rested. It is the hidden motives behind the accusations that fan the flames of the Salem witch trials.To get the complete picture of the causes behind the witch trials, you must look at the physical reasons as well. Two historians, Paul Boyer and Stephen Nissenbaum, drew a map of Salem Village and plotted the accusers, the defendants, and the accused witches. An interesting picture arose when a line was drawn dividing the town into east and west. It became clear that nearly all the accusers lived on the west side, and almost all the defenders and accused witches lived on the east side. To determine the cause of the east-west split, the historians examined many disputes, chief among them being the choice of ministers. Once Salem Village was granted the right to have its own meeting house, quarrels arose over who would preach in the pulpit. There were four ministers between the time period of when the meeting house was built and the end of the witch trials. The arguments over ministers soon became a power struggle. There were two factions that arose during this dispute, and it was noted that one group supported two ministers while the other group supported the other two ministers. Each group wanted to prove its influence by choosing a minister and making him the spiritual guide to Salem Village. The two groups were found to coincide closely with the east-west division.When the economical divisions of the village were examined, it was found that in general the western citizens of Salem Village lived an agrarian lifestyle and were hard-pressed economically. The land on the western side was well-suited to farming and grazing. By contrast, the villagers on the east side were mainly merchants and lived fairly opulently. The road to Salem Town traveled through the east side of Salem Village. Many innkeepers and tavern owners lived on this road and made a good profit off all the travelers. Tension often arose between the two groups because of th...
