Name:______Period:______
The Puritans and the Salem Witch Trials
Who are the Puritans?
This is a broad term, referring to a number of ______groups that, beginning about 1500, sought to “______” the Church of England.
What does the term “purify” mean?
Why might a group of people want to “purify” their church?
Ø In England during the ______, a group of Protestants called Puritans led a movement to “______” the Church of England.
Ø They wished to return to the ______described in the ______. They did not believe that the clergy or the government should or could act as an intermediary between the individual and God.
Ø The first and most famous group of English Puritans landed in ______, on the tip of Cape Cod, just before Christmas after a long and difficult journey. There they hoped to ______
______.
Ø They were followed ten years later by seven hundred more Puritan settlers. By 1640, as many as twenty thousand English Puritans sailed to what they call New England.
Values of the Puritans:
Ø For the Puritans the ______and the ______were closely related.
Ø Puritans also believed the ______.
o They did not believe in separation of church and state.
Ø Puritans did value ______—their attempt to begin a life in the new world dictated this, but many Puritans also placed ______.
Ø Puritans believed that those who obtained wealth did so because it was a ______
Ø ______.
Ø They also valued family life, community service, art and literature. As a result of this, they were the first group in the new colonies to establish a printing press, free public grammar schools, and Harvard College.
Religious Beliefs of the Puritans:
Ø When it comes to religion, Puritans were often ______and ______.
Ø Because of their religious intolerance, they are often seen as ______.
Ø Why do you think this last statement could be true?
Predestination:
Ø The largest tenant of their faith was the concept of predestination.
Ø What exactly IS predestination?
Ø It is the doctrine that ______: biblical predestination means that God willed ______for some people and ______for others.
Ø This “final destination decision” is decided prior to birth. By this theology, God decides whether you are going to heaven or hell ______. You have no say in the matter.
Ø Interestingly enough, God does not tell humans which people are predestined to go to heaven and which people are predestined to spend an eternity in hell.
Ø This means humans were left to determine who they thought was going to heaven and who was going to hell.
Ø How do you think Puritans determined who was going to heaven and who was going to hell? How could they possibly determine the difference between the saved and the damned?
Background on Salem Witch Trials:
Ø It was a ______colony.
Ø The residents ______that witches and witchcraft were real.
Ø ______was defined as “entering into a compact with the devil in exchange for certain powers to do evil.”
Ø Witchcraft was considered both a ______and a ______.
Ø This was because it supposedly used the ______to perform cruel acts against each other.
Ø Witch hunt ______in early ______.
Ø ______and ______started having fits of convulsion, screaming and hallucinations.
Ø The doctor that examined them said that the only explanation was ______
Ø ______had detailed witchcraft and the symptoms of being afflicted by it in a book.
Ø The girls’ symptoms were much like those described in Mather’s book so the Puritans in Salem easily believed that it was true.
Ø The girls accused ______(a Parris family slave), ______and ______of being witches.
Ø John Hawthorne and Jonathan Corwin were responsible for examining the three accused women and determining whether they were witches or not.
Ø ______questioning began.
Ø After rigorous questioning Tituba ______to being a witch stating that her, Good and Osborne made a pact with the devil.
Ø This ______the village’s speculations and they went on a ______that lasted for years.
Ø In the following months many more were accused: Martha Corey, Bridget Williams, Rebecca Nurse, Sarah Cloyce and Mary Eastick.
Ø A new court was set up to handle just witch cases:
o This court was called the ______.
Ø Trials got out of control and many ______were ______and ______quickly.
Ø Bridget Bishop, Rebecca Nurse and John Proctor all died as convicted witches.
Ø They were all convicted ______.
Ø The only way to avoid execution was to ______.
Why do you think this is ironic?
Ø During 1692 ______refused to confess to being a witch and died as a result.
Ø The witch trials getting out of control showed the ______
______that ran in colonial America.