Early Puritan Life in the American Colonies
The Puritans were colonists who left England to avoid religious persecution for the safety of the new world. Their particular Protestant Church was the cornerstone of 17th century life in what they called their New England, and is today Massachusetts (www.discoverschool.com). Perversely, the strict Puritan code was far from tolerant. Men and women sat on opposite sides of the church and it was against the law not to attend Sunday worship (www.discoverschool.com). The Puritan lifestyle was reserved and rigid and people were expected to work hard and repress their emotions (www.newengland.ancestors.org).
The Indian name for Salem was Naumkeag (www.discoveryschool.com) and at the time of the witch hunts Salem was under British rule and under attack by Native Americans as well as French Canadians (www.discoveryschool.com). The events of 1692 took place during a difficult and confusing period for the small township. As part of the Massachusetts Bay Colony the settlement was waiting for a new governor and had no charter to enforce laws. By the time the new governor, William Phips, arrived in Massachusetts, the jails were already filled with so-called witches (www.discoveryschool.com).
The colonists were an unsophisticated people who felt very much at the mercy of their God in their new world. They knew very little about the land, the original ‘native' inhabitants of their colonies, or about human behaviour in stressful situations. Primarily farmers, they had difficult lives and faced unrelenting challenges in a harsh climate. An epidemic of smallpox could kill an entire family (www.discoverschool.com) and in a world where people saw the Devil lurking behind every misfortune, it is little wonder they believed evil spirits were at work. The Puritans put their faith in God, yet a powerful belief in the Devil helped them make sense of that which they could not explain. Satan, of course, preyed on the weakest individuals - women, children, foreigners, slaves, and those with mental incapacities. These individuals were often labelled witches, and hanging was the answer to witchery as it ‘saved' the individual from a life on earth under Satan's power and reunited the ‘sufferer' with God.
Today Salem is known as the City of Peace and The Crucible has allowed the city to establish a cultural identity for itself by no longer being embarrassed by its murky past and instead has embraced the Salem Witch Trials as a moment in America's eclectic and durable history (www.salemweb.com, www.usahistory.info).