In 1620 English Puritans began to arrive in Massachusetts looking for freedom of religion for themselves (not others). They thought their religion was the one true faith and the Church of England was false. They felt they were on a divine mission, bringing the true religion to the new world. They believed America had been chosen for them by God.

Each Puritan hoped for God to grant him or her grace and looked for signs that He had done so. Strict hard work and moral rightness were required, but it was believed that most would still burn in hell. Puritans also valued plainness and believed that all decorations were vanity. Puritans believed that God blesses some people, purifies their feelings: takes away all envy, vanity, lust, etc. and gives them pure love, removing the seven deadly sins from an individual’s soul and replacing them with the seven cardinal virtues. This process, called grace was believed to be caused by God’s choice, not a person’s actions.

tend downwards with great weight and pressure towards Hell; and if God should let you go, you would immediately sink and swiftly descend and plunge into the bottomless gulf...and all your righteousness would have no more influence to uphold you and keep you out of Hell than a spider’s web would have to stop a falling rock.... The bow of God’s wrath Puritans wrote diaries, “Your wickedness makes you as it were heavy as lead, and to is bent, and the arrow made ready on the string, and justice bends the arrow at your heart, and strains the bow, and it is nothing but the mere pleasure of God, and that of an angry God, without any promise or obligation at all, that keeps the arrow one moment from being made drunk with your blood.” - Jonathan Edwards, from “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” sermons, poetry, history, and religious works. They did not write novels, short stories, or plays.

If ever two were one, then surely we. If ever man were loved by wife, then thee. If ever wife was happy in a man, Compare with me, ye women, if you can. I prize thy love more than whole Mines of gold Or all the riches that the East doth hold. My love is such that Rivers cannot quench, Nor ought but love from thee give recompense. Thy love is such I can no way repay. The heavens reward thee manifold, I pray. Then while we live, in love let's so persevere That when we live no more, we may live ever. To my Dear and Loving Husband Anne Bradstreet ( )

Witchcraft is actually many ancient non-Christian religions from various cultures around the world. Historically it has been practiced by more women than men and the focus has been nature worship. A form of witchcraft known as Wicca is popular in the United States today. Witchcraft Unfortunately, Puritans did not object to the persecution of others, only to the persecution of themselves. At the time they left England, they were one of many groups treated cruelly and even executed for crimes against the church. Puritans, like Anglicans and Catholics of the seventeenth century, believed in witches and thought that they were servants of the Devil with supernatural powers. Many people in Europe and America were falsely accused of practicing witchcraft. Usually those accused were poor women who acted independently. Strong women were viewed as a threat to the male hierarchy of the church.

During the winter of in the Puritan settlement of Salem, Massachusetts, some girls and women began to think that they were possessed by evil spirits. They accused others. Salem of leading them towards witchcraft. Initially three women were arrested (Sarah Good, Sarah Osborne, and Tituba, a Caribbean slave). Court was called into session to begin hearing these cases. No hard evidence was required for these alleged supernatural crimes. Spectral evidence and the testimony of the accusers lead to convictions. Those who refused to confess were sentenced to death. By February 1692 many more arrests had followed. Some people confessed and named others because they feared death, but others feared excommunication even more. Many were unwilling to lie to save their lives. In June the executions began. In October the governor ordered the trials temporarily stopped. There were three more convictions in January of 1693, but there were no more executions. Eventually all remaining prisoners were released and pardoned. The death toll was twenty people and two dogs. Many more people suffered from false accusations and imprisonment.