Colonial Society and Culture

AP US History· difficulty 3/5

Salem Witch Trials, 1692: Outcomes (n=approx.) 200 100 0 Accused ~200 Tried ~150 Convicted ~30 Executed 20

The Salem witch trials shown above are most often interpreted by historians as reflecting:

  • A

    Social anxieties in a Puritan community under demographic, religious, and frontier strain

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  • B

    An organized resistance movement against royal authority

  • C

    A successful prosecution of an actual conspiracy of witches

  • D

    A backlash against Enlightenment rationalism in Massachusetts

Explanation

Historians link the trials to pressures on Puritan Salem—land disputes, frontier warfare, gender tensions—rather than literal witchcraft or political resistance.

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