Two Young Girls example essay topic

D B Q Americans in the colonial period were primarily concerned with matters of religion and conscience. In every aspect of their society, religion and morality was one of the first things that came into focus. In 1688, a group of Quakers voted in favor of a resolution against slavery. Their reason for doing this was that slavery was bad enough for any human being to partake in, let alone Christians like themselves. The Quakers were anon-discriminatory group of people who believed in religious a swell as personal freedom. In New England schools, religion and death were the two principal themes mentioned the most in textbooks.

By stressing religion in school, it was hoped that children would follow the right path to their deliverance. They also told children the truth about death, and that it was cruel and could come at any moment in their lives. Again, religion was thrust into young people's minds, pressuring them into thinking about their own salvation, before it was too late. The Puritans were also another group in early America who came to the new world to escape the ways of Europe and to start a new life. They believed that the Universe was God-centered, and that man was inherently sinful and corrupt, rescued from damnation only by discretionary divine grace. They felt they were duty-bound to do God's will which they could understand best by studying the Bible and the universe which God had created and which he controlled.

The Puritans are known most for their involvement in the Salem Witch Trials. The Salem Witch Trials began when two young girls, Betty Parris and Abigail Williams, began playing with magic. After strange things began to happen during, they fell ill. Sometimes they would stare into empty space, choke and cough, or get on their knees and bark as if they were animals. After doctors diagnosed that the 'evil hand' had touched the girls, their ministers pressured them to confess who was responsible. More local girls, many of whom were friends of Abigail or Betty, also starting having fits.

Eventually the girls identified the culprits. During the trials of Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne (the first two 'witches' accused), the entire community immersed itself in the situation. Many explanations exist to interpret what exactly happened to the girls, but the most apparent explanation is that the girls were victims of conversion hysteria. They were so swamped in the superstitions of the community that they became convinced that evil forces had bewitched them. These mental stresses would then convert into physical manifestations. It can not be said that all of the " afflicted' were hysterical, as some were most likely faking in order to get attention or to justify the problems of the community.

The Puritans were merciful to the repeaters, but executed those who refused to do so. Americans during the colonial period were concerned primarily with matters of religion and conscience. The Quakers, Puritans, and even schools all focused their lives around religion and what they thought was right or wrong. They were all very opinionated, and stood their ground firmly when presenting an argument about why they thought their ideas and beliefs were true.