No one really knows how the Salem Witch Trials really started. There are many conspiracy theories out there but none can be proved as fact. But Linda Caporael seems to think the trials began because of ergot poisoning and explains her reasoning in “Witchcraft or Psychedelic Trip?”. Caporael describes ergot and why she believes it to be the main cause of the hysteria. She goes on to state that ergot is a fungus that grows best in wet conditions and on the main crops that were in Salem during the time period (Caporael). Along with all the effects of this poisoning: including the main one being hallucinations, Caporael is able to comprise a pretty convincing argument to why the girls involved in accusing witches acted so strangely and why the …show more content…
In the beginning of the article, she inserts a bias comment stating, “...(if I were sick I probably wouldn’t trust a 17th century physician),” which suggests that because of the advancements today, the past medical advice is not as trustworthy. Also, Caporael only uses her knowledge on the subject and does not input others’ opinions. By doing this, it makes her seem less willing to admit she may wrong, and thus making her less credible. Nevertheless, she admits that there are other opinions out there that attempt to explain the cause of the Salem Witch Trials, crediting others’ opinions and identifies that her opinion is not the only one out there. Furthermore, Caporael uses facts of the time period to add information relevant to Salem and to the duration of the trials to help persuade the reader like stating that the fungus grows on rye, which, was important crop for Salem in 1692 (Caporael). Since she wants to inform and persuade the audience, adding information like this help add justification to the article. Because of Caporael’s setup of the article, she is able to explain, inform, and persuade the reader to agree with her
The main cause behind the Salem witch trials can be said to be Ergot Poisoning, also known as Ergotism, where a victim would fall to severe Muscle Spasms and the effects of a modern day LSD. A dark time in American History, the Salem witch Trials all began in December of 1691, when the “afflicted” girls first accused Tituba, Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne of witchcraft. This Hysteria came to an end an year later in the fall of 1692 (Capourel). In this short period a series of unexplainable events took place, starting with a “trigger” in Tituba admitting to in fact working with the Devil(Goodheart). This is all the drama that a insecure, yet religiously devout community, such as Salem needed to turn to witchcraft and the Devil for a scapegoat.
“What caused the Salem Witch Craft Trials of 1692?” This question has been asked for nearly 323 years. Although it is a rather simple question, it does not have a simple answer. The answer is difficult in light of the fact that there are a variety of factors and events that helped create the trials. One aspect of understanding that may have been a factor in the Salem incident, is that the afflicted girls had mental illnesses at the time, causing them to hallucinate and falsely accuse other women of being witches.
However, the reasonings behind this terrible event are still mostly unknown, and historians today, still ask: What caused the Salem Witch Trial Hysteria of 1692? So, this event first started in 1692, The unfortunate Salem witch trials began during the spring of 1692, after a group of young girls in Salem Village, Massachusetts, claimed to be possessed by the devil and accused several local women of witchcraft. After this began to gain popularity, many other people began to accuse each other, until large, monthly executions were being held. The accused “witch” was brought before a priest or a judge, which usually wasn't fair, and was either sentenced as guilty or innocent.
The Salem Witch Trials and the Holocaust were similar but two different time periods. During both events similar things happened to innocent people, such as murder,embarrassment, and torture. The Salem Witch Trials, triggered by something small, started in spring of 1692. (miller,1124-1128) It was a period in time that was complete hysteria, people were falsely accused of consorting with the devil.(miller,1124-1128)
The Salem Witch Trials began during the year of 1692, in the small town of Salem, Massachusetts. The event that sparked the trials occurred when a group of girls claimed to be enthralled by the devil and accused numerous other women of experimenting with witchcraft. As an upsurge of frenzy trickled throughout the town of Salem, a special group assembled in Salem to put their input in the cases. Based on statistics from an article it states, ”the first convicted witch was hanged. Eighteen others followed, while some 150 more men, women and children were accused over the next several months By September 1692, the hysteria had begun to abate and public opinion turned against the trials.”
