Hysteria During the salem Witch Trials in February 1692 and May 1693 there was a serious case of mass Hysteria. It started when a group of young girls were seen dancing in the woods and claimed to be possessed by the devil, and accused several other women in the town of practicing witchcraft (MacGowan, Douglas). At this time in the village many people had uncontrollable emotion because they were scared of the people that were accused of being witches, and of someone accusing them of being a witch. During this time of mass Hysteria if you were accused of being a witch, or practicing witchcraft you were going to be hung. The people of Salem during this time we're not doing anything because if you were seen doing something considered suspicious you were going to be characterized as a witch. This case of mass Hysteria in Salem became …show more content…
Many of the different ideas of what Hysteria is came from other countries across the US like Greece, France, and some from Italy. A Greek physician provided a good description of hysteria, many of the people in Greece thought that the people had epilepsy, but the physician clearly distinguished hysteria from epilepsy (Tasca, Cecilia). “ During the first ten centuries of Christianity, with medical thought stagnating under the authoritarian influence of Galenic concepts, most cases of hysteria were probably mistaken for various bodily diseases. During the Middle Ages, as the attitude toward sickness changed from naturalistic to demonotheologic, many cases of hysteria, and undoubtedly of organic disease too, were interpreted as manifestations of witchcraft” (Hysteria). During the Salem Witch trials there was a huge case of mass Hysteria because of the many people that were accused of practicing witchcraft. Many of the people throughout the world thought that hysteria was epilepsy, but because of lots of extensive research it was proven that these cases were Hysteria (North, Carol
This will be the first source I will be using to follow the social reason contributing to the hysteria having a greater impact on British witchcraft. The first passage I will use from Thomas potts is the following; the account of the trials from the samlesbury witches. The samlesbury witches were three women from the area who were Jane southworth jennet Brierley Ellen bierely which were accused by a fourteen-year-old child grace sowerbutts for practicing witchcraft. Thomas potts a clerk from the court who was involved first hand in this trial which lasted for 2 days that the outcome came to the fact that they were guilty and inevitably the were hung also with another 7 witches for along the same lines I what the samlesbury witches committed. This is why it is a social factor which contributed to the hysteria because there was a sense in this time period of jealousy therefore this meant that if someone didn’t like someone else they could very easily go to their witch finder which was operating in the town at the time and say
In the 1600 a large group of very religious people left their homes and went to the New World. In the Bible it states, that no witches (people who have the devil in them) should not live, so the Puritans would accuse people, mainly women, of being witches for simple reasons. This caused 20 people to be put to a painful death and more than one hundred in jails. What is the reason for the hysteria surrounding the Witch Trials in Salem 1692? The Salem Witch Trials hysteria of 1692 was caused by the belief in witches, the fear of being accused of witchcraft and the punishments all witches would fear.
In the records of the Salem Witch Trials, there are accounts of the people accused of witchery having spasms or convulsions very similar to the ones seen in ergot poisoning. Along with the convulsions, people would also experience a feeling as if someone is biting or
In 1692, the colonial town of Salem Massachusetts exploded with craziness, and had accused over 200 people of witchcraft, and executed 19 of them. The event was nothing compared to other witch trials around the world, yet even 300 years later, people are still talking about it. It is so well known because of the panic that really defined that time in history. But what caused the mass hysteria surrounding the Salem Witch Trials? It was a horrible combination of high tensions due to the hard times people of Salem were going through, and fear of the Devil.
The events in Salem in 1692, were but one chapter in a long story of witch hunts that began in Europe between 1300 and 1330 and ended in the late 18th century (britannica). In the Spring of 1692, paranoia broke out that is much too familiar to us today. Adolescent girls, in an effort to shift blame for their own delinquent behavior, used their current social climate to start a wave of mass hysteria and panic that involved multiple communities. Salem Village was half of the overall Salem community, and the other half was the more influential Salem Town (britannica). Salem Village leaders, that included the minister, the doctor, and the magistrates supported the girls unsubstantiated and otherwise false claims against villagers.
