In "Young Goodman Brown" by Nathaniel Hawthorne he recreates an era best remembered by Puritans: the Salem witch trials. It includes multiple historical names associated with the process, some even from his own ancestors. These historical facts are important to his story because they create a sense of apprehension, doubt, and superstition in the reader, while still containing tangible connections to reality. It also allows contemporary readers to examine the issues and see the repercussions of such a belief system and the impact it can and has had. In early 14th century Europe, many people strongly believed in the supernatural, or more specifically, the devil. giving some humans ("witches") powers to hurt others. This belief has resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of people accused of witchcraft. The Salem witch trials took place between 1692 and 1693, when a group of young girls living in the village of Salem, Massachusetts convinced the town leaders that they were possessed by the devil and blamed many women as the cause of their possessions . It all started when 9-year-old Elizabeth Parris, daughter of Samuel Parris (Salem Village minister) and 11-year-old Abigail Williams, granddaughter of Samuel Parris, began having random "fits." They would have outbursts of screaming, violent writhing, throwing objects, and making strange sounds. Dr. William Griggs observed them and diagnosed that they had been bewitched. After the diagnosis, more girls in the village began showing the same symptoms. (History.com) On February 29, the girls went to court and under pressure from judges Jonathan Corwin and John Hathorne (Hawthorne's great-grandfather), accused three women from their community of bewitching them: Sarah Go.... .. half of the paper……th (Colacurcio 286, 312). Hawthorne points out the reality of the world of Puritanism and that even though all these people were good, he quotes Blumberg, Jess. "History, travel, art, science, people, places | Smithsonian." History, travel, art, science, people, places | Smithsonian. Smithsonian.com, October 24, 2007. Web. April 22, 2014. Blumberg, Jess. "A Brief History of the Salem Witch Trials." Smithsonian.com. Smithsonian Institution, October 24, 2007. Web. February 8, 2012. History.com staff, . “Salem Witch Trials – Facts and Summary.” History.com. A&E Networks and Web. April 6, 2014. Colacurcio, Michael J. The Province of Pity: Moral History in the Early Hawthorne Stories. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1984.