Amanda Whitsett Robison History 1301 November 17‚ 2010 The Social Psychology of the Salem Witch Trials The events that took place in Salem‚ Massachusetts in 1692 have had historians scrutinizing over the causes for years. There have been several theories about how the situation became so out of control. The haunting story is well known in America‚ taught to our youth and has been the focus of numerous forms of media. We are familiar with the story but unfamiliar with the origin of its
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Social aspects of the time can and will play into any historical event. From gender roles to the way politics and religion come into play‚ what is going on socially‚ and religiously has a direct effect on the people historically involved. In The Salem Witch trials of 1692‚ a major factor of what happened was the way puritan society perceived themselves and others. Miller’s The Crucible‚ displays certain social conditions of the Puritan lifestyle‚ and how they affected the trials at large.
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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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being a witch then you either blamed it on someone else or plead you were innocent. These trials began overwhelming the justice system. The Salem witch trials were a series of cases brought before local magistrates and the county court of trials in 1692. To understand the events of the Salem witch trials‚ it is necessary to understand that the people in Salem thought differently and lived differently than people from the 21st century. A strong belief in the devil‚ factions among Salem Village
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the girls‚ once discovering the sessions accused the slave of being a witch. Then once the behaviors continued to occur‚ the witch trials began. There are many conspiracies as to why the witch hysteria happened. Religious beliefs‚ social class tension‚ and bored girls are to be the cause of the witch hysteria in Salem. One conspiracy for the cause of the witch trials in Salem is religious beliefs. Majority of the citizens in Salem were Puritans who practiced predestination‚ which means they followed
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remembering Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne. Since Tituba’s claim that there were more witches in Salem‚ the witch hunt officially began and hysteria beset the
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Mass Hysteria during the 1690s and 1950s. As examples of mass hysteria‚ both the Salem Witch Trials and the Cold War caused turmoil during their respective time period. Although very different time periods‚ the 1690s Salem Witch Trials and the 1950s Cold War were both dramatic examples of mass hysteria (Campbell). The Salem Witch Trials were one of the nation’s most dramatic examples of hysteria as close to 20 people were killed because of pure hype and chaos in the region (Campbell). The cold war
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This quote shows both the dilemma in the Salem Witch Trials‚ which Arthur Miller set his story in‚ and the era of McCarthyism which he kind of writes about; John was going to confess to being a witch but couldn’t because he didn’t want to ruin his name for his family. He was an innocent man but died because he didn’t confess. This is very similar to what was happening during the 50’s when McCarthyism first started. Arthur Miller’s use of the Salem Witch Trials in the Crucible demonstrates
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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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In Witches! The Absolutely True Tale of Disaster in Salem‚ author Rosalyn Schanzer discusses the outbreak of the Salem witch trials and tells about the murderous colonial period of 1692. The trials took place in Salem‚ Massachusetts when the Puritans of England migrated to New England. The accusations of witches started when two girls began having fits‚ and a doctor tried to use elixirs and everything he could to cure them. He then diagnosed the two girls of being plagued by witches. After these
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