Salem Witch Trials: Women's Role In Puritan Society

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The late 1600s were a time of chaos and hysteria. Between 1692 and 1693, the infamous Salem Witch Trials took place. The Salem Witch Trials were a series of prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts. There were many reasons as to why this occurred. Economic, racial, and religious divisions greatly influenced this mass hysteria. Women’s increasing power in terms of wealth and education also largely factored into this crisis. During the 1690s, class divisions arose between poor farmers and wealthy merchants in Salem (194). This conflict gave poor farmers motive to accuse the merchants of witchcraft, further propagating the trials. The increasing racial tension in New England also contributed …show more content…
In early colonial life, women were regarded as the weaker sex and were expected to be submit to male authority. The role of Puritan women was generally restricted to bearing and raising children, domestic chores, and caring for their husbands. However, these traditional roles were slowly beginning to change during the late 17th century. Puritans began to place greater value on education, even allowing women and girl to be taught to read and write (99). Increasing women’s literacy allowed them to read and interpret the bible, teach the Puritan religion to their children, and thus, prevent corruption from unholy spirits (99). However, giving women greater access to education also gave them greater autonomy. Women such as Anne Bradstreet, Rose Murray, and Mary Rowlandson began to publish their own stories and tell their own narratives, which threatened traditional roles for Puritan women. Women’s growing economic power also struck fear in many Puritans. This fear culminated during the Salem Witch Trials. Out of 160 of those accused of witchcraft, three quarters of them were women. The majority of them were middle-aged widows who held wealth. This occurred because of the growing concerns that women gaining greater independence would disrupt social
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