Salem is a City Where Witches' Trials Took Place

Categories: Salem Witch Trials

In The Crucible thewas town that Miller portrays is not a typical Puritan town of New England, 1692. The town of Salem did not have meetings when there were issues, and where a group of girls were dancing in the forest and showed their bare breasts. Marc, author of, “ Puritanism, Hedonism, and Nudist” states, “that all nudity outside of the context of sex is evil. There is no innocent nudity for the Puritans. I hold that it is this puritanical strain that makes certain people cringe when they see a toddler running naked around the yard.

” This explains that the girls showing their breasts was not like them at all and was unlike of them to do that considering that it’s against their puritan beliefs.

However, Salem wasn’t the only town to experience witch trials. While the Salem witch trials were happening, other cities around it also experienced the same accusations as the people of Salem. According to the article “Legends of America,” it says, “Though the Salem witch trials began in Salem Village, it was certainly not the only village involved in the hysteria of 1692… however, there were several other towns in Essex County also experienced witchcraft allegations and initial examinations of the accused.

Get quality help now
RhizMan
RhizMan
checked Verified writer

Proficient in: Salem Witch Trials

star star star star 4.9 (247)

“ Rhizman is absolutely amazing at what he does . I highly recommend him if you need an assignment done ”

avatar avatar avatar
+84 relevant experts are online
Hire writer

Some of these communities included nearby Andover, which produced the vast majority of witchcraft accusations and trials; Ipswich, Beverly, Haverhill, Topsfield, Gloucester, and many others.” As you can see, not only was Salem a victim of the witch trials, many other cities dealt with the same accusations and their waway of handling the accused.

Get to Know The Price Estimate For Your Paper
Topic
Number of pages
Email Invalid email

By clicking “Check Writers’ Offers”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy. We’ll occasionally send you promo and account related email

"You must agree to out terms of services and privacy policy"
Write my paper

You won’t be charged yet!

Additionally to being accused, each of the cities got to choose how they would approach this situation. Most of the cities usually chose the same consequence which was either being hung or pressed. The article, “ The Salem Times 1693, Salem Times Every Time” states, “He or she was then given a sentence, which was usually hanging, and was sent to prison to await their execution. The Grand Jury was not a formal court but it served a similar purpose. It wasn’t until Bridget Bishop that a formal court was established in Salem.” This states that most people who were convicted were usually always sentenced to hanging and then sent to prison to wait until their day for execution arrives.

Also, there were some occasions where hanging nor pressing would take place even if you were convicted of witchcraft. If you were one of the few that confessed to witchcraft then you would have to sign a paper confirming that you are pleading guilty to conducting witchcraft. Most people didn’t do this because your punishment is worse than getting hung. In the puritan's eyes, committing witchcraft, true or not, is a sin and it could damn a person's soul to hell. According to the article, “What options did an Accused Witch have in Salem?” it states, “the problem is that a confession may spare them death but it damned them in many other ways.

The biggest concern with confessing to being a witch was that it was a sin. Puritans believed that such a confession, even if it wasn’t true, could damn a person’s soul to hell.” So even though the accused person didn’t get hung they still got to live with a lifelong punishment.

Furthermore, these weren’t the only crimes that would happen throughout Salem or any Puritan town. For example, minor crimes like, having long hair was illegal. This was usually for men and their hair and beards. So if one of the men were to have long hair and a long beard then the punishment would either be stocks and pillory, the ducking stool more severe punishment, or whipping since it’s more of a minor crime. Lesser crimes like this would receive the most common “lighter” punishments compared to the more major crimes. Some of the more major crimes would receive a more severe punishments like execution or public humiliation. These punishments were most common for higher-up crimes like these. For someone to get the more severe punishments they would have to commit witchcraft or a child would curse at their parent. Natalie Isaac states, “Crimes such as fighting, poorly made products, and bad attitude were punished by the ducking stool!

If someone gossips or nags, they will get a rare punishment called the brank. The brank is a cage for your head that will keep your mouth closed and sometimes it has spikes on it to hurt the person in there.” These were more of the lesser crimes according to the Puritan laws. She also states, “If any children curse at their parents, they will be executed Laws and Punishment… Witchcraft is illegal. At the time, people believed in witchcraft was and any sign of a woman performing witchcraft will be punished. The most common punishment for this is execution and the ducking stool.” These were more the higher up crimes that would get a more severe punishment compared to the punishments of the lesser crimes.

Updated: May 24, 2022
Cite this page

Salem is a City Where Witches' Trials Took Place. (2022, May 24). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/salem-is-a-city-where-witches-trials-took-place-essay

Salem is a City Where Witches' Trials Took Place essay
Live chat  with support 24/7

👋 Hi! I’m your smart assistant Amy!

Don’t know where to start? Type your requirements and I’ll connect you to an academic expert within 3 minutes.

get help with your assignment