Salem Witch Trials

7 Pages 1873 Words

o owned what land was in dispute. Salem was a seaport community that had been settled early and most of the land within its borders belonged to the first generation settlers. In the 1650’s boundary disputes between Salem residents and those of surrounding towns increased. As a result of a shortage of land, most second and third generation Salem children lived as adults on subdivided land or moved on. The sons and daughter that stayed in Salem to farm found themselves with lower income than their parents. The resulting tensions were increased by the ownership of land being in the hands of a few. (Trials) The outcome was a climate of extreme animosity, and it was this tension that led the Puritans to use the trials to acquire the land from their neighbors. Woloch ties the shortage of land to the shortage of men thus “leaving young women, such as the “accusers,” with limited options and negligible marital possibilities.” Thus decreasing the chances of their escaping their already insignificant positions they already held in their homes, homes of others and in the community. (Woloch, 29)
The farmers caused a major source of social tension and conflict. The farmers outside of town petitioned for their own minister and for their own house of worship. They had two reasons for their request. Reason number one was they were far away from town, and number two they were not happy with the way the town was being managed. Their request was granted and this led to a separat...