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The dread of witchcraft that led to the Salem witch trials in colonial Massachusetts spread fast throughout Europe. It all began when some young girls claimed to be under the devil's sway and accused others of being witches. Without any concrete proof, the individuals who were charged with practicing witchcraft were put to death. After the governor's wife was convicted of witchcraft in May 1693, the fifteen-month-long Salem witch trials came to a close.

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The Puritans wished to use divine laws as the foundation for their colony. They influence others to establish a colony, as seen in the above image. This new influence brought with it issues grounded in the law of God. For instance, The Puritans were frequently written off as ill-dressed religious fanatics who were against the arts and anxious to force their strict "Puritanical" morality on everyone and everything. Ultimately, practices like the Half-Way Covenant and the growth of dissident Baptists, Quakers, Anglicans, and Presbyterians in the late 17th and early 18th century were the primary causes of the decline of the Puritans and the Congregational churches.

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Reformed Christianity, commonly known as Calvinism, is a significant subset of Protestantism that adheres to the theological heritage and practices of Christianity established by John Calvin and other theologians of the Reformation. It highlights the Bible's authority and God's omnipotence. Calvinism gained instant popularity and appealed to people from all social and geographic backgrounds. It appealed mostly to the aristocracy and urban upper classes in France; it gained supporters among German burghers and princes; in England and the Netherlands, it won over people from all socioeconomic strata. Even those who took its precepts seriously enough to apologize for them were finding them to be a great embarrassment two centuries later. The Calvinist faith, mummified in formal creeds long after its early vitality was exhausted, had become a cultural anachronism by the 1800s.

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The poppet, the Gavel, and the hunt for witches

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The poppet, the Gavel, and the hunt for witches

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The poppet, the gavel, and the witch hunt that takes place during the play are The Crucible's three primary emblems. The purpose of this play is to highlight the risk involved in leveling unjustified accusations. The poppet represents the thinness of evidence supporting allegations and the relative ease with which some betray their friends and others they look up to. Paradoxically, Elizabeth was meant to receive it as a present. The gavel represents the unfair and biased decisions made by society that result in unjustified deaths.

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A "city on a hill" is a town that inspires admiration from others. This was how John Winthrop characterized the Massachusetts Bay colony, which he thought would grow into a beacon of Puritan perfection. Put another way, the term comes from Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, which taught about salt and light. A city on a hill cannot be hidden, according to Jesus, which means that no one can steal the hope that shines on his followers. ... order to be in a more defendable position should indigenous peoples attack.