Question

Which piece of EVIDENCE best defends the answer to the previous question?

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1 point
The edge of the wilderness was close by.
The American continent stretched endlessly west, and it was full of mystery for [the Puritans in Salem, Massachusetts].
Probably they also preferred to take land from heathens rather than from fellow Christians.
To the best of their knowledge the American forest was the last place on earth that was not paying homage to God.
The parochial snobbery of these people was partly responsible for their failure to convert the Indians.

Answer 1

Step-by-step explanation:

Salem had been established hardly forty years before. To the European world the whole province was a barbaric frontier inhabited by a sect of fanatics who, nevertheless, were shipping out products of slowly increasing quantity and value. . . . Their creed forbade anything resembling a theater or “vain enjoyment.” They did not celebrate Christmas, and a holiday from work meant only that they must concentrate even more upon prayer. . . . Probably more than the creed, hard work kept the morals of the place from spoiling, for the people were forced to fight the land like heroes for every grain of corn, and no man had very much time for fooling around. . . .[A] predilection for minding other people’s business was time-honored among the people of Salem, and it undoubtedly created many of the suspicions which were to feed the coming madness.