The Salem Witch trials started in 1692 resulted in 19 executions and 150 accusations of witchcraft. It was one of the first of many hysterical moments that this country would go on to see. It all started in 1692 with a girl who was having "fits and convulsions" to which the only diagnosis was witchcraft. This launched the puritans into a state of hysteria. Prisons were overflowing with innocent people as the colony known as Massachusetts slowly unraveled. (http://www.nationalgeographic.com/features/97/salem/) When things like these happen they end up horrid and hurting people who didn't deserve it. As historians it's important to try and understand this so as to prevent it from happening again. In trying to understand why such an event happened we need to look at the life and times of the people that it happened too.
To begin with a little background information is needed on these people. First of all this happened in the Puritan village. The Puritans were a very religious group. They had left England to start a new colony free of religious tolerance. Many them also wanted a colony without any sinners, which was a factor in their strong belief in the devil and witchcraft. This however led to a paradox in their lifestyle because when it came to the aforementioned matters they were everything but tolerant. It was against the law to not attend church and individual differences were frowned upon. Everyone was expected to follow a rigid moral code. Within this code all sins should be punished. This included things such as falling asleep in church or even stealing a little bit of food to avoid from starving. From this we can see how the witch trials came to be. There could have been a large number of people not living up to what the great elite expected. Therefore they were seen as sinners, and sinners were linked to the devil and witchcraft. And then since they felt that all sins should be punished they would take it upon themselves to do the punishing.
