There are many other people to
blame.
1. The Putnams. Mrs. Putnam was fixated on
assigning blame for the death of her children. She had already resorted to witchcraft
to find out who "murdered" her children, so was quick to jump on the accusation
band-wagon. Thomas Putnam, we learn in act three, had been "prompting" his daughter to
cry out against people whose land he wanted to take when they were
imprisoned.
2. Reverend Parris. Quick to blame those who
didn't like him, and to try to win favor in the town by being a lackey to the judges,
Parris often sided against the townspeople, asking incriminating questions and giving
the judges prejudiced backstories on people brough into the courts. He also
conveniently left out the fact that his own niece had been caught dancing and concocting
spells in the forest; desparate to protect his reputation, he didn't tell this
information.
3. Danforth and Hathorne. These judges often
rejected logical fact, devised tricky scenarios and questioning, and refused to hear
testimony that would prove the innocence of so many that were accused. Once it became
clear the accusations were false, they clung to their pride, refusing to recant
convictions, so that their reputations wouldn't be
foiled.
Those are just a few people that contributed, and
were all too happy to jump in and ride the wave of accusations. I hope that helped; good
luck!
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