Research Proposal: The Salem Witchcraft Trials

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Christine Maretta English 1102 Research Proposal October 19, 2014 The Salem Witchcraft trials helped to shape a stronger modern day judicial system. One of the examples I intend to address in my research paper is the separation of church and state. Although both the current judicial system and that of the primitive seventeenth century Salem are based on the foundation of justice, they show some major differences in terms of defense, how much religion and public opinion play a role. There are many similarities but also major differences in the way our judicial system and that of Salem. Convictions now require hard evidence based on fact . In Marilyn K. Roach book Six Women of Salem An excerpt from the Preface…show more content…
Prisoners now are treated humanely and are given 3 meals a day, clothing, a place to sleep, education, medical care and reform services. Torture of prisoners is not allowed to coherce a confession or otherwise. In Anne Llewellyn Barstow’s book Witchcraze she suggests that the laws of the time were torturous, punitive and impersonal, she goes into accounts of specific trials and discusses the laws that convicted the offender and in some cases compares them to how a trial of this nature would be conducted had they happened now. In chapter 2 The structure of a witch hunt. It discusses the laws involved at some of the so called “trials”. It discussed the changes of the laws in different regions and time periods and specifically states that “constituting a revolutionary change in legal methods and techniques of societal control”(33). Barstow further goes on to show the structure of a witch hunt and how it can start as something as small as an accusation and as it spreads creates widespread panic. It is an interesting account as to how mass fear can create a war. This tells me that when updating the judicial system this historical event may have played a role. Things needed to be changed to protect the people from slanderous rumors being all that is needed to convict someone of a…show more content…
Social and generational tensions may be the root cause. Or, maybe fear and anxiety about their future prospects might have given the girls a mental breakdown.”(6) Many of the books I have looked at have explored the possibility that Gender issues and psychological issues also may have fueled the Witch trials to epic proportions. Today in our system, gender is mostly kept out of the decision making process in court and psychological issues are evaluated to see if the accused is even fit to stand trial in the court of law. So once again this shows that had the witch accusations happened in present day a lot of lives would have been

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