In January 1692 in the city of Salem, Massachusetts a mass hysteria broke out. Eight girls began showing signs of a strange and unknown illness, with symptoms of delirium, impaired speech, convulsions, and screaming. The villagers wanted an explanation, so the doctor diagnosed the girls with bewitchment. Soon, accusations were being thrown out left and right. This lead to over 150 citizens accused of witchcraft, then sent to jail. A total of 20 people were hanged due to these allegations, along with 5 others who died in custody. Ever since, people have wondered what could have caused the terrible disaster of the Salem Witch Trials in 1692, thankfully a likely cause has been found. The probable reason for the madness epidemic in Salem is ergot
The Salem Witch Trials In March 1692, Rebecca Nurse, an elderly woman and respected member of Salem Village, was arrested on suspicion of witchcraft. She was accused based solely on the testimony of four young girls who claimed that the apparition of Rebecca Nurse had severely harmed them. Many witnesses testified in favor of her, but ultimately the "afflicted girls" prevailed. Nurse was executed on July 19, 1692.
As their puzzled father ,Samuel Parris, observed the two mysterious little girls creep under chairs and spin around on the ground he pondered where this weird behavior was coming from. In Salem there were two little girls who were envious of the rich, so they made it clear that they could make people tremble in fear if they did not like you or wanted what you had. Everyone in Salem was terrified because there were so many people being accused of witchcraft. 22 people were hanged because the two little girls were pretending to be afflicted. The Salem witch trial Hysteria of 1692 was caused by two poor, young girls who claimed to be afflicted because of jealousy.
“When we blindly adopt a religion, a political system, a literary dogma, we become automatons. We cease to grow” (Anais Nin). Religion is a powerful factor that influences the behavior of many individuals. This is especially seen within the Puritan town of Salem, MA, in Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible. The play takes place during the lunatic time of the Salem witch trials in 1692.
REVIEW OF LITRATURE A.) SUMMARY SOURCE A Although the whole book had information on the Salem witch trials. The introduction, chapter 1 and 2 and the conclusion had information regarding the research needed • Introduction: states what the Salem witch trials where and who they accused.
One accused witch was crushed to death after he failed to plead guilty or not guilty. As many as thirteen other accused witches died in prison. During this time, the people in Salem feared that the Devil was trying to demolish their beliefs of Christianity. In addition to their fear of the Devil, the people
Nineteen people were hung due to false judgement by human nature and society. Taking place in a small village called Salem, inside of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, during a depressing seventeenth century, was a movement that would challenge the nation’s religious and psychological beliefs. Innocent people were being accused of witchcraft, when rather they were just ill or not taken care of properly by family and friends. Thought to be caused by stress, fear, and panic, the Salem Witch Trials was an event that changed the nation’s view on mental illness because of false assumptions and mischievous behavior. The Salem Witch Trials was a series of false accusations of witchcraft taking place in Salem, which during the seventeenth century, was apart of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
Lastly, I am going to talk about the final and the most important and impacting reason of the witch trials, and that was people and their beliefs. Everybody had their own way of living and doing things just as we do now. If they saw something that was against their belief they automatically assumed there was evil or something that was not right. “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.” That was their religion so if they thought they were a witch they were put death instantly.
Old women were accused of witchcraft and casting spell on girls. Number of cases was reported, 19 accused and more than 150 were tried in a court. Trepidation of punishment caused them to blame innocent person. Mass hysteria spread causing a chain reaction of accusing. Epidemiology of Outbreak: Started in 1692 at Salem Village, Massachusetts.
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.
In Witches: The Absolutely True Tale Of Disaster In Salem by Rosalyn Schanzer people in the town of Salem were Condemned for being witches. By the end of it all more than 200 people were accused and 20 were executed. Horridly they accused people from all ages, everyone from teenager to ancient was accused. But why? The Salem Witch Trials were caused by hysteria, popularity, and revenge.
The Salem witch trial was a time about accusing your fellow neighbor or being accused yourself, this all began in 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts. During this time many people were being accused of being a witch, a majority of the time it was because either someone truly believed that you were a witch and were reeking havoc or they were trying to find someone to take the blame if they were to being accused. So this leads us to question, what began the Salem Witch Trials? There were at least three causes of the Salem witch trials hysteria. These were Betty Parris and Abigail Williams story, Ergotism, and the acknowledgment of hysteria.
The Salem Witch Trials started because two young girls fell into fits and convulsions claiming that they had been bewitched. Among the townspeople, these girls’ claims caused hysteria: “an uncontrollable outburst of emotion or fear, often characterized by irrationality, laughter, weeping” (dictionary.com). The whole town was scared of becoming “bewitched” or being accused of being a witch themselves by
The Salem Witch Trials The belief of witchcraft can be traced back centuries to as early as the 1300’s. The Salem Witch Trials occurred during 1690’s in which many members of Puritan communities were accused and convicted of witchcraft. These “witch trials” were most famously noted in the town of Salem, Massachusetts. Many believe this town to be the starting point for the mass hysteria which spread to many other areas of New England.
Not many people know much about what actually happened in the Salem Witch Trials. Maybe someone would think that it was just about witchcraft and crazy people being hanged, but it is a lot more than that. The Salem Witch Trials only occurred between 1692 and 1693, but a lot of damage had been done. The idea of the Salem Witch Trials came from Europe during the “witchcraft craze” from the 1300s-1600s. In Europe, many of the accused witches were executed by hanging.