The Salem Witch Trials that took place in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692 was most defiantly a time when one could attribute “moral panic” to the deaths of 20 people who were hung for being what society deemed as witches. It was a time when Christianity was prominent and no one steered away from the biblical beliefs. The small town of Salem, where everyone knew their neighbors was stricken by the physical unnatural actions of two young girls, Abigail Williams and Betty Parris. “The two girls were known to throw fits that involved screaming, crying, crawling, destroying property and contorting themselves in ways that society seen as abnormal bizarre behavior” (Salem Witch Trials HIstory Channel, 2014). These behaviors brought about increased …show more content…
“Local authorities often encouraged the town’s people to fear each other, who would then condemn their neighbors as witches” (Salem Witch Trials HIstory Channel, 2014). Many individuals would succumb to the “witch hunts,” and soon the community would encourage prosecution of those believed to be witches; to death. “The court would use, "spectral evidence”, which refers to a witness testimony that the accused person's spirit or spectral shape appeared to him/her witness in a dream at the time the accused person's physical body was at another location” (Spectral EvidenceLaw and Legal Definision, 2001-2015). In the end, several years later, the town of Salem would be faced with a harsh discovery that indeed they wrongfully accused and put to death many lives at the hands of “moral panic” and the court authorities. A mere perspective of allowing a vison that appeared in a dream as evidence instead of relying on true facts, such as a medical evaluation from a doctor, would have seemed more practical and …show more content…
Scott. Malcolm Scott and a friend De’Marchoe Carpenter were convicted of the murder of Karen Summers in 1995. Scott and the co-defendant Carpenter were at a party and while outside, a car drove by and gun shots were fired killing Summers. Witnesses were interviewed and interrogated until the police apprehended Scott and Carpenter in Tulsa on a murder complaint. During the investigation, Michael Wilson was also arrested and found to have the murder weapon and the vehicle used in the drive-by shooting which was registered to him and in his possession, according to the newspaper article in the Tulsa World (Branstetter, 2014). The prosecutor in the case would end up offering a plea bargain with Wilson for his testimony against Scott and Carpenter for a lesser charge. Upon Wilson being executed on another case, he recants his testimony and in his last words, speaks of Scott and Carpenter’s innocence. One other witness also tells of his untruthful statement and declares the innocence of Scott and
The Salem Witch Trials of 1692 In 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts a violent panic broke out. The Salem witch trial hysteria largely caused by religious beliefs, suspicious acts, and ergot poisoning. One main cause of the witch hysteria was religious beliefs. Puritans of the Church were strong holders of every small thing in the Bible.
Watters 1 One of the most incomprehensible events as well as one of the darkest times in history occurred in the colony of Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. The Salem Witch Trials occurred in seventeenth century New England, where people lived in a constant fear of the Devil which led to paranoia and illogical thinking. This fear led to many accusations and trials of innocent people and in the end, twenty people were killed, nineteen hung and one pressed to death. With the technology and knowledge we now have in the twenty-first century, it has become apparent that the behavior exhibited during the Salem Witch Trials (and other Witch Hunts around the world around this time) was not due to witches, as they do not exist. Although we can now conclude that this commotion was not caused by witches and magic, the question that still looms is what did cause this behavior in 1692?
Nineteen men and women hung from the tree of destruction, for they were the ornaments of hysteria. New England was supposed to be a land of opportunity for the Puritans. During the summer of 1692, Salem Village proved to a wretched example of this; twenty people were falsely accused of witchcraft and were accordingly jailed and executed. Salem’s infamy has bewildered many, for nobody truly knows in entirety what caused the hysteria of the Salem Witch Trials in 1692. Clearly, there were a few possible causes of the hysteria; however, envious, young, single women; sexism; and lying little girls stand out as the main causes.
Due to religion, lying, and health problems, it caused the Salem Witch Trial Hysteria of 1692 to occur. Religion was important to the Puritans in their daily life. They would take every word from God and turn them into action. Without religion in their life, then the Puritans would not have come to New England. Religion was an extensive impact on the repercussion of the Salem Witch Trial.
In the Town of Salem, in Massachusetts, many people were being accused to be witches. Many accused, were lynched by the judge. Death's, day, by day. Girls, walking down the paths screaming that they are being tormented by witches, and cursing for no reason. Many innocent and guilty people were hung in the process.
