John Proctor was a businessman who had affiliations in town in addition to Salem Village. This was dangerous; the residents of Salem Village were so skeptical of the outside world that it may have contributed to Proctor's fate. The document "Petition for John Proctor and Elizabeth Proctor" is a declaration of Proctor's innocence and offers insight into how the citizens viewed John. The petition states: “[John's] upbringing was among us and was that of religious parents in our place; and because of connections and properties within our city he has had constant intercourse with us” (Godbeer 100). Proctor's Puritan upbringing and his constant communication with the townspeople are used to express that he is not an outsider, but one of them. The need to state this suggests that it was in question from the beginning. Surely it was dangerous to have traits that threatened one's own