Who is responsible for the Salem Village witchcraft crisis?

Question

Analyze the forces responsible for the Salem Village witchdraft crisis.

Please help. I have to explain this in multiple pages! D:

Answer 1

religious zealots

More here:

http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects...

Answer 2

Several forces are responsible for the witchcraft crisis, but mainly it begins with the Puritan faith.  As a society that is extremely strict and patriarchal.  They did not allow women to do much more than be subservient to men.  Salem was divided by farmers and those who wanted to continue competing with Boston as a successful marketplace.  The governor of Massachusetts allowed the church to set up in Salem and act as both spiritual guidance and government (much to some of the villagers dismay).  Puritans were ever vigilant about trying to avoid influence by the Devil and sought in every way to keep their lives pure and innocent.  Reverend Parris sought to make his church stronger and also gain increased monetary support as the church became more established.  One of the original "bewitched" girls happened to be Parris' daughter who had convulsions and was found twisting in positions and making noises that good children weren't supposed to make.  Seeing that this brought attention to the daughter, her friends adopted this behavior (in Puritan society, children are seen and not heard).  All of these girls had been fascinated by stories that the slave from Barbados, Tituba, had told them.  When time came to explain their actions, they claimed that they were bewitched by Tituba and two other girls who did not quite fit into Puritan society (think of them as the unpopular group).  This began a domino effect, as Tituba claimed to be a witch but said there were others in the village.  Remember that the Puritans can't have the Devil in the village so they become even more vigilant and begin looking for signs of his presence.  Meanwhile, the girls seeing all of the attention they receive start pointing out others whose specters (souls) are torturing them.  Initially, it's just women, but then it is men also accused.  Men were also jailed and hanged for being too outspoken against the trials or for refusing to participate in seeking out and getting rid of all of the witches in the village.  While there are many causes,  I think primarily the Puritans really did fear the Devil and desire to rid their village of any influence so as to ensure their way into Heaven, but because this way of life is extremely limited (boring), the secondary reason is that it was interesting and almost amusing (like a game) for some of the citizens.