A Detailed Analysis of the Salem Witch Trials and Modern Witch Hunts

This essay examines the Salem Witch Trials, a dark chapter in colonial American history, focusing on the trials held in Salem Village, Massachusetts, between 1692 and 1693. Driven by fears of witchcraft and mental illness among Puritan girls who accused village members, the trials led to the execution of 19 innocent individuals. The essay critiques the orthodox judicial methods used, highlighting the potential manipulation of accusers and the witch-hunt mentality that fueled the persecutions. Furthermore, it draws parallels between the Salem Witch Trials and modern instances of witch-hunts, such as the targeting of minority groups and religious persecution, illustrating the enduring relevance of this historical event to contemporary social justice issues. Desklib offers a range of resources, including past papers and solved assignments, to aid students in understanding this complex topic.

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The Salem Witch Trials
The Salem Witch Trial, as its name suggests, is a trial that was held in Salem for the
people who had been accused of engaging in witchcrafts. The trials took place in Salem Village
Massachusetts between the year 1692 and 1693. Upon the completion of the court trials, the
convicted witches were executed. Indeed, Salem Witch Trial has become an infamous and
controversial incident in the history of the colonial America.
The main reason why the trials were carried out was to address the problem of witchcraft
that had become an issue of concern in the colonial village of Salem. There were serious
concerns of people engaging in witchcraft-related activities. Witchcraft was a reality that the
people faced and believed in following their religious faiths. However, the government could not
condone this because of the dreaded negative impacts of witchcraft (Mills 126). The immediate
cause of the trials was the infection of a mental illness amongst the Puritan girls who blamed the
village witches for their woes. Following the fears that this caused, the government had to try all
the subjected witches. Of all the 200 suspects, a total of 19 were convicted and finally executed
for their involvement in witchcraft. All these lives were lost because of unproven claims of
witchcraft.

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The Salem Witch Trial was a unique occurrence of its own kind. It has surprised me a lot.
What surprises me is that the judicial system was using orthodox means to determine a case. The
use of girls to determine the culpability of the accused persons was quite misinformed
(Underwood 8). There are high chances that the four girls were compromised to accuse the
suspects and compel them to admit the wrong-doing. Everyone knows during the colonial times,
the colonialists were fond of applying the divide and rule tactic to manipulate the local
populations so as to rule without much resistance (Brown 10). I think, this is what must have
happened. Targeting one particular community, accusing them of serious offenses, and hanging
them was a pure act of prosecution and oppression. It was a real case of a witch-hunt.
The Salem Witch Trial was a pure case of a witch-hunt. Although the practice has been
condemned by many people, it paved way for the modern cases of witch-hunt witnessed in the
world today. Today, witch-hunt is it is used to oppress people based on their religion, political
affiliation, and culture. This means that there are many examples of modern witch-hunt. In the
USA, for instance, the police force has been targeting the blacks who, on several occasions, have
been unfairly arrested, searched, and shot. One example of religious witch-hut is that of the
Rohingya people who were, in 2016, 2017, and 2018, massacred in the Myanmar because of
their belief in Islam (Bauer 79). President Donald Trump has also been accused of engaging in a
witch-hunt by openly-expressing his hatred towards the Muslims and other minority migrant
groups in the USA. All these examples demonstrate that witch-hunt is still a major issue of
concern in the modern society.

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Works Cited
Bauer, Amie. "The Hidden Genocide: Humanizing the Struggle of the Muslim Rohingya of
Myanmar." Child. Legal Rts. J. 35 (2015): 79-83.
Brown, Michael. "The Salem Witch Trials: Dehumanizing the Different." The Histories 15.1
(2019): 10-17.
Mills, Stefanie Schnitzer. "The Belief in Evil and Its Redefinition during the Salem Witch
Trials." Piercing the Shroud: Destabilizations of ‘Evil’. Brill Rodopi, 2019. 126-142.
Underwood, Amanda. "Witchcraft in the American Colonies Beyond the Limits of Salem."
Fairmount Folio: Journal of History 19 (2019). 1-13.