Salem Witch Trials
...f women was that they were seen as inherently evil and sexual, and therefore possible targets for the devil. There were strong ties between the idea of witchcraft and sexuality. If a woman did not exhibit purity and innocence, she revealed her connection with evil. Sarah Good was considered by Puritans to be a witch not only for being a female but also because she isolated herself from the village and the Puritan way of life. One of the second accused to be a witch in the Puritan colony was Tituba. Tituba was perhaps the most different among the people in the Salem village. Not only was she a slave, which was unusual in the area, she was also a dark skinned foreigner, which easily set her apart from the white Puritan community. She was a Caribbean Indian who came from the mysterious Barbados, an island in the Caribbean Sea. Everyone in Salem had heard the seamen’s tales of voodoo and black magic on Barbados, of evil spells and strange ceremonies. The Puritans of Salem found her tradition of fortune telling primitive and evil, which made it very easy for the young girls of the community to single her out and accuse her of bewitching or afflicting them. Young girls in the community that listened to Tituba’s bewitching stories started having fits, claming that Tituba bewitched them. During the fits the girls would choke, cough, and stare into space. They claimed that they were being tortured by people wearing red and flying on brooms and then would get down on their knees and act like animals. Doctors diagnosed these children with “the evil hand.” After the children were diagnosed with the “evil hand,” Puritans were then convinced that Tituba was indeed a witch. Not only because she was a dark skinned foreigner from a mysterious island, but also because she later admitted to practicing witchcraft to avoid further punishment from the harsh Puritan society. Another group of people that were accused of witchcraft within the Puritan society were those of religious minorities. Puritans believe strictly in predestination, which is a term that refers to the idea that God has previously chosen those who will be saved, and an individual can do nothing to change this status. The Puritans believe that they need to be actively faithful and if they follow God’s moral codes, they will be blessed with eternal life. Sarah Good and Tituba however did not actively participate in the Puritan religion and therefore were considered a religious minority by the Puritan society. Like all Puritans, if you did not believe in their religion or in predestination you were considered to be a witch or participate in witchcraft. Witchcraft was considered both a sin and a crime since it used...