The Salem Witch Trials Remain As A Main Area Of Interest...

The Salem Witch Trials remain as a main area of interest for colonial historians, for the very way that actual lives were taken for only the sake of internalized cultural normalities. In fact if one is to look at the way the trials were conducted, it could be said that they highlight the underlying fears and beliefs that the citizens of Massachusetts believed to be completely true. The irrational nature of the trials is best illustrated through the view of the accused witches, whose accusations follow a distinct pattern of having past conflict with their accusers. Overall there is also a repetition of external fears influencing these accusations which culminates in a complex belief of not only demonic powers at work, but present mortal threats being a part of these accused witches plan to bring destruction of the town. The perspective of the accused witches during the Salem Witch Trials, proves Salem was a town rooted in cultural anxiety and interpersonal conflict which eventually im ploded into the uncontrollable. The town of Salem, like most colonial societies, was a highly interpersonal one which relied greatly on the support of the community by its members (Godbeer, 18). It is therefore natural to assume then that in such a personal community there would be many personal grievances and conflicts that would be internalized as a result of the greater good for society. Peddy 2 When a paranoid system of belief is combined with suspicious events, it is all but natural to