How did the Salem witch trials affect American history?

Answer 1

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The Salem Witchcraft Trials were important to show the world the stupidity and ignorance of others. During the 1600's and 1700's, an almost hysterical fear in witchcraft swept most of Europe. Thousands were tried and executed as witches. The courts allowed gossip and rumor to be used as evidence. Many children testified against their own parents.

The American colonists brought the belief in witchcraft from England. Suspected witches suffered persecution in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Virginia. The most famous witch hunt in American history occurred in Salem, Massachusetts. Many historians believe that Cotton Mather, a colonial preacher, did much to stir up public feeling against the supposed evil deed of witches.

In 1692, the Massachusetts colonists executed 19 people as witches, and one person was pressed to death for refusing to plead to the witchcraft charge. In addition, about 150 others were imprisoned. It is a very painful and a shameful part of the history of the United States.

Answer 2

The Salem Witch Trials infamy stems from the fact that they are an anomaly and their multitude of time period causes. There had never been a witch hunt of that intensity or size in America, but it tied Massachusetts to its European roots. The time period was unique for New England in the number of terrible things that lined up to add to witch distress: post-King Philip's War tensions with the natives, smallpox and the loss of the charter among other things.

Answer 3

They do not have the profound effect that people who don't fully understand them expect they do. The hysteria never left Essex County, Massachusetts, and after fifteen years of lawsuits, it was like the trials never happened. I suppose that the near complete separation of Church and State the trials caused when the false convictions lead to the final collapse of Puritanical power.

Answer 4

The Salem Witch Trials affected American History by implanting a deep satanic fear in the roots of America. And although with hunts/trials have been continuing through out all of History, American or not, the Salem Witch Trials are the first to ever be recorded in America.

Answer 5

To be honest, they really weren't all that important. They didn't facilitate a change that would affect history. In fact, one field of thought on the trials was that they were caused by a change: the introduction of people that were focused on money and success instead of religion into a Puritan society, and thus the decline the Puritans power in the Massachusetts government.

Answer 6

It is debatable whether the Salem Witch Trials are really a significant part of American history. The witch trials became an important part of American literature, however, through Arthur Miller's The Crucible and Nathaniel Hawthorne's House of Seven Gables.

Answer 7

The importance of the Salem trials is not as significant as one might think. The trials were what finally destroyed Puritanism's hold on the Massachusetts government, setting it up to be the trade-based region known today. It also allowed a more secular world view, which would make them more easily aggravated when Britain began passing taxes that hurt their worldly bottom line.

Answer 8

Salem showed the world a lot about human nature and how religious hysteria can affect the masses. It was the final nail the coffin of the Puritan government in Massachusetts.