The Witch Trials Are The Perfect Tool - 926 Words

The Salem witch trials occurred in a period of severe unrest in the early United States, which in turn feed into the hysteria and paranoia of the time, that resulted in unnecessary and avoidable deaths of women. They re deaths were brought on by the rampant focus on religion and superstition, which at the time was used to oppose reason and logic. The multiple events that occurred that made up the Salem Witch Trials all stem from the notion of isolationism, that America was going through, wherein the people wanted to be rid of people not similar to themselves. There is much to learn still about the people of back then but from what is known they are a product of their time, no more malicious or pious than others. The witch trials are the perfect tool to demonstrate why superstition needs to be eradicated, and reason needs to be focused on. If logic and reasoning had been the focus of the time instead of personally held beliefs in a higher power then hundreds of years of suffering wou ld have been avoided, because a people had the idea that not only were they superior but divinely so. In February of 1692 and continuing until May 1693 the United States were gripped with the idea that certain women were practicing witch craft also known as the Devil s magic. These trails were held with the belief that the accused women of which there were nearly two hundred were calling upon the devil to cast their misdeeds. The trials were held to determine if they were indeed witches andShow MoreRelatedWilliam Shakespeare s Queen Elizabeth1598 Words   |  7 Pagesworld, England and Scotland are not perfect nor ideal. They also have their own dark and bloody history, and one of the most important part of that history is the origin of witch-hunt, or in other words, the execution of witches. Witchcraft was treated as the craft of wise at the very beginning. However, as the following behind witchcraft grew stronger, the conflict between the Christian religious and witchcraft finall y lead to the bloody witch-hunt; but witch-hunt is not as simple as a conflictRead MoreReligious Beliefs Were Behind The Salem Witch Trials2016 Words   |  9 PagesThe view that religious beliefs were behind the Salem Witch Trials of 1692 is predominantly incorrect. While the Puritan culture’s strong Christian beliefs did dictate the behaviour of New England society, for the authorities that instigated the Witch Trials, religion was a mere justification for their actions that allowed them to gain support by instilling in the masses the fear of a higher power. Their true motives lay in the political and social issues of the time, with Salem Town’s division dueRead MoreThe On The Hands Of An Angry Mob1477 Words   |  6 Pageschaos; the myriad of ignorance, intolerance, and stubborn ways reflect just as disappointingly today as they did in the 1600s. As hysteria ran rampant, people began to believe things that were completely contradicted by common sense. The Salem Witch Trials were a prime example of this; combining the suppression of females in colonial society with religious and racial prejudice. Successful, upper-class women were vilified as witches, and their demise only further solidified the misogyny of the colonialRead MoreWitch Hunt : The Bloody Release Of The Fear2047 Words   |  9 PagesJialin Zhang English A4 Mr. Dennis 5/14/16 Witch-hunt: the Bloody Release of the Fear Shakespeare, Queen Elizabeth, Christianity, and tea, all those things are closely related to Scotland and England. However, like all the other things in the world, England and Scotland are not perfect nor ideal. They also have their own dark and bloody history, and one of the most important part of that history is the origin of witch-hunt, or in other words, the execution of witches. Witchcraft was treated as theRead MoreThe Merchant Of Venice And The Crucible1491 Words   |  6 PagesPortia knows that her husband, Bassanio, has an affection for Antonio, she endeavors to save Antonio from Shylock’s malice so that Bassanio does not leave her, grieving over his friend’s self-sacrifice. Through her powerful actions, most obvious in the trial scene in Act 5, Scene 1 when she is in disguise of a lawyer and saves Antonio’s life, Portia resembles an astute woman figure who transcends women’s standards of her time and fulfills her purpose of not losing her husban d. In The Crucible, althoughRead MoreAmerica, Land of the Free...or Not Essay1753 Words   |  8 Pageswin the Civil War, bring the divided nation back together, and abolish slavery. To complete these goals Lincoln declared all rebels and insurgents, their aiders and abettors within the United States...shall be subject to martial law and liable to trial and punishment by courts martial or military commission. (Dueholm) In other words, Lincoln suspended the writ of habeas corpus to the civilian population. The writ of habeas corpus is a legal right in which the defendant must be released unless theRead MoreThe Scarlet Letter : A Rebellion Against Puritanism2104 Words   |  9 PagesPrynne does not see herself as an adulteress because, in her case, she believes that her husband has died (Hawthorne). In the Puritan society, they believe that adultery is a sin, Adultery was a major punishable sin, and public trials and punishments were used as tools to prevent others from committing adult ery or other crimes (The Scarlet Letter: A Glimpse of Puritan Society). They believed that, once one is married, he or she is married untill death. For her sin, Hester s punishment was toRead MoreEssay Witchcraft Portrayed in Films6180 Words   |  25 Pagesfictional witch - the evil, ugly crone, the wicked witch from Wizard of Oz, and its the image thats engraved into our culture as an association to the word witch. This caricature is what we see in drawings when one wants to reference Halloween, and the witch costumes we always see around that time are those of black capes and hats and warty green rubber noses. Barbara Creed identifies this image as the `phallic mother, motif perfectly illustrated in the long fingers and nose of a witch. (GrantRead MoreThe Complexity Of The United States Legal System1896 Words   |  8 Pagesrevolution. A perfect, if perhaps overused example, is the trial and acquittal of OJ Simpson. Although this trial will always be controversial to many due to the race components of the argument and race relations of the times it is trial which illuminates how the State can fail because of the restrictions imposed upon the district attorney by the State. Simpson’s criminal defense lawyer was able to put on show implying officer Furman was a racist and that the whole murder was a witch hunt to discreditRead MoreCRM 1301 Midterm uOttawa Carolyn Gordon Essay10218 Words   |  41 Pagesperson was still alive, the procedure was successful Witchcraft Correlated with ‘The Crucible’ where Tituba, Sarah Good Sarah Osborne are accused of witchcraft in Salem, 1692 What to do with the witches?! Exodus 22:18- Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live Leviticus   20:27- A man also or woman that hath a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death: they shall stone them with stones: their blood shall be upon them. Assumptions of Demonology Secularization: a systematic