Well, what we do know is that witches and the Devil were a very real concern to the Salem Villagers, as they were to many colonists.
But since Salem had been experiencing a number of hardships at the time, such as disease epidemics, war and political strife, it wasn’t hard to convince some of the villagers that witches were to blame for their misfortune. Once the idea took hold in the colony, things seemed to quickly got out of hand. I really hopes this helps! *hugs*
