Talk:Salem witch trials

This is the talk page for discussing improvements to the Salem witch trials article.
This is not a forum for general discussion of the article's subject.

Put new text under old text. Click here to start a new topic.
New to Wikipedia? Welcome! Learn to edit; get help.

Article policies

Find sources: Google (books · news · scholar · free images · WP refs) · FENS · JSTOR · TWL

Archives: Index, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5: 2 months

Salem witch trials was one of the History good articles, but it has been removed from the list. There are suggestions below for improving the article to meet the good article criteria. Once these issues have been addressed, the article can be renominated. Editors may also seek a reassessment of the decision if they believe there was a mistake.

Article milestones
Date	Process	Result
November 12, 2007	Peer review	Reviewed
January 21, 2008	Good article nominee	Listed
December 16, 2010	Good article reassessment	Delisted
Facts from this article were featured on Wikipedia's Main Page in the "On this day..." column on March 1, 2004, September 19, 2004, September 19, 2005, September 19, 2006, September 19, 2007, March 1, 2011, and March 1, 2016.
Current status: Delisted good article

Christianity Mid‑importance

	Christianity portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject Christianity, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Christianity on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.ChristianityWikipedia:WikiProject ChristianityTemplate:WikiProject ChristianityChristianity articles
Mid	This article has been rated as Mid-importance on the project's importance scale.

United States: Massachusetts / Salem Witch Trials / History High‑importance

	United States portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject United States, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of topics relating to the United States of America on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the ongoing discussions. Template Usage Articles Requested! Become a Member Project Talk Alerts United StatesWikipedia:WikiProject United StatesTemplate:WikiProject United StatesUnited States articles
High	This article has been rated as High-importance on the project's importance scale.
	Massachusetts portal This article is supported by WikiProject Massachusetts (assessed as High-importance).
	This article is supported by WikiProject Massachusetts - Salem Witch Trials task force (assessed as Top-importance).
	This article is supported by WikiProject U.S. history (assessed as High-importance).

Occult High‑importance

	This article is within the scope of WikiProject Occult, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of articles related to the occult on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.OccultWikipedia:WikiProject OccultTemplate:WikiProject OccultOccult articles
High	This article has been rated as High-importance on the project's importance scale.

Women's History High‑importance

	History portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject Women's History, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Women's history and related articles on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.Women's HistoryWikipedia:WikiProject Women's HistoryTemplate:WikiProject Women's HistoryWomen's History articles
High	This article has been rated as High-importance on the project's importance scale.

Law Mid‑importance

	Law portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject Law, an attempt at providing a comprehensive, standardised, pan-jurisdictional and up-to-date resource for the legal field and the subjects encompassed by it.LawWikipedia:WikiProject LawTemplate:WikiProject Lawlaw articles
Mid	This article has been rated as Mid-importance on the project's importance scale.

This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 11 January 2022 and 6 May 2022. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Hdgoble (article contribs).

One chapter seems more like patriotic love than informal text

The chapter "Fundamental U.S. Principals & Outcomes" seems more like a proclamation of love for the U.S society than neutral, informal text. Urpoliitikko (talk) 07:11, 22 December 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Agreed. Both it and the "Religious Impacts" chapter are of questionable quality. Both chapters lack any citations, and the quality of writing is subpar in comparison to the rest of the article. They should be removed. 2600:1700:6A10:3D1F:F189:5F67:859D:79CA (talk) 22:53, 28 December 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Semi-protected edit request on 28 December 2023

This edit request has been answered. Set the |answered= or |ans= parameter to no to reactivate your request.

The "Religious Impacts" chapter in its entirety and the first two paragraphs of "Fundamental U.S. Principals & Outcomes" should be outright removed from the article.

The editor makes biased claims without any sources or citation. The quality of writing is noticeably subpar in comparison to the rest of the article as well.

If possible, all changes made by the editor in question should be reversed.

^[1] Franzspohr (talk) 23:14, 28 December 2023 (UTC)[reply]

References

^ Fundamental U.S. Principals & Outcomes The Salem Witch trials significantly impacted Puritanism, and the Great Awakening and founding principles incorporated into the U.S. Independence, choice, and empowerment are all common U.S. values and founding principles. Following the domino effect, we can see how they all stem from the Great Awakening and then date back to the Witch Trials. The empowerment of the citizens who spoke out against purism during the Great Awakening and asked the problematic and revolutionizing questions during the trials directly manifest themselves in the U.S. we live in today. Living in a society where actual change comes from personal curiosity and asking those hard questions, we see how, even when creating the Constitution, the founding fathers were able to feel the power to make such a high-functioning, revolutionary country. Not only did they have empowerment, but they also weren't diluted by puristic views. If our country were created by men who were puristic, we would still be living in hopes of being selected as the elect and facing internal conflict in our country because we saw what happens when you question principles, whether witchery or religion or even modern-day political dilemmas, being freed from a one-right-answer textbook way of living can inspire people to have the independence of choice and improvement. Most importantly, the Witch Trials were among the first places Americans began to manifest independence, a value we still uphold today. The civilians of Salem and participants of the Great Awakening showed their autonomy when they decided to leave the manipulative, puristic religious system and create individualized branches of religion with personal and meaningful connections. This is what America is built upon. The ability to choose where with whom you practice religion or even if you practice religion is vital. All these principles, rooted in the witch trials and emphasized during the great awakening, contributed to the individual freedom and autonomy we value as fundamental in the United States.

Done Cannolis (talk) 07:17, 29 December 2023 (UTC)[reply]

[1] Fundamental U.S. Principals & Outcomes The Salem Witch trials significantly impacted Puritanism, and the Great Awakening and founding principles incorporated into the U.S. Independence, choice, and empowerment are all common U.S. values and founding principles. Following the domino effect, we can see how they all stem from the Great Awakening and then date back to the Witch Trials. The empowerment of the citizens who spoke out against purism during the Great Awakening and asked the problematic and revolutionizing questions during the trials directly manifest themselves in the U.S. we live in today. Living in a society where actual change comes from personal curiosity and asking those hard questions, we see how, even when creating the Constitution, the founding fathers were able to feel the power to make such a high-functioning, revolutionary country. Not only did they have empowerment, but they also weren't diluted by puristic views. If our country were created by men who were puristic, we would still be living in hopes of being selected as the elect and facing internal conflict in our country because we saw what happens when you question principles, whether witchery or religion or even modern-day political dilemmas, being freed from a one-right-answer textbook way of living can inspire people to have the independence of choice and improvement. Most importantly, the Witch Trials were among the first places Americans began to manifest independence, a value we still uphold today. The civilians of Salem and participants of the Great Awakening showed their autonomy when they decided to leave the manipulative, puristic religious system and create individualized branches of religion with personal and meaningful connections. This is what America is built upon. The ability to choose where with whom you practice religion or even if you practice religion is vital. All these principles, rooted in the witch trials and emphasized during the great awakening, contributed to the individual freedom and autonomy we value as fundamental in the United States.

[1]