Many pivotal events lead up to the Salem Witch Trials. The trials ended in a gruesome way and conflicts were at the root of the cause. The Salem witch trials were the result of illogical mass hysteria and were driven by the rancor of people who used the trials to harm their enemies. The show opened with the girls doing something considered taboo in Puritan society, dancing in the woods. The girls involved in this were Abigail Williams, Betty Parris, Mary Warren, Ruth Putnam and a few others. Also with them was Tituba, Reverend Parris's slave from Barbados. All the girls involved were captured by the Reverend Samuel Parris, minister of Salem. When Reverend Parris catches the girls dancing in the woods, his daughter Betty Parris becomes ill. Abigail Williams, Parris' niece, is questioned by Parris about what they were doing in the woods. Abigail finally admits that they were just dancing in the woods. Abigail reveals that there are rumors in the village that witchcraft is the cause of Betty's illness, and Parris becomes nervous. Parris invites Reverend Hale, a witchcraft expert, to figure out what's wrong with Betty. Later, Parris asks Abigail if they were summoning spirits in the woods and she denies it. He says he saw Tituba singing and saw someone naked. Abigail once again denies that anything other than dancing occurred in the woods. Next, Parris asks why Elizabeth Proctor, John Proctor's wife, fired her from her job as a maid. Abigail says she was fired because she didn't want to be Elizabeth's slave and calls Elizabeth a gossiping liar. Moments later, Mrs. Putnam enters and says she sent Ruth Putnam to Tituba and told her to summon dead children to find out why Mrs. Putnam's baby... center of card... current Minister Parris. During the trials Putnam always likes to remind others that Parris saw the girls in the woods, trying to associate it with their actions. As the trials progressed, he accused Rebecca Nurse of being the person who had harmed Ann Putnam's dead children. He also had his daughter Ruth accuse a landowner of witchcraft so that he could get his land. When all the major landowners are executed, Putnam receives their land. The Salem witch trials were started over a small grudge on one girl's part and ended up turning into something much bigger. They provided other characters with the opportunity to harm others and also gave characters the chance to eliminate their enemies once and for all. The Salem witch trials indicate the competitive nature of people in a small village who want to have an advantage over each other and will induce heinous acts to achieve this goal..