Book Reports / Salem Witch Trials essay question. [3]

Hi,

I need to write an essay as part of my History course. The essay can be on any topic of my choosing, and I have decided that I want to write an essay regarding the Salem Witch Trials. The assignment is for the course of 1 year, and therefore the essay needs to be highly skilled, well researched, and the essay question (which we choose ourselves) needs to be a challenging question.

So basically, what do you think are some good ideas for challenging issues regarding the Salem Witch Trials?

Some ideas I already have are:
- The economical motives behind the trial, as oppossed to the religious motives
- The issue of race in determining the "witches"
- The issue of gender - women being accused of being "witches"