The Puritans were a religious group from England in the 1630s that settled in the New England region. This colony was known as the Massachusetts Bay Colony (Foner, 2012). The Puritans ran the show and they had a strict religion full of rules that they believed would reform the Church of England. The Puritans felt like the ancient Israelites of the Exodus when they were freed by God (PBS, 2010). They had to establish a new, purely Christian common wealth. Their leader John Winthrop reminded them of their duties and obligations under the Covenant (PBS, 2010). If they honored them, God bless them, and if they failed, they would be reprimanded. They had many different ideas about what was sacred and what was not (PBS, 2010). They believed that women inherited Eve's original sin so that they could be as good as men (PBS, 2010). Also because of this woman, she could not be trusted due to her sinful ways (PBS, 2010). They were the origin of all the world's problems and it is up to men to solve them. Additionally, among the elect, a few could join the Church and they were the men at the center of Puritan society (Foner, 2012). Those who could join were those allowed to vote in the colony (PBS, 2010). Church attendance was compulsory for both men and women (PBS, 2010). If you didn't attend, you could be punished as it was a crime in their society. They did not allow any musical instruments to be played inside or outside the church (Foner, 2012). They also viewed Native Americans, European settlers of other faiths, and unpredictable natural disasters as forms of the devil himself (PBS, 2010). At that time, most people believed in withes. The Puritans considered them the incarnation of the devil. Since they thought the Devil was most interested... middle of paper... old court, they were wrong. On September 9, six more people were convicted and sentenced to hang. They were Martha Corey, Mary Easty, Alice Parker, Ann Pudeator, Dorcas Hoar and Mary Bradbury. Cotton Mather wrote a letter complaining about how they ignored this request and five people were convicted and hanged and they allegedly allowed spectral evidence signifying testimony about dreams and visions (Saari, 2001). Mather wanted the court not to be able to use this type of evidence (Blumberg, 2007). Governor Phipps responded to Cotton Mather by creating a new court for trials and not allowing spectral evidence (Blumberg, 2007). In May 1693, Phipps granted pardon to all those in prison for witchcraft. In total, 19 people were hanged, Giles Corey was pressed to death, several died in prison, and nearly 200 people were accused of being witches (Saari, 2001).