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A simple group known as the Puritans first emerged in England, separating themselves from the Church of England and the lavish Catholic lifestyle and worship. This group believed in the total devotion to God accompanied with a simplistic lifestyle in order to be "pure", hence the name. They came to be persecuted in England and soon emigrated to America, becoming the first group to colonize the Massachusetts Bay colony on the Eastern Coast. They strove to make a utopia in America, governed by their religious beliefs (theocracy), valued education, and created the City Upon a Hill Theory-a place where God would be found in scripture and strong work ethic. Needless to say, this group has greatly influenced the modern day attitudes of the U.S. today, an example being the judgmental attitudes of many Americans as Puritans were very judgmental of each other, aiming to be perfect.

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Other than Theocracy and the City Upon a Hill Theory, Puritans had many beliefs that shaped the U.S. today. Derived from John Calvin, this group believed in concepts like total depravity-that humankind is totally sinful (as Adam and Eve were the first humans to sin) and therefore, humanity was damned for eternity. Predestination entails that God had chosen a certain people to go to heaven, the "elect", and others were predetermined for hell, the "unregenerate", and there was nothing you could do about it. Further building upon this, limited atonement entailed that Christ had died only for the "elect", and a good sign to tell is you were one of the elect was if you experienced God's grace. Another strong belief in this community was that Satan, the devil, was real and acting in the world to undermine the work of God they were involved in.

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Having such a strong belief in the devil, attributing him for all the evil and unfortunate events in the world, they further had a strong conviction that he recruited human to do his work in the world. These recruits wee said to be witches and wizards-which was so easily accepted because there were earlier cases of witchcraft in Europe, and people admitted to being witches. Foreign influence also aided witch hysteria, as a slave known as Tituba would tell stories of ghosts and was involved in voodoo, considered evil acts in Salem. Further, previous disputes arose in this congregation, creating an easy target for excessive accusations in Salem when the witch trials began. This combined with hysterical children, fear of evil and unexplained acts, judgment of neighbors, and church politics led to the dark accusations representative of the Salem Witch Trials.

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It all began with a group of young girls, who often listened to a Barboda slave, Tituba, and her stories-which were considered evil and a trait of witchcraft in Puritan Salem. Possibly driven by teenage boredom and guilt, these girls began to act unusually, having odd fits, complaining of pain, etc., now speculated to have been faking it for attention. A doctor had suggested these girls were afflicted by witchcraft, and soon, allegations began to be made in this colony-the girls had accused many of being witches. In the trials for these witches, the group of girls would contort themselves into grotesque poses, complaining of pinching/biting, shouting, and other odd occurances that cannot be explained today were taken as evidence to convict these witches. Having no choice, the accused had to admit to being witches (most likely falsely because many were innocent) or die; 200 people were jailed, 19 hung, and one was pressed to death.

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In the 1950's, a new sort of witch hunt emerged-the hunt for communists in the Red Scare of America. Led by Senator Joseph McCarthy, thousands of Americans were accused of being communists, sympathizing with communists, holding communist values, etc, with little to no evidence. These people would often loose everything they had simply for the accusation and/or conviction, their job, house, families, and some even faced incarceration. Arthur Miller, most famous for refusing to give evidence before the House during this hunt, had recalled on an earlier experience in America, the Salem Witch Trails, where innocent people were also accused of being witches with little to no evidence, and everyone turned against each other in both hunts. He wrote the play, The Crucible, to tell of the Salem Witch Trials so that Americans may learn from their history and avoid past mistakes, though unsuccessful at the time of its release, The Crucible is one of Miller's most performed plays today.