Why were some New Englanders accused of being witches?

FOR 4/14's CDL ! -- Why were some new Englanders accused of being witches?

Summary:

In today’s discussion reading, it talks about the fiasco of the Salem witch hunt. Since Puritans believed in supernatural spirits, people could legally accuse others of being a witch. In 1691-1692, an epidemic of accusations began in Salem. A witch was defined as someone who had become possessed by Satan. Through the law, nineteen ‘witches’ were legally executed. Most of the accusations were against old ladies, and people wouldn’t accuse family members or strangers, but they’d accuse a good neighbor. If you denied the accusation, your punishment would be greater. Many people would give names of other witches, to win the sympathy or a reduced punishment from officials. In trials, accusers would usually account some misfortune they had suffered at the hands of the accused witch. Looking back now, those misfortunes were quite silly, and witch hunts were results of overactive imaginations, emotional distress, or just accidents. In the end, the idea of witches made it easier for Puritans to believe they could be a saint rather than a sinner.

Q1. Do you think that the witch accusers faked the supposedly cursed/possessed symptoms?

Q2. Why did the people would accuse their good neighbors and not strangers they didn’t know? Do you think they truly believed their good neighbors and friends to be witches?

Q3. Do you think people would have still accused each other of witchcraft if the Puritan religion wasn’t so embedded in everyone’s lives?

--Julie