Salem witchcraft trials
“Abigail Hobbs, you are brought before Authority to answere sundry acts of witchcraft…What you say? Are you guilty, or not speak the truth. I will speak the truth. I have seen sights and been scared. I have been very wicked“ (“The Salem Witchcraft Trials”). Looking at the time period, why did Abigail Hobbs confess? We know from historical evidence that she was innocent of the accusation. Why did Abigail chose to comply with the authorities rather than refute the conviction? From what is evident, Abigail’s confession saved her from being hanged. Unfortunately, because there were many who did not confess, nineteen were hung in Gallows Hill of Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. Up until today, the Salem witch trials are still widely analyzed and talked about by historians, scholars, professors and students. There are many arguments as to why this injustice occurred and why it occurred specifically in Salem. Many journals, books, and lectures have identified the how, when, and where facts of the event but they also do try to answer why this event happened. Some scholars may take the economic, psychological, mass hysteria and social pressure approach. The casual argument best proposed that will explain some of the outside factors that influ . . .
There was resistance and disorder, so the Puritans acted by blaming the disorder on Satan. I agree that both Clark and Reis believed that because disorder reigned among the community, the Puritans looked upon their theology to explain these unnatural events. Reis’s causal claim agrees that the Puritan beliefs did have a major influence in the trials but it also brought about the separation of gender arrangements in colonial England. Therefore this struggle between who is right between Puritan theology versus the innocently accused brings forth a more complex struggle between female and male segregation and who was really doing the work of Satan. The ability of the Puritans to accuse those of witchcraft based on their beliefs, caused a confusion of what was right or wrong in perspective to Abigail. and so cause him to withdraw his present help from us, we shall be made a story and a by-word through the world. John Winthrop, a leading figure to the Puritans said that "the Lord will be our God and delight to dwell among us, as his own people and will command a blessing upon us in all our ways . She was made to believe that their accusation was in the side of good and she was in the side of evil. " With this responsibility Winthrop warned the Puritans, "the eyes of all people are upon us; so that if we shall deal falsely with our god in this work . Their values and their strict moral codes causes the members of the town to comply with fear. Abigail’s hesitance and change of answer during her testimony can clearly show that the Puritans won the battle against evil. These are prime examples that represent how she tried to take advantage of the Puritan theology in order to save her life.
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