Essay --

Witch-hunts occurred through extinct England for centuries, so it was no surprise that the witchcraft hysteria eventually reach colonial New England in the fresh seventeenth century, but this wave of fear was different from any otherwise. ancestry with two young girls, witchcraft affected every person keep in the New World and by the end, over twenty work force and women were convicted of witchcraft, as well as inherent communities living in ageless fear of being touched by the Devil. puritans, a group of English settlers, held strong beliefs about the Devil which sparked ideas of witchcraft among the Salem community. The austere Puritan lifestyle left little room for creativity, resulting in accusations against innocent people. Women, in addition to youngsterren, were inferior and considered weak it was believed that Satan used them to carry out his wishes, and as a result, these people became witches. The severity of Puritan sacred beliefs indirectly caused the witchcraf t hysteria to reach its peak during the Salem Witch Trials. great(p) and influential among the colonies, mainly Massachusetts, Puritanism was not only a religion, but a lifestyle. Puritans left England in 1630, with the intent to reform the Church of England. These English Protestants were dissatisfy on how the Church of England was run and they made it their mission to purify and conk the church of Catholic influences, as well as invigorate day by day practices of religion. Overall, Puritans desired England to be reformed as John Calvin (1509-1564) had reformed geneva (Hall, 21). By moving to New England, Puritans had the freedom to establish their own religious authority. Puritanism controlled every activity in order to maintain a incessant unity between people and Go... ...ities. Young women at that time had nought at all to feed their imaginations. There were no fairy tales or stories, no art, theater, or classical music (Kallen 23). In addition to restrictions of childho od, organic pressure was placed on children to remain pure or turn a loss the potential punishments from the Devil. At young ages, fear was planted in childrens minds causing hyperawareness of Satans wrath to frighten a childs consciousness (Hall 23). The combination of fear, lack of imaginative outlets, and pressures on children were catalysts to the hubbub of witches and witchcraft. With little ability and opportunity to express any behavior other than obedience, it was understandable that young Abigail Williams and Betty Paris claimed that they were possessed by witches, and in turn, these accusations engulfed the entire settlement of Salem into the hysteria.