It was hard to nail down one specific reason why no one could get along, but looking back

it seems like they were divided along lines that sound eerily familiar to us today.

Native and liberal views on religion had fractured the people, but so had socioeconomic differences.

The wealthier, more liberal coastal elites of Salem Town, with its busy port and growing

businesses, sat in direct opposition to the inland conservatives who wanted independence

and a much more strict church life.

That's an oversimplification of the climate, I know, but it's still a fair summary of the

key differences, according to most historians.

And yet, well if we were standing in Salem Village in 1692, we would have been able to

see the true breadth of the differences with our own eyes.

In fact, those differences literally rode into the village on March 1st.

You see, there was a law on the books in the Massachusetts Bay Colony that was known

as the Sumpchewerry Laws.

Think of the word Sumpchewis, which means splendid or expensive looking, and you'll get

the idea.

These were laws that dictated what you could wear, depending on your social status.

They acted as a sort of outward sign of a person's place in a larger society.

Most people were farmers, working the land as either indentured servants or low-income

settlers.

They were allowed to wear some of the basic colors, such as muted reds and greens and

blues.

They wiped their noses on their sleeves, rather than on the handkerchiefs that the wealthy

...