During 17th century, the Puritan citizens of Salem, Massachusetts were experiencing difficult and puzzling times. The villagers were having troubles with farming, attacking by life-threatening illnesses, as wells as harsh climates. Puritan religion believed Satan was just as real as God and lived life battling the forces of evil. The Puritans believed in that Satan and evil misdoings were the reason for such misfortunes encountered. They keep a watchful eye over everything. As part of the Massachusetts Bay colony, Salem was under British rule. There was no set government; therefore there was no actual charter to enforce laws. By the time the new governor William Phips arrived into Salem, the jails were crowded with citizens" accused of involvement with witchcraft. Witchcraft was the worst sin of all, and those who were found guilty faced punishment by death.
One Salem Witch trial, (June 2, 1692) was a result of several young girls, two young girls being Betty Parris and Abigail Williams, the daughter and niece of the Reverend Paris. The girls had been spending time with Tituba, Paris's Caribbean slave. Unbeknown to the Reverend Parris, Tituba would entertain them with magic, fortune telling and stories of her native land. They had also been seen dancing in the woods; such activities were forbidden activities and .
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stricken by Puritan code. Knowingly they were under suspicion. Betty and Abigail soon began to have fits. The village doctor was certain the girls were victims of with craft. Under pressure, the girls accused Tituba, Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne. Osborne and Good claimed innocence, but Tituba , perhaps frightened had confessed and claimed there were many other town's people involved with witchcraft as well, thus creating a mass town hysteria. The young girls may have sparked the crazed witch-hunt, but it was the adults who set the wheels into motion.
