What is a theocracy and how would it affect the view of Salem residents toward witchcraft?

Answer 1

A theocracy is a society where a god is the supreme leader and the teachings of that god are law. In the case of the Salem Witch Trials, it was DEFINITELY a player because the people who lived in Massachusetts during that time were very devout Christians. They took the passage in the Old Testament about "not suffering a witch to live" literally. They believed that those who were accused of witchcraft were possessed by demons, so they had to be killed in order to free their souls from the possession of the demons. The problem was the whole thing got out of hand. Virtually anyone who was accused of witchcraft was presumed to be guilty, and it was next to impossible to prove your innocence if you were accused. And of course, the guilty ones were all hanged. I think the final body count was 71 people hanged before they finally came to their senses...

Answer 2

A Theocracy is a government that's decisions are based on religious morals and opinions. Some are arguing now that America is becoming a Theocracy because the bible is often cited in political debates and in political campaigns.
The residents of salem at that time were most definitely influenced by religious ideology. Their trials were not based on any kind of unbiased law, but on their supposed threat to the Puritan way of life...

Answer 3

Theocracy is government by religious doctrine. All the laws of said government are established by adherence to said doctrine. Since Salem predated the establishment of the United States it could be considered one of many Puritan Theocratic townships in the new world.

Before the Constitution many colonies had official state religion such as Pennsylvania establishing Catholicism as it's official religion (which is why we have the first amendment Congress cannot create an official "church" of the US like say England did with the Church of England). Government loyalty to a particular faith was a cause of much suffering in Europe which is what the founding fathers wanted to avoid at all costs.

The puritans of Salem held a misogynistic (antagonistic towards women, an unnatrual hatred or fear of women) interpetation of the Bible which led them to blame women for natural ills children were treated as small adults and play was forbidden young girls had it the worst.

Many were accussed from people who skipped church to people who such as Sarah Good an angry impoverished woman who when she asked for food would be shunned away only to mutter to herself of the hypocritical way "Christian" people would judge her and shun her because she was poor.

Many people were tried without evidence and killed over the hysteria but finally on Halloween (ironic i know) 2001 the Massachusettes state legislature gave all victims of the Salem Witch Trials a pardon of innocence (officially proclaimed innocent) and if there was a hero on the side of the church in this case it would be Reverend Francis Dane who oppossed the trials as being full of unsubstantial evidence he and his family were accussed but never punished his daughter was cinvicted but escaped execution due to her pregnancy.