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Long after the Salem witch trials the communist scare arose. This scare was when people would accuse others of being a communist and the accused would need to testify. A man named Arthur Miller was accused by Joseph McCarthy and was to admit that he was a communist in front of the senate. He refused to do so and instead wrote a play comparing the communist scare to the previous Salem witch trials. Unfortunately, no one went to see this play when it first was on but now it is very popular. This is the background to the Crucible.

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Predestination is one of the major components of calvinism. It means that  when you were born you were either an elect (chosen) or an unregenerate (damned). The chosen were to go to hell while the damned went to hell. This was predetermined by God at birth and you have no idea which one you are until death. There is no way to change your fate; all you could do was live a pure life in hopes you are a chosen one. Puritans devoted their lives to serving god yet some would still be damned and go to hell.

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Calvinism is the theological system (started by John Calvin) which puritans believed in. The puritans believed in the calvinist ideas of total depravity, predestination, limited atonement, and grace. Being a theocracy the Puritans had a government that intertwined with the church. Their community was governed by god and was heavily influenced by the presence and belief of witchcraft. The puritans fear of witches partnering up with satan is what ultimately fueled the witch trials and hysteria.

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The witch hysteria in Salem grew off the puritans belief that satan was actively working amongst them in the form of natural disasters, diseases, or witches. Reforming the church of England brought forth many hardships which were thought to be Satans work. Their belief of witches being recruited by satan to help him worried people to their breaking point. Soon everyone was accusing each other of partaking in which craft wether it was souley because of land disputes or personal gain. Even the native Americans who would fight the puritans for being on their land were thought to be the devils helpers.

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Puritans believed that Satan would recruit people to serve for him; starting the thought of witches living amongst the people. However, the witch trials didn't begin until a young woman named Betty Paris started behaving very strangely until a doctor needed to be brought in to examine her. The doctor blamed her behavior on witchcraft and  eventually a group of girls with the same  strange behavioral issues emerged. These young women would accuse innocent people of being witches and act "possessed" as their proof. They became famous  due to the fact that they basically were the overseers of the accused fate; this fame made them accuse more innocent people.  In the end about 200 people were accused of witchcraft, 19 of those were hanged,  and 1 was pressed to death.