The Salem witch trials took place in 1692-1693, executing people accused of practicing witchcraft. In result of the executions and accusations it affected the community and their religion. For eight months, colonists in Massachusetts went on a witch hunt. Hundreds of people were “cried out” against. One hundred seventeen women and thirty-nine men were accused and within a four month period fourteen women and five men were hung and one man was pressed to death. The concept of witchcraft is often treated as a cultural ideology providing a scapegoat for human misfortune. This was particularly the case in the early modern period of Europe where witchcraft was seen as part of a vast diabolical conspiracy of individuals following the Devil undermining Christianity, eventually leading to large-scale witch-hunts, especially in Protestant Europe. (The History of Witchcraft and Demonology) In Christianity and Islam, sorcery came to be associated with heresy and to be viewed as evil. Among the Catholics, Protestants, and secular leadership of the European Late Medieval/Early Modern period, fears about witchcraft rose to an all time high, and sometimes led to large witch hunts. Throughout this time, it was increasingly believed that Christianity was engaged in an apocalyptic battle against the Devil and his secret army of witches, who had entered into a diabolical pact. In result , thousands of people were executed, and others were imprisoned, tortured, banished, and had lands and possessions taken away. (The History of Witchcraft and Demonology)
The description of a witch evolved over several hundred years. However, there were some basic characteristics. Many of them were influenced by the views of the Salem community. A witch was generally a woman and many historians feel that most of the accused were women because it was a result of misogyny; hatred of women,