Transcript The Crucible - Dickson County Schools

© 2003-2004 clipart.com
© 2003-2004 clipart.com
© 2003-2004 clipart.com
Remember the Pilgrims?
Pilgrims and Puritans
• The Pilgrims were part of a group of English
Puritans called the “Separatists” who fled
persecution in England.
– The Pilgrims traveled to America aboard the
Mayflower and landed at Plymouth in 1620.
• Puritans is a general term for English
Protestants who wanted to “purify” the Church of
England.
– The Puritans objected to the rituals, decorations, and
organization of the Church of England. They wanted a
simpler form of worship and organization.
A Puritan Time Line
In England
1608:
Separatists
flee England
for Holland
1642–1651:
English civil
wars between
Puritans and
Royalists
1653–1658:
Puritan Oliver
Cromwell rules
England as lord
protector
1660:
Monarchy
restored under
Charles II
1600
1700
1620:
Mayflower
Pilgrims land at
Plymouth
In America
1630:
Great migration of
Puritans to New
England begins
1692:
Salem witch
trials
Five basic beliefs of Puritans
Total Depravity: People are born sinners
and have no right to salvation.
Unconditional Election: Some are chosen
for salvation, some are not. There is nothing
one can do to change his status.
Limited Atonement: The extent to which
one can please God with acts is limited.
Irresistible Grace: God showers one with a
quality of grace, and one cannot resist it.
Perseverance: Once one has been saved,
nothing he does will change that fact.
What the Puritans Believed
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• Religion is a personal, inner experience.
• Humans are wicked by nature, and most are
marked for damnation.
• A chosen few can be saved through the grace
of God.
• Hard work and worldly success are signs of
God’s grace.
• Education is essential in order to read the
Word of God.
Grace: The Puritan Ideal
• Grace—God’s special favor—was the only
way to escape an eternity in Hell.
• People did not know for certain if they had
grace, but they could feel the arrival of
grace as an intense emotion.
• People who had grace were among the
“elect” (saved).
• People who did not have grace were
among the “unregenerate” (damned).
Grace: The Puritan Ideal
• The presence of grace was demonstrated by
a person’s outward behavior. People with
grace showed the following characteristics:
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self-reliance
personal responsibility
industriousness
temperance
simplicity
Puritan Literature
• What the Puritans Read
– The Bible and other religious texts
• Why They Read
– Puritans stressed individual responsibility for
spiritual development.
– Every person was responsible for reading and
understanding the Bible.
• Bay Psalm Book
• Published 1640
• Written by Robert Mather
and two other ministers
• First book published in
colonies (printing press
brought from England)
• Cast Psalms into verse
that could be musical or
also chanted in church
Puritan Literature
• What the Puritans Wrote
– Sermons, essays, and poems on spiritual and
religious subjects
– Diaries and histories that recorded inner and outer
events of their lives
• Why They Wrote
– Puritans used writing to explore their lives for signs of
grace and to describe the workings of God in their
communities.
“There is nothing between you and hell but the air; it is only the power
and mere pleasure of God that holds you up.”
from “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” by Jonathan Edwards
The Puritan Legacy
• In the United States, we generally value
– individual rights and responsibilities
– equality of individuals
– literacy and education
– spiritual and worldly rewards for hard work
• Puritan Lifestyle
– Churches
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– Forbidden Activities
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Lacked decoration
associated with most
churches.
No stained glass windows or
statues
Wore only dark black clothes
Women wore no cosmetics
and hairdressing was banned
Had no paintings of
themselves
Did not read plays/novels
Did not work on Sunday
Did not dance
Salem Witch Trials
V
SALEM MEETING
HOUSE
The Salem Meeting House
The Beginning…
• Young girls began to exhibit alarming symptoms:
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hallucinations
blasphemous screaming
convulsive seizures
violent convulsions
trance-like states
odd skin sensations
strange body contortions
bizarre or violent behaviors, such as throwing things
around the room and crawling under furniture
The Accusations Begin…
• Unable to find a physical cause for the girls’
symptoms and behavior, physicians concluded
that the girls had been “bewitched.”
• The girls named three women as witches.
– Tituba-Rev. Parris’s Caribbean-born slave
and two women considered of “ill repute”
– Sarah Good-an elderly beggar
– Sarah Osburn-a bed-ridden old woman
The “Witch Hunt” Spreads
• Tituba confessed to seeing the devil and testified
that a conspiracy of witches was at work in
Salem.
• Many other people came forward with
accusations against neighbors and fellow
townspeople.
• Some of the accused had previous records of
criminal activity.
• Faithful churchgoers and people of high
standing in the community began to be accused.
• The trials began, and many were found guilty
and sentenced to hang.
The trials began, and many townspeople were found
guilty and sentenced to hang.
Outcomes of the Trials
•19 men and women were hanged as “witches.”
More Outcomes…
• 1 man was pressed to death for refusing to answer the
indictment against him.
• At least two people died in prison.
• Over 150 people were imprisoned.
• 2 dogs were also hanged for witchcraft.
Possible Causes of the “Bewitching
Behaviors” of the Accusers
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hysteria
jealousy or spite
grudges against fellow townspeople
self-preservation
greed
hallucinations caused by ergot poisoning (from eating
rye bread infected with fungus)
• rigid moral code of Puritanism
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Any show of emotion was discouraged.
Individual differences were frowned upon.
All sin or disobedience was severely punished.
Children, especially girls, rarely played and were expected to
work as hard and live by the same moral code as adults.