultimately selling their souls to the devil. This sequence of accusations led to nearly two dozen deaths and even a larger …show more content…
It showed the dangers of connecting earthly and spiritual aspects in life. No one of this evil induced epidemic was safe; women and children that were considered to be holy were slowly turning into Satan’s disciples. The witch trials eventually died down due to the fact that New England no longer wanted to include spiritual aspects in the court system. The aftermath of the trials did not conclude with the abolishment of Christianity but with people of New England realizing that Satan was not attempting to sabotage New England and destroying the church by witchcraft itself but by ultimately spreading the fear of it. In the present society The Salem witch trials had significant affect, the trials transitioned society from supernatural thought to rational thought. It also played a pivotal role in the legal system; rights of men and women that were not present in the trails slowly came about after the trials ended. Some of which include the right to defend yourself and to also not be harshly punished by accusations itself, like many of the people in New England during that time