In the article Hysteria and the Teenage Girl, it talks about girls who have been experiencing something similar to what the girls in the Salem Witch Trials in the play The Crucible had experienced that is contagious. There were multiple different types of epidemics, such as in 1962, 95 school students in Tanzania experienced a laughing epidemic that lasted for a month. Another one occurred in 1965 that was a fainting episode in Blackburn, England and landed 85 girls in the hospital. Lastly, in 1983, 900 Ara school girls experienced an epidemic that lead people to believe they were gassed but doctors tested them and they hadn’t. These incidences are similar to what happened in 1692 in the Salem Witch Trials.
Evidence has shown that the affected were all physically (but not spiritually) well before the madness began, and the hysteria may have been caused by the pressure of trying to cope with an adult world (As the affected were mostly young girls). Also, because of the commotion at that time, it is likely too that the girls went mad simply because of the fear of witchcraft - Chadwick Hansen, author of Witchcraft at Salem, quotes that "“if you believe in witchcraft and you discover that someone has been melting your wax image over a slow fire ... the probability is that you will get extremely sick – your symptoms will be psychosomatic rather than organic. " The victims also suffered what seemed to be bite and punch marks and attempted to throw themselves into the fire, a common type of behavior among hysterics, as they often try to injure themselves (Though only when someone is present to stop them). The bite and punch marks could have been the skin lesions common in hysterics. I think this information fits adequately and logically with the symptoms of
In Salem, Massachusetts, in the time of 1692, mass hysteria was created around witches and the idea of the devil being alive in Salem. Salem was a theocratic society meaning that its government is controlled by religious beliefs and practices. As a result of this government, and the era this story takes place, Men took a more commanding role in society. The men took care of the land, and their livestock, and were tasked by God to provide for their families. On the other hand, women in this age took a more quiet role in society.
The witchcraft of Salem, Massachusetts was an example of mass hysteria, it resulted in the hangings and deaths of many people from being charged with relations with the devil. The people who convicted the innocent were actually the ones who themselves had relations with the devil. The reasons the convictions happened were because of the young girls who got caught dancing around a fire in the moonlight and doing other practices, they didn’t want to get accused of the witchcraft so they ended up blaming other people who they were jealous of. Innocent people were accused and convicted on witchcraft making it the most unjustifiable testimonies in Salem.
This was called Encephalitis lethargic which means behavioral changes, shaking, strange pain, fever, and many more. Since the pains came out of nowhere, they would just consider themselves witches or do witchcraft. Metal illnesses have also caused some collusions, barking, and hallucinations that were called Afflicted that would make them get out of control. Emerson proposed that the afflicted were under the effects of mass conversion discussion, known as mass hydria or mass psyching illness. Mental illness was not the only main thing that people were being accused of witchcraft, but poverty as well.
Tracing back to the 16th century witch hunting has been around causing the lives of many innocent people destruction. Witch hunting has never died off, it is still here today. In my opinion witch hunting will always exist and occur as long as we have fear, ignorance and jealousy. Many people were accused of being a witch or committing witch activity mainly throughout the 16th and 19th century. Primarily because people fear for what they don't know or can't understand.
The only reason the doctor could come up with was that the supernatural had to have been playing a part in the girls swift and abrupt change in behavior. Later on, the girls that were bewitched became known as the “afflicted girls.” Two men named Jonathan Corwin and John Hathorne began interrogating the girls about who or what had came to them. After being pressured by the men, the girls accused three women of afflicting them: the Parris’ Caribbean slave, Tituba; a homeless beggar, Sarah Good: and an elderly impoverished woman, Sarah Osborne. All three of the women accused were social outcasts, so people willingly believed that they could be involved in witchcraft.
The odd behavior the girls displayed were uncontrollable seizures, profane screaming, and trance-like states. (“The Salem Witch Trials, 1692”)
It is said that the girls’ stress of living and the mass hysteria of this time caused the false accusations of witchcraft upon others. But what caused this mass hysteria?
Fear that spread among a group of people in Salem during the Salem Witch Trials, that event in history is a prime example of Mass Hysteria. In Salem the reason why so many women were killed was because of Mass Hysteria. It caused many people, in Salem during this event to think fast, rash and jump to conclusions. “The Crucible”, a short play dedicated to these events in Salem shows us how hysteria was such a leading cause of why the Witch Trials had even occurred. Reverend Hale, Abigail Williams and Judge Danforth.