1.
Why did the Puritan's leave England and venture to a new
land?
Puritan's had left England in order to practice their religion
more freely.
2. Explain how the Puritan's felt about freedom of religion.
They were not interested in freedom of all religion.
3. How important is the church in Puritan society? Explain.
It was very important because they structured their social order based on it.
4. What is excommunication?
This is when you are thrown out of your religion.
5. Why were church leaders so influential/powerful in Puritan communities?
Many clergy in New England were telling their congregations that
the devil was among them in the form of witches. This meant that they had much
power over the people.
6. How does religion today compare to the Puritan's idea of religion?
Today they are not as devoted to religion as people were back when the puritans came to America.
7. Why was witchcraft often the explanation for illness?
Little was known about physical illnesses and even less about
mental illness. When faced with an illness doctors couldn't diagnose, so they
usually proclaimed that the illness was due to the only other "known" at that
time, which was witchcraft.
8. What scientific explanation was given by Caporeal as to the cause of the mysterious behavior in
Salem?
She suggests a very real physical illness brought on by ergot poisoning.
Puritan Children
1. Describe the life of a Puritan Child.
Children were expected to behave under the same strict code as the adults—doing chores,
attending church services, and repressing individual differences. Any show of
emotion, such as excitement, fear, or anger, was discouraged, and disobedience
was severely punished. Children rarely played, as toys and games were scarce.
Puritans saw these activities as sinful distractions.
Religion and Witchcraft
2. Describe a Puritan church service.
The strict Puritan code was far from tolerant. It was against the law not to attend
church—where men and women sat on opposite sides through long services.
3. What did the Puritan's believe about God and their church?
they believed that all sins—from sleeping in church to stealing food—should be punished. They also believed God would punish sinful behavior. When a neighbor would suffer misfortune, such as a sick child
or a failed crop, Puritans saw it as God’s will and did not help.
4. What do you think was the main message the Puritan's tried to convey to its parishioners?
That following god was the right thing to do, no matter what it took.
5. Why was everone so fearful? What were they
afraid of?
Puritans also believed the Devil was as real as God. Everyone was faced with the struggle between the powers of good and evil, but Satan would select the weakest individuals—women, children, the insane to
carry out his work. Those who followed Satan were considered witches.
6. How did the Puritans feel about individuality?
They were against it.
Economic and Social Divisions
7. Differentiate between Salem Town and Salem Village.
Residents of Salem Village were mostly poor farmers who made their living cultivating crops in the rocky terrain. Salem Town, on the other hand, was a prosperous port town at the center of trade with
London.
8. Explain the reason for the friction
between Salem Town and Salem Village
.
For many years, Salem Village tried to gain independence from Salem Town. The
town, which depended on the farmers for
food.
9. What role did the new minister, Reverend Parris, play in the Salem witch trials?
Parris was a stern Puritan who denounced the worldly ways and economic prosperity of Salem Town as the influence of the Devil. His rhetoric further separated the two factions within Salem
Village.
Joseph McCarthy:
1. Who was Joseph McCarthy?
He is a young Senator that made a public accusation that more than two hundred “card-carrying” communists had infiltrated the United States government.
2. What feelings of the American psyche or events of the time allowed for
McCarthyism to become such a prominent movement in the 1950s?
Throughout the 1940s and 1950s America was overwhelmed with concerns about the threat of communism growing in Eastern Europe and China.
3. What effect did McCarthyism have on artists and
entertainers?
Known as McCarthyism, the paranoid hunt for infiltrators was notoriously difficult on
writers and entertainers, many of whom were labeled communist sympathizers and
were unable to continue working.
Why did the Puritan's leave England and venture to a new
land?
Puritan's had left England in order to practice their religion
more freely.
2. Explain how the Puritan's felt about freedom of religion.
They were not interested in freedom of all religion.
3. How important is the church in Puritan society? Explain.
It was very important because they structured their social order based on it.
4. What is excommunication?
This is when you are thrown out of your religion.
5. Why were church leaders so influential/powerful in Puritan communities?
Many clergy in New England were telling their congregations that
the devil was among them in the form of witches. This meant that they had much
power over the people.
6. How does religion today compare to the Puritan's idea of religion?
Today they are not as devoted to religion as people were back when the puritans came to America.
7. Why was witchcraft often the explanation for illness?
Little was known about physical illnesses and even less about
mental illness. When faced with an illness doctors couldn't diagnose, so they
usually proclaimed that the illness was due to the only other "known" at that
time, which was witchcraft.
8. What scientific explanation was given by Caporeal as to the cause of the mysterious behavior in
Salem?
She suggests a very real physical illness brought on by ergot poisoning.
Puritan Children
1. Describe the life of a Puritan Child.
Children were expected to behave under the same strict code as the adults—doing chores,
attending church services, and repressing individual differences. Any show of
emotion, such as excitement, fear, or anger, was discouraged, and disobedience
was severely punished. Children rarely played, as toys and games were scarce.
Puritans saw these activities as sinful distractions.
Religion and Witchcraft
2. Describe a Puritan church service.
The strict Puritan code was far from tolerant. It was against the law not to attend
church—where men and women sat on opposite sides through long services.
3. What did the Puritan's believe about God and their church?
they believed that all sins—from sleeping in church to stealing food—should be punished. They also believed God would punish sinful behavior. When a neighbor would suffer misfortune, such as a sick child
or a failed crop, Puritans saw it as God’s will and did not help.
4. What do you think was the main message the Puritan's tried to convey to its parishioners?
That following god was the right thing to do, no matter what it took.
5. Why was everone so fearful? What were they
afraid of?
Puritans also believed the Devil was as real as God. Everyone was faced with the struggle between the powers of good and evil, but Satan would select the weakest individuals—women, children, the insane to
carry out his work. Those who followed Satan were considered witches.
6. How did the Puritans feel about individuality?
They were against it.
Economic and Social Divisions
7. Differentiate between Salem Town and Salem Village.
Residents of Salem Village were mostly poor farmers who made their living cultivating crops in the rocky terrain. Salem Town, on the other hand, was a prosperous port town at the center of trade with
London.
8. Explain the reason for the friction
between Salem Town and Salem Village
.
For many years, Salem Village tried to gain independence from Salem Town. The
town, which depended on the farmers for
food.
9. What role did the new minister, Reverend Parris, play in the Salem witch trials?
Parris was a stern Puritan who denounced the worldly ways and economic prosperity of Salem Town as the influence of the Devil. His rhetoric further separated the two factions within Salem
Village.
Joseph McCarthy:
1. Who was Joseph McCarthy?
He is a young Senator that made a public accusation that more than two hundred “card-carrying” communists had infiltrated the United States government.
2. What feelings of the American psyche or events of the time allowed for
McCarthyism to become such a prominent movement in the 1950s?
Throughout the 1940s and 1950s America was overwhelmed with concerns about the threat of communism growing in Eastern Europe and China.
3. What effect did McCarthyism have on artists and
entertainers?
Known as McCarthyism, the paranoid hunt for infiltrators was notoriously difficult on
writers and entertainers, many of whom were labeled communist sympathizers and
were unable to continue working.