Salem Witch Trials Feminist Analysis
in that several other girls, including Ann Putnam, Mercy Lewis, and Mary Walcott, were also exhibiting similar behaviour.
Once interrogated for an explanation behind their state, the girls began to accuse the residents of Salem. What caused the villagers to believed the girls’ claims, remains a topic of great debate, however, it is imperative to evaluate the context in which this all unfolded. The belief and condemnation of witches traces back as far as the Old Testament. Likewise, Salem was a community that was dominated by strong religious beliefs, as Ernest King and Franklin Mixon, in what is now known to be one of the most prominent investigations of the Salem witch trials, claim that “The Puritans, and [their] religious doctrine, dominated the area and . . . had a strong presence in daily life”. Taking this into account, it becomes understandable how easy it was for the villagers to reach the conclusion that the afflicted girls had caught the evil hand. …show more content…
Although the Salem witch trials remain an account of great eccentricity, still they are a historical process that can be analyzed, studied, and explained. Historians have examined areas including but not limited to geography, religion, agriculture, war, gender, and have provided argument upon argument on the basis of one or several of these contributing to the Salem witch trials. Yet, the majority of these historians have failed to recognize that all of these factors have links to the economy, and when combined together had a significant impact on it, which directly went on to fuel the mass hysteria. This raises the question, “To What Extent Did Economic Factors Contribute to Mass Hysteria During the Salem Witch Trials of
Once interrogated for an explanation behind their state, the girls began to accuse the residents of Salem. What caused the villagers to believed the girls’ claims, remains a topic of great debate, however, it is imperative to evaluate the context in which this all unfolded. The belief and condemnation of witches traces back as far as the Old Testament. Likewise, Salem was a community that was dominated by strong religious beliefs, as Ernest King and Franklin Mixon, in what is now known to be one of the most prominent investigations of the Salem witch trials, claim that “The Puritans, and [their] religious doctrine, dominated the area and . . . had a strong presence in daily life”. Taking this into account, it becomes understandable how easy it was for the villagers to reach the conclusion that the afflicted girls had caught the evil hand. …show more content…
Although the Salem witch trials remain an account of great eccentricity, still they are a historical process that can be analyzed, studied, and explained. Historians have examined areas including but not limited to geography, religion, agriculture, war, gender, and have provided argument upon argument on the basis of one or several of these contributing to the Salem witch trials. Yet, the majority of these historians have failed to recognize that all of these factors have links to the economy, and when combined together had a significant impact on it, which directly went on to fuel the mass hysteria. This raises the question, “To What Extent Did Economic Factors Contribute to Mass Hysteria During the Salem Witch Trials of