Salem Witch Trials Social Analysis

Social aspects of the time can and will play into any historical event. From gender roles to the way politics and religion come into play, what is going on socially, and religiously has a direct effect on the people historically involved. In The Salem Witch trials of 1692, a major factor of what happened was the way puritan society perceived themselves and others. Miller’s The Crucible, displays certain social conditions of the Puritan lifestyle, and how they affected the trials at large. To understand the full and complicated social aspects of Salem when the Witch Trials began, one must look at the moral code that puritans were expected to obey at all times. The covenant that was created when the puritans settled into Salem states that “We resolve to approve ourselves to the Lord in our particular callings; shunning idleness as the bane of any stake…” puritans lived their lives wishing to gain God’s approval through living pious and righteous
Furthermore, Puritans were expected to live up to the standards of “A city upon a hill”. The Puritan’s desire was to show the rest of the world a standard for how Christians were meant to be. John Winthrop, aboard the Arbella in 1630 wrote in his sermon, A Model of Christian Charity, “For we must consider that we shall be as a city upon a hill. The eyes of all people are upon us. So that if we shall deal falsely with our god in this work we have undertaken, and so cause him to withdraw his present help from us, we shall be made a story and a by-word throughout the world.” These high standards that puritans were meant to live up to caused a lot of pressure for perfection in their lives. Those who did not or could not abide by the strictness of the puritan lifestyle were shunned by the community, and were even at risk for