Another theory for the cause of the trials has to deal with the distinction between both Salem Village and Salem Town. Salem Village and Salem Town were politically a single unit, but socially as well as economically the two were diverse and because of this it caused a rivalry. Salem Village had a lot of farmland and poorer people and was also more rural and conservative whereas Salem Town was more sophisticated, maritime, and prosperous, with wealthier and more respected people (Sean)[1]. Salem Village wanted independence from Salem Town and as their population increased they requested separation from the Salem Town church. Conflict between the two areas increased since Salem Village had a lot of farmland (the Putnam’s particularly owned most of the farmland) and Salem Town did not, therefore making Salem Town dependent on them for food. However, despite the fact Salem Village had the food, Salem Town determined crop price as well as collected taxes from Salem Village (Richard).[2] Salem Village was strongly religious and wanted their own church, they no longer wanted to be part of Salem Town’s church. After searching for someone to run the church, there became a village-wide conflict over Reverend Samuel Paris; some of the village had strong objections to him being their Reverend. In the midst of this intense conflict, the witchcraft accusations began to emerge in Salem Village (Benjamin).[3] Paris preached to Salem Village that the devil was among them, and as more people began to have conflicts with him, his sermons got darker. Eventually villagers refused to pay taxes that went to Paris’ salary, and about a month after his daughter Betty and niece Abigail became sick. When the doctor could not come up with a medical reason for their illness he said they were bewitched (Ashley).[4]

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            After word got out about the girls being bewitched they were pressured to state who bewitched them, they accused Paris’ slave, Tituba. This initiated the uprising of other girls becoming “bewitched” and thus started the long line of accusations. Within the first week of June 23 people in Salem Town had been accused of being witches (Richard).[5] Most of the accused lived in the south and were better off financially than most of the accusers. This could be because the accusing families were to gain property from convicted accused witches (Douglas).[6] This implies property played a role in who lived and who died and created the perfect opportunity for people who were not as wealthy as well as economically jealous to get revenge on the wealthier members in Salem. As more and more people began getting accused the examination of trials moved from Salem Village to Salem Town.