THE SALEM WITCH TRAILS
Every religion has its pros and cons, but Puritans took religion to a whole new level. Puritans believed that their lives should be lived according to what the Bible says and anything else is considered to be evil or a sin. In 1692, when Sammuel Parris was assigned as Salem’s minister, a dramatic time in history was about to take place. The witch hysteria was going to spread throughout Salem, Massachusetts, leaving many innocent people dead.
The settlers were known as Puritans, who, during the 16th century, broke off from the Catholic Church in order to purify their religion. Salem, Massachusetts was started as a money- making attempt. It was used as a fishing station and they traded with Europe and the West Indies. It wasn’t until 1630 that Puritans started settling in Salem, bringing the town prosperity (Kallen 15-17). When they settled into the town, their new law was the Bible. They were God-fearing people that believed that anything outside of the Bible was considered to be sin and or evil. If you were different and mysterious, they would believe that you had a pact with the Devil, and that you had sold your soul. In the town, no one could ever even have a thought of being sedentary; they either had to be working, praying, or being reading the Bible, unless it was a Sabbath Sunday, on which they had to go to church, regardless. On the Sabbath day, they would have to spend three hours in the morning, two hours in the afternoon, and the rest of the time they had to pray. On the Thursdays, they had lecture days, on which they had to attend the sermon (Kallen 18).
At the time, to make sure that men and women didn’t flirt they were seated separately; Women to the right and men to the left isles, the ...