In The Crucible, who is the most to blame for the events in Salem and why?

One could argue that it
is the girls who are most to blame for these events.  It was their questionable activities in
the woods that prompted Betty Parris and Ruth Putnam to become ill and spark the investigation
into witchcraft.  Further, it was Abigail to accused Tituba -- a slave who seems only to have
confessed in order to avoid beatings or death -- and then Abigail and Betty who piled accusation
upon accusation in the final moments of Act One.  Finally, it was the girls who knowingly
accused innocent people in the court.

One could also argue that it is Mrs.
Putnam who is most to blame because she sent her daughter, Ruth, to Tituba to conjure the
spirits of Mrs. Putnam's dead children in order to find out how and why they died.  Her action
then led to the events above.

One might also argue that it is the adults who
believe, or purport to believe, these children: adults including Reverend Parris (who purposely
hides the truth about what he knows from the court in order to maintain his reputation and
position), Mr. Hale (who recognizes early on that the court was erring and condemning people to
die based on little else besides the testimony of children, but says too little too late), Judge
Hathorne (who seems more interested in using the trials as a way to increase his own power in
the community and colony), and Deputy Governor Danforth (who adopts the position that these
girls are speaking for God and who refuses to delay executions even when there is compelling
evidence that the girls were dishonest because it would undermine his own authority).  One could
even suggest that John Proctor is to blame because Abigail tells him much of the truth about the
forest early on, and he says nothing until it is too late.

There are a great
many people to blame for these trials, and it seems to me that they could not have occurred
without all, or at least most, of these people acting as they did.  The girls lied, yes, but it
was up to the adults to decide how to respond, and they responded wrongly.  Some were too
willing to believe in the lies -- like Mrs. Putnam -- and others seemed to have something to
gain in their perpetuation -- like Mr. Putnam, Parris, Danforth, and Hathorne.  All are
responsible.