The Salem Witch Trials Essay - 1584 Words

The Salem Witch Trials Throughout our nation s history, Americans have survived times of struggle by remaining strong and brave despite their fears. Disease, natural disasters, and starvation are just a few of the trials our country has faced. While these are certainly dangerous, perhaps the most frightening of all is when you fear those closest to you. This is what happened during the horrific frenzy labeled as the Salem Witch Trials. Nobody truly knows why they occurred, although there are several plausible theories. It all originated in seventeenth century New England, in a tiny place called Salem Village (History.com). In 1629, a small group of people, known as Puritans, journeyed across the Atlantic Ocean to the New World, leaving†¦show more content†¦The fear of the Invisible World was so deeply rooted in the hearts of the Puritans that one of their laws was death to anyone making a pact with the Devil (Meltzer 70). Without doubt or question, the Puritans realized that God was warning them with signs across the land; earthquakes, hurricanes, war, smallpox, and even shooting stars were regarded with awe and fear (Schanzer 15). The Puritans were not the only people afraid, however; all of New England was plagued by problems. The New Englanders faced natural disasters, starvation, and sickness, but their biggest problems were the Indians. After the bloody King Philip s War of 1675-1676, the Native Americans still sought to drive out the white settlers, and continued destroying towns and killing innocent men. Most colonists believed that the Indians were pagan worshippers of the Devil, and Cotton Mather, a Boston minister, wrote, the Devil is engaged in this hellish design of bewitching and ruining our land† (Meltzer 73). The Wabonaki Indians in particular became the Puritans greatest enemy, and, they reasoned, the source of all problems and sin. The Wabonakis felt that the Puritans had intruded on their land, while the Puritans believed that the Wabonakis had no right to it. Fortunately, in 1681, the Wabonakis signed a truce with the white settlers, promising