The Salem Witch Trials A Dark Stain Essay - 709 Words

Darty 1 Gina Darty Natalie Gray History 1301 September 28, 2015 Witching Hour In January 1692 the Puritan communities of Salem Town and Salem Village found themselves under attack by unknown assailants. Tales of witchcraft, ghost, and blood bonds with the Devil run rampant. Could it be that these God-fearing men, women, and children are now living within the Devil’s playground; or is something more sinister at work? Many saw these attacks as a battle for the eternal souls of their neighbors. Others saw an opportunity to exact revenge against those that had done them wrong. Regardless of the motivation, the Salem Witch Trials proved to be a dark stain upon the history of Massachusetts. Witch hunts existed long before the trials and executions that took place in Salem. As early as the 1490’s European governments, led by church leaders, led a crusade to rid Europe of pagan influences. Over a two hundred and fifty year period approximately fifty thousand people were killed. Although the death toll was not a great in Massachusett s, the religious message was the same. Perceived evil again the Puritan church must be stopped at all cost. Therefore when Reverend Samuel Paris’ daughter and niece showed signs of being tortured via witchcraft, the source had to be discovered. By force and coercion Reverend Paris’ slave Tituba admits to magistrates Hathorne and Corwin that she has seen not only witches practicing their craft, she Darty 2 knows who they are and falselyShow MoreRelatedPuritans And The Church Of England1301 Words   |  6 Pageswitchcraft/interacting with the devil, also known as the Salem witch trials. The Salem witch trials began in February 1692 in Salem Village, Massachusetts. It all started with a group of young girls that claimed to be possessed by the devil that started all of the mayhem soon to follow. The allegedly possessed group of young girls began accusing several local women of witchcraft; the town broke out into mass hysteria. (Salem Witch Trials, 2011) As a strongly religious community, fear of the devilRead MoreYoung Goodman Brown: The Evils of Puritanism Essay1728 Words   |  7 PagesAnn Coleman through the streets of Salem, Boston, and Dedham reminiscent of Browns grandfather whipping a Quaker woman in the streets of Salem (255). In addition, Goodman Brown like Hawthorne is an average man who seeks live a Godly life and struggles with the inconsistencies of Puritanism. Ronan states Goodman Brown is â€Å"both a Hawthorne and a son of Burroughs—â€Å" the holy man† whose hanging is portrayed in â€Å"Main-street† as the ultimate symbol of the witch trials’ injustice†( Ronan 279). As GoodmanRead MoreYoung Goodman Brown: Characters4483 Words   |  18 PagesPuritan communities. These themes, along with the story’s dark, surreal ending, make â€Å"Young Goodman Brown† one of the Hawthorne’s most popular short stories. In order to understand â€Å"Young Goodman Brown† we must, like the author himself go back some four hundred years into to the past, to the 17th century, in the time of the Puritans. In this story Hawthorne references three dark events from the Puritans’ history: the Salem Witch Trials of 1692, the Puritan intolerance of the Quakers, and King Philip’sRead MoreThe Scarlet Letter: An Analysis of Puritanism and Sin Essay2184 Words   |  9 PagesThe Scarlet Letter: An Analysis of Puritanism and Sin The Scarlet Letter is a modern classic of American literature written about controversy and published with controversy. The main topic of the book, adultery, is written in a dark and sad way, as Hawthorne describes injustice, fate or predetermination and conscience ( Van Doren, 1998) . No other American novel of the time has such a controversial theme as Hawthornes, The Scarlet Letter. The setting of Nathanial Hawthornes The Scarlet LetterRead MoreHawthornes Life Versus Death In The Scarlet Letter Essay3474 Words   |  14 Pageschildhood was one in which he was brought up by a conservative family in a Puritan Community. He was not totally sold on his cultureamp;#8217;s ideas on many subjects. His own uncle was a judge in the witch trials of Salem. Hawthorne was embarrassed about his uncle and his involvement in the witch trials. Hawthorne was born July 4, 1804 and the only son of Captain and Elizabeth Clarke Manning Hawthorne. Hawthorneamp;#8217;s father died when he was four, so he was brought up mainly by his mother. HisRead MoreEssay about The Life and Literary Works of Shirley Jackson4264 Words   |  18 Pages(Oppenheimer, 60) Probably one of Miss Jacksons more pleasant tasks was the writing of The Witchcraft of Salem Village, a nonfiction Landmark book designed for the twelve-to fourteen-year-old reader, published in 1956. She had been asked to write the nonfiction book since her publicity after The Lottery indicated that she had witchlike traits, and she jokingly proclaimed herself the only practicing witch in New England. Jacksons second family chronicle, Raising Demons was published in 1957. During