Salem Witch Trials
The Salem Witch Trials began in Salem, Massachusetts; the massacres could have been caused, historians believe, by many reasons such as the seclusion of the village, sickness, and overall boredom. The trials have many mysteries surrounding them. Historians still cannot come up with one specific cause that caused the ordeal to happen in the first place. They do have, however, the basics of it with some of the mysteries thrown in. Many accounts of the Salem Witch Trials all have something in common, the trials were instigated by eight girls. But then someone might wonder why would the girls start this ordeal in the first place? What drove them to do it? Why would the village believe them in the first place? As explained in the book, The Salem
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At the start of February in 1692, these girls that lived in the village had started to convulse, spout gibberish. Ultimately, it was processed as demonic activity in the villagers eyes. This is one of the mysteries surrounding the Salem Witch Trials, no one completely knows why these girls started to exhibit these signs. There are many hypotheses that can contribute to an explanation. Two of these are explained in the online journal, Weather and the Salem Witch Trials, written by Franklin G. and Mixon Jr. The first hypothesis has to actually do with mosquitoes. The born illness “can be explained by an epidemic of encephalitis, a mosquito-borne illness exhibiting many of the same symptoms possessed by the accuser” (241). The girls’ symptoms are very similar to this sickness passed from the mosquito to the human, but the other hypotheses actually weakens this claim. In the journal, it also explains the “little-ice age” that Salem was experiencing during this time. It was harsh conditions for winter in roughly the 1600s to about the 1800s. Mosquitoes go dormant during the winter, and it was in february that the Salem Witch Trials began. So the “little-ice age” debunks the mosquito theory because the bugs would have still been dormant during that time. The third hypothesis is tied into the “little-ice age theory”. In the short documentary from A&E Network, it explains the food born illness from the fungus ergot that is grown on the crop, rye. The fungus occurs when the crop goes through a harsh winter and into a warm, wet spring, During the spring of the trials, the weather matched this description perfectly. There are so many possibilities that could explain what had happened to these young girls, and who knows, they might all tie into each other. This is just one of the mysteries surrounding this dark
At the start of February in 1692, these girls that lived in the village had started to convulse, spout gibberish. Ultimately, it was processed as demonic activity in the villagers eyes. This is one of the mysteries surrounding the Salem Witch Trials, no one completely knows why these girls started to exhibit these signs. There are many hypotheses that can contribute to an explanation. Two of these are explained in the online journal, Weather and the Salem Witch Trials, written by Franklin G. and Mixon Jr. The first hypothesis has to actually do with mosquitoes. The born illness “can be explained by an epidemic of encephalitis, a mosquito-borne illness exhibiting many of the same symptoms possessed by the accuser” (241). The girls’ symptoms are very similar to this sickness passed from the mosquito to the human, but the other hypotheses actually weakens this claim. In the journal, it also explains the “little-ice age” that Salem was experiencing during this time. It was harsh conditions for winter in roughly the 1600s to about the 1800s. Mosquitoes go dormant during the winter, and it was in february that the Salem Witch Trials began. So the “little-ice age” debunks the mosquito theory because the bugs would have still been dormant during that time. The third hypothesis is tied into the “little-ice age theory”. In the short documentary from A&E Network, it explains the food born illness from the fungus ergot that is grown on the crop, rye. The fungus occurs when the crop goes through a harsh winter and into a warm, wet spring, During the spring of the trials, the weather matched this description perfectly. There are so many possibilities that could explain what had happened to these young girls, and who knows, they might all tie into each other. This is just one of the mysteries surrounding this dark