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The Puritans were a religious who were a theocracy and had settled in Salem, Massachusetts in the New World from England. They traveled so far from home for religious freedom from the English Church which the puritans thought of as silly. The Puritans believed in Calvinism and were the ones who conducted the Salem Witch Trials. The Puritans religion heavily influenced the trials since it believed in the existence of the devil in the "Invisible Realm". This means that if your crops didn't grow or your child got sick or died the one to blame was the devil himself and his influence in the world around them, sort of like a scapegoat but they truly believed this and many still do.

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Total Depravity is one of the Calvinistic beliefs that the puritans held which stated that "In Adam's fall we sinned all", this means that all of humanity is totally sinful through the fall of Adam and Eve and is damned for eternity. This aspect of the Puritans Calvinistic Ideologies added to the tension of the trials in Salem because some would not confess to being witches since it was a sin to say you were which would damn you if you thought you were an elect or saved by God. If you did not confess to the court that you were a witch you would most likely die or at least be jailed and or tortured.

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The Puritans were a theocracy which is where the religion influences the way the government leads and the government listens to that and does not tell the church what to do. The Puritans held Calvinistic beliefs. The Calvinistic beliefs that they held were Total Depravity, Predestination, Grace, Limited Atonement, and the existence of witches and witch craft. These beliefs were what influenced their culture, government, todays culture in America, and the Salem Witch Trials along with adding a sense of paranoia to the trials.

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Predestination was another Calvinistic Belief that the Puritans held in their society. Predestination is the idea that God has choses who is Elect or saved by God and to be sent to Heaven and he has also decided who is to be damned. This ideology intervened within the trials because in order to save themselves the accused were left with a big question. The question was either confess to being a witch and live but also be damned to hell or you could refuse to confess and probably die either by hanging or being crushed to death like one 80 year old man or be jailed at best. Either way a person who was accused had their reputation ruined along with their property either sitting unattended for months or sold at auction.

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The Puritans believed heavily in education. In fact many of the Puritans education establishments still thrive today. For example, Harvard University is one of the most revered academic institutions in the world which still has a seminary school for students to attend if they wish. The Puritans are also responsible for other Ivy League Universities like Yale, Brown, Princeton, Dartmouth, and others. This influenced the trials since all of the judges were highly educated Puritans. Being a highly educated puritan would mean that you studied the bible and in puritan society the only book to read was the bible so these men were extremely well versed in there faith leading to all faith based decisions along with them going with spectral evidence and being persuaded by the group of girls who claimed they were afflicted by the devil and "aided" in weeding out the devil in the community