The Salem Witch Trials of 1692 in Massachusetts are historically known as the tragic event where many people were accused of witchcraft and 19 of those innocent individuals were found guilty and then executed. These individuals were accused by a group of young girls that claimed that they were ‘bewitched"or possessed by the devil. These girls were experiencing symptoms such as hallucinations, convulsions, etc. Doctors then could not diagnose this, so they turned to blame it on witchcraft. In 1976, Linnda Caporael, who is a historian, developed a theory that ergot poisoning was the cause of the Salem Witch Trials.
The events in Salem were not the first of mass executions of accused witches. The tests in determining if one was a witch were centuries old and based in religion. The explanations for this mass hysteria are mixed. Some scholars blame the strange symptoms and panic on the hallucinogenic effects of ergot poisoning. John Updike theorized in his novel
Hysteria was a reason behind the trials, which caused the death and accusations of many innocent people. Many of the townspeople believed in evil spirits and demons. First, an event occurred in the early 1690s that started up the trials in Salem. A group of young girls got around a bowl and performed some magical rites that they learned from their slave, Tituba (“Salem Witch,” Gale).
For example, Annika L of the Salem Times states, “A fourth theory is that the girls behavior was caused by physical illness.” Despite the fact that such points could be defended with some logic, most of the support would be weak and loose. On the other hand, it can be concluded that the claim made by this essay is more logical and well supported if anything. All in all, it can be determined that the cause of the Salem Witch Trials was the attempt of Salem citizens to either defend or create family ties and enter or sustain continued community safety within the
No one will ever know what caused the Salem Witch Trials, but there is a truth behind the hysteria. It’s believed that the Salem Witch Trials were caused by young girls eating a fungus in rye, but there was also a young slave from the caribbean named Tituba who put these devilish thoughts in these young girls heads. The Salem Witch Trials were caused by a misfit, slave woman. What started this witch hysteria is proof that the slave, Tituba, was the cause of all of this unnecessary drama. According to a website, “The ordeal originated in the home of Salem's REVEREND SAMUEL PARRIS.
It all started between the months of June to September of 1692, the witch trials of Salem. Men, women, and even dogs accused of witchcraft, many jailed and executed. There are many theories and beliefs of why this hysteria had spread across salem. Satan, internal problems, religion, revenge and sickness were what the people of Salem had believed what caused this hysteria. What really caused all this to happen ?
The Salem witch trial hysteria of 1692 may have been instigated by religious, social, geographic and even biological factors. During these trials, 134 people were condemned as witches and 19 were hanged. These statistics also include 5 more deaths that occurred prior to their execution date. It is interesting to look into the causes of this stain on American History, when as shown in document B, eight citizens were hanged in only one day.
Imagine being a wealthy 45-year-old woman in 1692 being accused of being a witch. The Salem Witch trials were caused by jealousy, fear, and lying. People believed that the devil was real and that one of his tricks was to enter a normal person 's body and turn that person into a witch. This caused many deaths and became a serious problem in 1692. First of all, jealousy was one of the causes of the Salem witch trials.
However, records from the Salem trials show that her original convicted crime was not witchcraft, but having an “independence of mind”, and being an “unsubmissive character”. She was “…indicted for the bewitching of certain persons” and blamed for a smallpox outbreak that she had ‘caused’ by
This was more commonly found in women more so than in men, this is able to be seen in (Document N and E). While looking at the two tables in (Document E) it is divided into two subjects The Accused and The Accusers, in each table we see the majority of each table is centered around women. A majority of the people that consumed bread and showed the symptoms could be seen as a witch, the symptoms were usually a crawling of the skin sensation, hallucinations, delirium, etc. If you were seen in public seeing things that weren 't there or scratching your skin as if things were on your body you could potentially end up being seen as a witch and killed. This evidence helps explain the hysteria and the hangings because it showed that everyone was on high alert at all times everyone around them could be seen as a someone to blame or as a