The Salem Witch Trials Essay

People needed to believe in something, anything that would provide meaning to the misfortunes the community had been experiencing. During the trials, any of the accused individuals were the vulnerable in the society and during the time, women were the most vulnerable. The Salem community was a Puritan society (Ray). In this form of society, anyone that behaved contrary to societal norms and ideas would put them in vulnerable positions by not behaving as they should. Those behaving out of society expectations in Salem would be named witches, servants of the devil. This reveals as to why, it was believed that women were more prone to the devil’s influence. Young girls and women were distanced from direct bible teachings and only relied on what was taught to them by men.

They were not allowed to read the bible on their own and were restricted from information and education other than their domestic duties. The fact that the distance between Bible teachings and women allowed for them to seem easily coercible by the devil. During the early 1690’s the Salem society was slowly evolving and women and young girls also begun adopting new and unfamiliar ways that were found threatening by both women and men in the society (Ray). For this reason, the witchcraft hysteria was taken seriously and punishment for the guilty heavy. The first women to be accused of witchcraft were women that had wondered of the puritan moral codes, most of the women were viewed as social outcasts. Afflicted girls always accused those individuals that were considered outcasts, social deviants, tradesmen, merchants and any other behaviors that were against traditional puritan values.

This can be seen in the case of Sara Osburn and Martha Corey (Ray). In Sara’s case, she had been accused previously by the society of engaging in premarital sexual relations and not attending church on a regular basis. With a lingering threat of women independence and change of male dominance, women were subjected to severe criticism and accused of witchcraft. Despite its highly religious nature, the trials were biased and did not give the accused men and women an opportunity to defend themselves, judges turned their statements around while scriptures that only meet the needs of community members and judges were used during the trials. The accused were not given the benefit of doubt, I believe several of these women and men were innocent and were victims of hysteria and the fear of change in a 17th century community.