Salem Witch Hysteria The harsh cold winters in Salem‚ Massachusetts brought inevitable boredom; especially for teens. Present day winters are filled with cuddling up to the television or playing video games‚ but finding something interesting to do in Salem winters was more than difficult; the year 1692 changed all of that. The Salem Witch Hysteria brought sheer terror through out the town as well as surrounding towns. Men and women were being accused of being witches and wizards based on spectral
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Salem Witchcraft Trials 1. In order to make sense of Ann Foster’s testimony we must look at events that were occurring at this time. The prosecution of Witchcraft had been relatively new in America but massive witch hunts had been going on for centuries in England‚ Italy‚ Germany‚ and France. During this time‚ English Rulers King William and Mary began a War with France in American colonies. The war created strain on Salem’s resources and rivalry between families with ties to wealth of
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side effect of the fungi Ergot. Ergot is caused by a fungus which invades developing kernels of rye grain‚ and thrives in warm moist climates. Coincidently the previous rye harvest was under those exact conditions. The disease‚ Convulsive Ergotism‚ causes violent fits‚ the sense of something crawling on the skin‚ vomiting‚ choking‚ and hallucinations. The preachers’ daughter Betty Parris was the first to become strangely ill‚ her symptoms almost identical to those of Ergot poisoning‚ over time more
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Brennyn Mackey 2 May 2011 The Secret War of Salem Exposing the Culprit behind the Mass Hysteria The Salem Witch Trials were a series of infamous events that demand an explanation for their occurrence. The trials that took place in 1692 caused neighbors in the community of Salem Village in the colony of Massachusetts to turn on one another out of paranoia‚ accusing one another of witchcraft. According to Carol Karlsen‚ a longtime author of the subject‚ nineteen people were hanged
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The Salem Witch Trials started in 1692 in Salem Village‚ Massachusetts‚ and are believed to have been created by many different theories. No one actually knows why or how the witchcraft started in the early colony. The witches were girls of all ages who were caught having strange behavior. Many people started believing they were actual witches because of the way people claimed to have been hurt or affected by a witch. Some Puritans would act out to make it seem like a witch was harming them or causing
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Puritans and the Salem Witch Trials During the time period of 1691 to 1692 the town of Salem‚ a small thriving community within the Puritan Massachusetts Bay colony‚ was struck by widespread hysteria in the form of witch trials. The way these trials and accusations played out are historically unlike any other witch trials found in European and American history. Historians have pointed to a number of economic‚ political‚ and social changes of the then existing institutions throughout the Massachusetts
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The Salem Witch Trials were a drawn out‚ scary time in the history of Salem‚ Massachusetts. These trials split many families and friends apart. Although witch trials were common back then‚ they have seemed to disappear from the world and the public eye. I.A. The Salem Witch trials started when several young girls accused three townspeople of witchcraft. After that day strange unexplainable events would occur (Curry‚ pg. 4). In the doctor’s view the strange behaviors could not be a result of
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The quantity of people charged and arrested in May‚ soared over thirty people. Regardless that the witch hunt started in Salem‚ it swiftly expanded to the neighboring towns‚ and dozens of residents were brought and put on trial in Salem (Brooks). The first person to be brought on trial was Bridget Bishop‚ who had been accused of witchcraft years prior but was vindicated of the offense. Five of the afflicted girls had accused Bridget‚ and in
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sickness and questionable actions due to fungus on rye. Even though there are many theories as to why the girls of the Salem witch trials made accusations‚ the two most believable are that there was fungus growing on the rye and the girls suffered from an outbreak of encephalitis because the girls showed signs of sickness and questionable actions. In February 1692‚ the people of Salem were all caught up in a case of mass hysteria: (Saxon). Eight girls ruled the town by accusing their neighbors of
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Lyle Koehler argues that the Salem Witch Trials began due to witch hysteria caused by the fits of the young women being affected by witchcraft. They were given power to accuse the witches and used their power to attack their oppressing forces‚ such as authority figures. The act of accusing people of being witches was a scapegoat in order gain and retain power in a situation where people felt powerless. They also targeted nontraditional women as they were easier to justify. Many people were accused
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