The Testimon Young Women In Salem Possessed

The Salem Witch Trials were a series of court trials in Salem, Massachusetts from 1692 to 1693 alleging the practice of witchcraft and murder by a number of women and men. With Massachusetts descent from a Puritan England, these accusations were serious, and they developed into mass panic. Among those accused was Bridget Byshop who was the first to be executed after she was found guilty. The document, “The Examination of Bridget Byshop at Salem Village 19. April.1692 by John Hauthorn & Jonath: Corwin Esq’rs” was handwritten by Samuel Parris, and recorded the lawyers examination against Bridget Byshop.

Norton discusses the many witch-hunts that took place before 1692 and writes that "with very few exceptions, [early New Englanders] believed unhesitatingly in the existence of witchcraft. " Norton attempts to explain this tendency by pointing out that "In the world of 1692, many events lacked obvious explanations: Children suddenly sickened and died, farm animals suffered mysterious ailments, strange noises were heard and ghostly visions seen." After indicating the psychological vulnerability of 1692 Salem by proclaiming that "during the early 1690s, residents of [Massachusetts] were experiencing many setbacks that needed explanation," Norton highlights some of the unique aspects of the Trials. The staggering number of accusers and accused, exponentially greater than in any previous witchcraft case, "cry out for explanation. " The geographic reach of the case, she argues, is significant as well-—whereas prior cases were based on accusations coming from one or two different towns, the Salem Trials involved victims and "witches" from over 22 different locations.

Most of the people accused of witchcraft during the Salem Witchcraft Trials were women. While historian Carol F. Karlsen delves deeper into societal values that led so many women to be accused, in her book The Devil in the Shape of a Woman by focusing on social norms of the time, Elizabeth Reis, in her book Damned Women, focuses on the impact of gender in religion. They both discuss the importance of gender at the time, and the impact it made for the trials. There is not one clear reason why women were the main targets but each historian looks at a different aspect in 17th century American society where gender played a role. Both take a look at the way society functioned in the late 1600s and womens’ roles within the broader community.

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.

In the late 1600s, the small town of Salem, Massachusetts was engulfed by a dark cloud of mass hysteria during the infamous Salem Witch Trials. Innocent women were unjustly accused, condemned, and subjected to torturous deaths for the alleged crime of witchcraft. Amongst the chaos and fear, lived a young woman named Sarah Osborne. This narrative essay delves into the life of Sarah, exploring her experiences before and after being accused, and sheds light on the devastating consequences that arise when mass hysteria drives people to make irrational choices. Sarah Osborne, a spirited and determined young woman, lived a modest life in the close-knit community of Salem.

Paranoia can make a deep impact on tightly knit communities. During 1692, in the small colony of Salem, a witch panic spread rapidly. While many readers prefer not to read non-fiction, The Witches, Salem 1692 by Stacy Schiff will grab their attention with her critically acclaimed retelling that is not only educational and informative, but also enriches and points out the deep background and cultural impact of the Salem witch trials In colonial America, women are not to be considered powerful or influential. So when “women play the villains in fairy tales - what are you saying when you place the very emblem of domestic duty between your legs and ride off, defying the bounds of community and laws of gravity” (Schiff 8).

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

“The Devil in the Shape of a Woman: Witchcraft in Colonial New England,” written by Carol Karlsen, is a nonfiction book about the roles women played in colonial New England and why they were targeted solely in the witchcraft madness that plagued Massachusetts and Connecticut from 1630 to the 18th century. Karlsen states that most women who were accused of witchcraft were most likely seen as a threat to the social, economic, hierarchy, and demographic states of New England. Karlsen mainly wrote the book to explain the social structure of society during this time and how and why women were targeted as witches. The book is also divided into three different sections that focus on different reasons as to why women were harassed as witches.

The Salem witch trials was a series of trials held for those accused of witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts from the spring of 1692 to September 1692. These trials were started when a group full of young girls were accused of practicing the occult and being possessed by the devil, and then accusing other women during that time of being witches themselves. In order to understand the trials, one must look at the characteristics of the region of Colonial America, the American ideals or philosophies that may have caused this event to occur, and how have these ideals and philosophies changed to the way we live today. One must also look at what was inevitable or avoidable, and what was beneficial or costly. Characteristics of Salems colonial village

How two little girls (Abigail and Betty) where the first to suffer from fits of hysterical outbreaks and how many accusers came forward and described how they or their animals had been bewitched. It mentions the court cases and how there were more woman than men accused of practicing witch craft. It also states how historians believe the girls were faking their fits from the start. Also mentions how religious Salem was at the time which influenced the trials. •

The Salem Witch Trial examines the accusations of witch craft during the late 1600’s in Salem Massachusetts. The Salem Witch Trials began when a group of girls accused their first three victims of malicious practice of witchcraft. The suggested practice first occurred in the home of the Reverend, Samuel Parris. He had a Caribbean slave, Tituba, who was said to have bewitched the girls. The girls and Tituba were said to have practiced a black magic dance in the middle of the woods.

Carol Karlsen 's The Devil in the Shape of a Woman: Witchcraft in Colonial New England provides a sociological and anthropological examination of the witchcraft trends in early New England. By examining the records, Karlsen has created what she suggests was the clichéd 'witch ' based on income, age, marital status, etc. She argues that women who had inherited or stood to inherit fairly large amounts of property or land were at particular risk, as they "stood in the way of the orderly transmission of property from one generation of males to the next." These women, Karlsen suggests, were targeted largely because they refused to accept "their place" in colonial society.

Men and women also had different takes on sin. Women were more likely to read their sins as a pact with the devil no matter how severe the sin was whereas men paid close attention to the sin as an individual moment of weakness in which they would be able to return to their relationship with God. Believing that they could turn to the devil themselves, women were more likely to then accept that other women could be equally demonized.

The Crucible vs Modern Day Witch-hunts A decade after the Pilgrims settled at Plymouth in New England, a larger and better-financed group migrated to Massachusetts Bay. This group was called the Puritans and they were the “non separating congregationalists” which means that they accepted the ideas of the Church of England. In 1630, The Puritans set sail and created a small colony in Massachusetts as a haven after they fled England because of religious persecution.

Gender roles played a heavy role in colonial society, and the women who did not conform to these roles were easy targets for witchcraft accusations. Women who were post-menopausal, widowed, unmarried were not fulling their “duty” to society of bearing children and thus could come under fire (Lecture.) Those who were aggressive, out spoken, or did not do as another wished could also bring cries of “witch!” (Lecture.) This is highlighted in Cotton Mather’s Accounts of the Salem Witchcraft Trials, one of these accused women Susana Martin stands trial with many of the testifiers being men who had been wronged by Martin in some way or another.