2.4 Political Problems
Salem’s Village was always considered to be one of the most divided New England 's communities even before the Witchcraft Trials in 1692. There were two families who ‘ruled’ the politics of Salem: the Putnams and the Porters. There was another issue happening at the time of the trials, there were discussions on whether the village of Salem should or not merge with the town of Salem. If the two merged the Porters family would be favored since they had many close connections with important people on the town of Salem who were big names in the politics. The Putnams on the other hand did not, because they were totally focused on the village of Salem politics. So the Putmans because of the Porters succes felt very jealous and blamed their family and friends for them being unsuccessful.
This theory argues that the Putnams made their daughters accuse the Porters’ friends, close community members and family of witchcraft. There is actual evidence for this theory, as most of all the ‘bewitched’ girls were very close to the
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Ergots began to be investigated after the epidemics that were generated in Europe. The first medical report about Ergots was made a few years before the Salem Witchcraft trials. Ergots grow on many types of cereal grains, and what they do is replace by fusiform shape with scletoria the original grains on the plant thats been infected. The sclerotia contains large doses of strong pharmacologic agents. And the most prominent one is isoergine, it contains a ten percent active D-LSD, it is a hallucinogen that can also be found in the hallucinogenic drugs used for Aztec rituals. To actually use ergots as an explanation we need to find convincing evidence. Many things can influence the evidence for it to make sense: the growing conditions of the ergot, the actual timing of the Salem Witchcraft trials and the symptomatology of the
It is said that the Putnams and the Porters were having a land dispute at the time when the accusations erupted. So basically one family accused the other of which craft so that they would hang and then their family could step
the colonists of Massachusetts Bay expected to have trouble settling in the New World, far from their English heritage. Growing rapidly from the outset, the newcomers busied themselves establishing a governmental and religious order in a purely Puritanical method. With such success, the population expanded as well, shattering the relative tranquility the people of New England had known in the early years of their colonization. For example, in the mid-1600s, Salem divided into two communities: Salem Town and Salem Village, causing strain on the political, religious, and economical institutions of the people. Beyond these social difficulties, one cannot exclude human character and personal vengeance when considering what prompted the hysteria
First, we have to answer and analyze this question: Why is the 1692 witch trial in Stamford, Connecticut important? Richard Godbeer as the author wants us as a reader be aware of the way Puritan society thought, how they worked together as a society, how they were implicated with each other and how they fix their problems as a society as we read “Like many of their neighbors in the close-knit town, they had visited Daniel and Abigail Wescot to lend support as the couple kept watch over the afflicted young woman in their charge… The Wescots’ neighbors responded readily. To request assistance in time of need…” (Godbeer 03, 25). The author wants us to realize not so much what happened with these witch trials but more about how Puritan society
15 Best Things to Do in Salem, United States Salem is a coastal city in Massachusetts in USA. The city is best known for its historical importance. The city is historically famous for the disgraceful incident which happened in 1692 in which many individuals were executed because of practicing witchcraft. Many of them were teenage girls. The city is home to many other attractive places such as Breakheart Reservation, Misery Islands, Count Orlok’s Nightmare gallery and New England Phillip’s House.
The Causes of the Salem Witch Trials Much of modern America’s fear and infamous interest in witches has been derived most likely from the profound Salem Witch Trials. “The infamous 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,” stated History.com authors. However, many historians still deliberate how such events occurred in the first place. Based on several presented documents, some conclusions suggest that there was a prominent cause to the beginning of the Salem Witch Trials. All in all, the cause of the Salem Witch Trials was the attempt of Salem citizens to either defend or create family
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.
Nearly anyone from the New England has heard of the famous Salem Witch Trials. A year of persecution, leading to the accusation of nearly 200 citizens of all ages. No one was safe; men, women, children, even pets stood trial and 20 were hung for the supposed crime of witchcraft (Blumberg). 1692 was a year of witch hunting. Most today blame the trials on hysteria, or perhaps a bad case of paranoia.
Salem, Massachusetts, USA and occurred between February 1692 and May 1693. Over 150 people were arrested and imprisoned and even more accused; but not pursued by the authorities. 29 were convicted of witchcraft but only 19 were hanged. The best known trials were in the Court of Oyer and Terminer.
In the book, The Witches: Salem 1692, the author Stacy Schiff attempts to condense a large volume of research into a cohesive narrative that tries to avoid to much speculation. There is some contention that the book does speculate into the motives of primary accusers that some reviewers have intimated are bordering on fiction. However, the author defends her arguments logically, and her inferences do seem to bridge the gaps effectively. One of the items that causes some confusion, to both the historically curious, and to the researcher is that the author has created a list of dramatis personae in which the historical figures are labeled as a cast of characters which might make the book seem fictional.
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 Salem Witchcraft Trials had many effects on the town of Salem, Massachusetts. A lot of the effects were negative, destroying the community, government, even individuals. The Witch Trials affected the community of Salem in multiple ways. The witch trials created many tensions between several families in the town. The most acknowledgeable dispute from the play was between the Putnam’s and the Nurse’s.
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.
The Salem witch trials was one of the most absurd and tragic events in history of pre-colonial America. A fine example of how believing in accusations and hearsay could affect a lot of people in a short span of time. the justice system is flawed and prejudice was allowed to reign over the people. I found this topic very interesting even though it is one of the most regretted in history. I’ve always been the type of person who likes reading all those weird and peculiar things on the internet.
The most memorable vacation I’ve been on was my trip to Salem, Massachusetts. It was February 2012, we left at 9pm so we could sleep all day the day before, so we could drive the 8 hours to Salem. I packed lots of long sleeved shirts, jeans, hoodies as well as heavy jackets and boots. I got my camera and I packed snacks and a cooler for drinks and sandwiches for the ride to Salem.
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.