The purpose of this book was to examine the history and social life of Salem Village to try to figure out what was the cause of the events that occurred there. I believe that the authors achieved their objective at least they did to me. Boyer and Nissenbaum's explanation for the outbreak of witchcraft accusations in Salem hinges on an understanding of the economic,…
When people think about The Salem Witch Trial, the first thing that comes to mind is “oh it 's just a bunch of wannabe witches being killed.” But in reality they were innocent people being accused by a bunch of little girls trying to get got of trouble. People were very suspicious and paranoid about everything back then-if a few people in the village suddenly became ill, it was because of a "witch". Remember, they had no science to explain anything, so they had to make up stuff that seems ridiculous to us today. They feared what they didn 't know and understand, therefore seeking any kind of solution . . . in this case their fear led to The Salem witch…
The book going over in this essay is called Witches! by Rosalyn Schanzer, and is a book about the events that have taken place in the town of Salem. This is a very weird and mysterious subject because so many people died in a very strange and concerning manner. First of which is “attention” this could be a factor in this crisis because some people could have accused people just to get attention from the people around them and be in the center of activity. Second is people just doing it for fun or “sport” if they're bored they could enjoy people being killed or harassed in jail. The last and most probably biggest one, is revenge, people could have hated another and wanted them dead and realizing this was a very efficient and good way to do it or at least get them arrested.The accusations in the Salem Witch Trials were motivated by attention, sport, and revenge.…
Our image of a witch now a days is an old hag and believe it or not that is what they thought in the 16th and 17th century as well. The characteristics of witches were simple. “Beauty was equated with virtue and so ugliness was a sign of evil. Because of limited medical knowledge any physical malformation such as, tumors, warts, and moles, skin discoloration, tumours, ulcers or boils were thought of as the Devil’s marks.”(3) Old woman, especially post menopausal and widowed were the targets of most witch hunters. During the 16th and 17th century witch hysteria, people such as Matthew Hopkins, the infamous Witch Finder General, were not afraid to use the ignorance and fear of the public to turn alleged characteristics of witches into their own personal gain. Yet, not everybody believed that finding marks on a person’s body was a sure way of identifying a witch. One sceptic, Thomas Ady stated, “Very few people in the world are without privy marks upon their bodies, as moles or stains, even such as witch mongers call the devil’s privy mark…”(4)…
Witches are known to be very dangerous, evil, and made deals with the devil. They were even killed, tortured and jailed, but nowadays we treat them completely differently. We invite them into our house, give them candy, and strike conversations with them, that is at least on halloween. In the late 1600s many older men and women were being caught as being “witches” in Salem, Massachusetts.These witch trials were being caused by young girls who were pretending just to get ergotism, attention, and eventually after one lie they got out control really quickly.…
The Salem Witch Trails started in Massachusetts from 1692 and lasted until 1693. There was about 200 people who were accused of practicing witchcraft, or Devil’s Magic, and about twenty of them were executed. Soon after the trials, the colonist admitted the trials were a mistake and the families of those who were executed were paid or compensated for their loss.…
When the three Puritan children in 1692 accused the neighborhood women of being witches and Salem got worried. The three girls got scared of telling the truth so the three girls started accusing the neighborhood woman. They went to court with fear. The women were so scared it was hard for them to confess. People started to realize that witches aren't real. Theirs was no proof that they are witches. People get hanged because of their fear. The whole thing started when the three girls weird behavior.…
In January 1692, A hysteria developed in a Salem Village located in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The beginning of the Salem Witch Trials started when two girls, Betty Parris, 9 years old and Abigail Williams, 11 years old began acting strangely. They began by having “fits” that could not be explained by the local doctor. The doctor who had no explanation for the fits or convulsion like symptoms deemed it witchcraft. This was the beginning of the hysteria that developed in the village and the beginning of the Salem Witch Trials.…
In January 1692, the colony of Salem, Massachusetts would encounter a situation that would change the small colony forever. That year the quiet town would endure a 9-month long span of trials of witchcraft that would leave 200 accused witches and 20 dead. The trials were based on religious beliefs and would separate all the “unholy” citizens from the community. The trials separated the community based on fear and individuals singling out others based on class. The witch-hunts have affected modern society by deeming women as weak and inferior to men and as easily controlled. The whole thing could have even simply started as a group of young girls who just wanted to gain attention and then taken over by corrupt leaders who wanted to exercise…
Massachusetts bay colony 17th century, those who were under suspicion of consorting with the devil were examined as a felon and sent to Jail then there would be a trial. When the outbreak broke out everyone was so scared and just started to accuse people in the village if they did one wrong move. There were more people getting charged and going to jail then there was of people getting sent to the gallow’s. When it all broke out it scared people, the aftermath was sad for families who were in it and the possible causes of why it started all line up.…
The salem witch trials took place in 1692, back then people believed almost everything they were told. When a well known reverend discovered his daughter, niece, slave, and a couple of girls from town dancing and singing in the woods, his first instinct was to rush over and confront the girls. When he got there the girls faked fainting to try and avoid getting in trouble, by doing so they made the reverend thing witchcraft was among them. He eminently falsely accused his salve for the girls odd behavior, he also summoned reverend Hale who was an “expert” in the field of witchcraft. By doing this reverend parris sealed many of the villagers fait with know, but only time would tell.…
The people of Salem were being killed in a whole different manner. Why was this happening, and what was the cause?In Salem, 1692, people were being accused for being witches and for practicing witchcraft. In Salem, at this time people were being hanged for something that didn’t exist. Back then, they didn’t know about fairy tales so when ever they did something wrong they would blame the devil that had entered their body. the Salem witch trial hysteria of 1692 were caused by jealousy,paranormia, and, the teenagers.…
1692 in Salem, Massachusetts was a time of fear, allegation, and deceit. It was the time of the Salem witch trials. Family feuds, eccentric personalities, and even keeping dolls in your home were reasons for accusations. Fueled by religious fanatics and young girls screaming for attention, literally, no one was safe from the insanity of the witch-hunt. This paper is intended to discuss the causes of this hysteria, some of the trials that took place during the year 1692, and what finally stopped the madness of the witch-hunt.…
Although the belief in witchcraft was widespread the prosecution of the witches was sporadic and only a few towns executed the witches. Many towns held trials, because they didn’t want to rush to judgment. However it was not easy to prove witchcraft, until 1692 when things turned for the worse and problems increased dramatically. Desparate for an answer the towns people finally started to believe this was the only explanation.…
The belief in witchcraft, or supernatural actions and the devil’s ability to give certain humans the power to harm others, in return for their loyalty, had been a part of traditional village culture in Europe since the 14th century. (history.com) The Salem witch trials took place between 1692 and 1693 in colonial Massachusetts. Two hundred people were accused of witchcraft and twenty people were executed. (smithsonianmag.com)…
