The Theories Of The Salem Witch Trials

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The Salem Witch Trials were a string of very unfortunate events, that occurred in Salem, Massachusetts. In 1692 there was a group of girls that accused many people of either being a witch or committing witchcraft. No one really has an explanation why the trials happened, but Nearly 200 people were accused of witchcraft and 19 were sentenced to execution. Historians believe that the trials were caused by mass hysteria, but there are several theories as to what happened, so here are 6 main theories as to what happened.

The first theory is boredom. Many people believe this theory. The Puritan beliefs harshly restricted many forms of entertainment for all ages, and it was even worse on girls. For many girls, the main events were reading books or sitting in small groups fortune telling and talking about things, such as witches and witch craft. …show more content…
According to Puritan belief, the witches were in alliance with the devil that gave them the power to do evil. The Puritans blamed the “witches” for events that were totally explainable many centuries earlier such as, illness, failed crops, bad weather, and other bad things like that, but for the villagers, the threat of witches and witchcraft was very real. Many people believe that the trials may have been caused by disputes, rivalries, and personal differences. Many of the accused people did actually have unsettled differences with their accusers or went against the values of the Puritans. In fact, about 50 were accused by members of the Putnam family. They were strict followers of the puritan beliefs and customs and strongly supported Reverend Samuel Paris, the person who started the actual witch hunts. The Porter family, who were the rivals of the Putnam family, tried to stop the trials but failed and 19 of their family members were accused of

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