In Salem, Massachusetts, Puritans were strong believers in the Bible. The Bible states, “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.” The Puritans beliefs led to them accusing 20 innocent people of being a witch, this resulted in their deaths in 1692. Even though the Puritans couldn’t see it at the time, their accusations were really based off jealousy, lies, and Salem being divided into two parts. One cause of the Salem witch trial hysteria was jealousy.
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.
Mass hysteria a condition affecting a group of persons, characterized by excitement or anxiety, Irrational behavior or beliefs, or inexplicable symptoms of illness (Dictionary.com). An Example of Mass Hysteria is The Salem Witch Trials. The Salem Witch Trials happened in 1692 when girls called witchery on the town of Salem, Massachusetts. These girls thought to have seen the devil, but they really hadn't as they were trying to protect each other. The Trials ended up taking 20 lives of innocent villagers who were being accused of witchery.
Living in Colonial America is very different than any other part in the world, especially when they didn’t know what’s around them. Colonial America was very hard for the new pilgrims. Not only is it hard when they didn’t have houses set up, but also life was made harder during the winter when it was freezing outside. After they set up different town's life began to become a little easier. In the town of Salem, the Witch trials popped up around 1692 and made life hard again.
Mental Illness in Salem Witch Trials Introduction Witchcraft is the practice of magic and the use of spells and the invocation of spirits. According to Salem Witch Trials, 2015, the Salem witch trials began during the spring of 1692, after a group of young girls in Salem, Massachusetts claimed to have been bewitched by several adults in the town. More than 150 people were accused and hung, including men, women, and children (Salem Witch Trials, 2015). There were three girls in particular that sparked the trials: Abigail Williams, Betty Parris, and Ann Putnam. Also stated in Salem Witch Trials, their behaviors changed drastically; they began to hallucinate, shout in church, have fits, not eat, not wake up, attempt to fly, and feel as if they
The Salem Witch Trials; Madness or Logic In Stacey Schiff’s, List of 5 Possible Causes of the Salem Witch Trials and Shah Faiza’s, THE WITCHES OF SALEM; Diabolical doings in a Puritan village, discuss in their articles what has been debated by so many historians for years, the causes of the Salem Witch trials. Schiff and the Faiza, purpose is to argue the possible religious, scientific, communal, and sociological reasons on why the trials occurred. All while making word by word in the writer’s testimony as if they were there through emotion and just stating simply the facts and theories. They adopt the hectic tone in order to convey to the readers the significance, tragedy, logic, loss, and possible madness behind these life changing events,
The first four colonies of America were, New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay Colony, Rhode Island, following with Connecticut. John Winthrop, Thomas Hooker, Roger Williams, along with Anne Hutchinson, were few of the founders of the first colonies. Centered around religion, after escaping religious persecution, these colonies based the way they lived their lives around the Bible, Church, along with the New testament. The Puritans emphasized religious obligations and followed strict guidelines pertaining to the Bible. They broke away from the church of England and became their own religion following the teachings of the Bible as well as the Old Testament.
The Salem Witch Trials of 1692 and 1693 were among the most surprising and violent episodes in the history of America. It wasn’t violent due to a lot of people dying, in fact, only 19 people were killed due to this event. However, hundreds had their lives changed forever. Some, without any hope of it ever going back to how it was prior to the Trials. No, it was violent due to the fact that it was neighbor turning on neighbor.
The Salem Witch Trials accusing others of a feared crime showed definite evidence that mass hysteria was to blame. Salem was a religious settlement, following Puritan beliefs (Miller, 6). A large fear for everyone in Salem was the touch of the Devil (Miller, Arthur). According to Puritan beliefs, if a man or woman was touched by the Devil he would convince them to do witchcraft. Once word was mentioned the Devil had possibly touched Salem, the fear spread.
Rosalyn Schanzer’s book Witches! The Absolutely True Tale of Disaster in Salem describes the Salem Witch Trials of 1692, during which twenty innocent people died and many more were stripped of everything they had. To this day it is unclear exactly why this tragic event happened, but there are many theories. My theory is that the salem witch trials began due to a combination of hysteria, post traumatic stress disorder, and religious views.