THE EARLY PURITANS AND SALEM WITCH TRIALS

The early Puritans homeThe early Puritan leaderThe early Puritans churchVideo of the earlypuritans family
The puritans is a name given in the 16th century to the more extreme protestant within the church of England who thought the English Reformation had not gone far enough in reforming the doctrine and structure of the church.
The puritans were first known for their extremely critical attitude regarding the religious compromise made during the reign of Elizabeth 1.

Calvinist in theology, they stressed predestination and demanded scriptural warrant for all details of public worship. They believed that the Scriptures did not sanction the setting up of bishops and churches by the state. The aim of the early Puritans such as Thomas Cartwright was to purify the church (hence their name), not to separate from it.

THE SALEM WITCH TRIALS IMAGES

The salem witch trial

Video of the salem witch trial of 1692

The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings before local magistrates followed by county court trials to prosecute people accused of Witchcraft in Essex, Suffolk and Middlesex counties of colonial Massachusette, between February 1692 and May 1693. The episode has been used in political rhetoric and popular literature as a vivid cautionary tale about the dangers of religious extremism, false accusations, lapses in due process, and governmental intrusion on individual liberties.

Despite being generally known as the "Salem" witch trials, the preliminary hearings in 1692 were conducted in a variety of towns across the province: Slem village, Ipswich, Andover and Salem Town. The best-known trials were conducted by the Court of Oyer and Terminer in 1692 in Salem Town. Over 150 people were arrested and imprisoned, with even more accused but not formally pursued by the authorities. At least five more of the accused died in prison. All twenty-six who went to trial before this court were convicted. The four sessions of the Superior Court of Judicature in 1693, held in Salem Village, but also in Ipswich,Boston and charlestown produced only three convictions in the thirty-one witchcraft trials it conducted. The two courts convicted twenty-nine people of the capital felony of witchcraft. Nineteen of the accused, fourteen women and five men, were hanged. One man who refused to enter a plea was crush to death under heavy stones in an attempt to force him to do so.