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 Salem Witch Trials are known as a series of people being accused and prosecuted of witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts beginning in February 1692 until May 1693. The trials began after a group of girls claimed that they were possessed by the devil. Several local women were accused of witchcraft and this began the wave of hysteria that would forever haunt Salem and leave a painful legacy for a long time to come. Nearly every major school of historians has attempted to explain the answer to the mystery of the trials, trying to understand why they occurred. From Marxists who blame class conflict, to Freudians who believe in mass hysteria, the more ecologically based historians who put the blame on hallucinogenic ergot fungus, and now more…
“Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live” (Exodus 22:18), this was a passage that the Puritans lived by. The Salem Witch Trials took place in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1692 and claimed the lives of many innocent people. It led to the hangings of almost twenty, leaving more than one hundred in prison. A group of young girls in Salem Village accused several local women of witchcraft while being claimed of being possessed by the devil. This is causing a wave of hysteria to spread throughout colonial Massachusetts.…
Puritans believed that every word of the Bible was the true word of God and was to be followed to the very last letter. Since the Bible mentions the existence of the Devil and witches, the Puritans were aware and suspicious of misdeeds and unexplained happenings. Once the word of witches tumbles from ones lips, it spreads like a disease throughout the community. The Salem Witch Trials of 1692 was the outcome of multiple factors. These factors include jealousy over people, the feel of power/control, and the fear and/or anxiety of their surroundings and the threat of punishment.…
In 1692, an event called the Salem Witch Trials occurred, because of this, the people from a village called Salem, Massachusetts were fearful because they could be accused a witch. This all started when a group of young girls began to act very strange. The behaviors of the girls’ ranged from, screaming, copying body movements, pain, falling on the floor, twitching, and many other symptoms.…
Witch Trials were a time of torment and suffering for those living in Salem Village, Massachusetts 1692.…
The Salem witch trials were caused by jealousy, paranormia,and teenagers. Jealousy was a huge part because of the rich people having better land or have more money so people accused them to be able to own their stuff. Paranormia was a part of it because people were scared that the devil was entering their body to make them do bad things. Teenages were also part of it becsuse teeagers didn’t get a long with everyone, so when they didn’t they acted like the person was put a witchcraft spell on them. This is why the Salem witch trials in 1692…
The Salem Witch Trials was a historic event that occurred in Salem, Massachusetts in the year 1692 and lasted until 1693. It’s known to be a dark time in American History (Brooks, Historyof Massachusetts.org). It first began when a group of teenage girls were exposed of practicing witchcraft and it then lead to bigger things Innocent people were killed and others were treated poorly. More than 200 individuals were wrongfully blamed and 20 were executed for denying the accusations (Blumberg, Smithsonianmag.com ). To this day no one is sure as to why the trials even started. There are numerous theories that state the causes of the infamous witch hunt but only a few of them are quite convincing. Many historians believe that religion is the main…
A possible reason that the Salem Witch Trials took place is that there were many jealous girls. These girls wanted the married men to divorce their wives so the girls could marry them and take all their land and money. Most of the accusers were females that were single and between sixteen and twenty years of age, while the females being accused were forty-one to sixty years old and married (Doc. B). As you can see the teenage girls steadily…
The Salem Witch Trials of 1692 is one of the most well-known historical events. In 1692, 20 people were hanged for being a so-called “witch.” Most accusations were made by six girls, which included Betty Parris, Abigail Williams, and Ann Putnam Jr.. Witches were people whose bodies had supposedly been taken over by The Devil. But what really caused the Salem Witch Trials hysteria? The three reasons that caused the mass hysteria were how certain people, ages, genders, and marital statuses were targeted, the fact that the girls were so good at acting, they were able to fool the entire village, and that neighbor conflicts created tension and jealousy.…
According to the (historyofmassachusetts.org) The Salem Witch Trials were a series of witchcraft cases brought before local magistrates in a settlement called Salem which was a part of the Massachusetts Bay colony in the 17th century. Never before…
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 events, the first 3 accused witches were arrested on February 29,1692, and the Salem witch trials began. When the accused were tried at the courthouse, they were already walking into death’s gate. Exodus 22:18 says, “ Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.” This scripture set the tone for the Salem witch trials..The Salem Witch trials indirectly helped change the American legal system due to moral and ethical issues with spectral evidence, lack of legal representation, and how the accusers only…
The first cause of the Salem Witch Trials was fear of superstition among the Puritan community. The Puritans were pious and believed in the Devil, and believed that God would punish them horridly if they went against their strict moral code. “This is why the witch scare was taken so seriously and the accused were punished harshly” (“The Salem Witch Trials”). Because the Puritans were superstitious, when problems in Salem began, the community was quick to maliciously “blame the Devil and the witches that were carrying out his work for him” (“The Salem Witch Trials”). When the Puritans had no explanation for the girls’ strange behavior, “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 God’s word and God’s actions. The Bible spoke of witches and the devil: therefore they believed in them. Before the trials had even begun Cotton Mather a leading minister and intellectual gave a providence. (Document 3) Mather told of evils spirits that were to be lingering among them. (Document 3) The…
The Salem Witchcraft was a series of undesirable events, which was powered by paranoia and fear. Though several witch trials occurred before the Salem Witch Trial, this was the most well known of all. Many innocent people were accused of witchcraft which resulted to 19 men and women that were hanged, 17 innocents that died in unsanitary prisons, and an 80-year old man that was crushed to death by putting stones on top of his stomach until he confesses (movie: The Crucible). In some accounts, it was reported that two dogs were stoned to death for cooperating with the Devil. Why did the Salem Witch trial occur? Were these trials appropriate? Or were they truly a Devil's work? The Salem Witch Trials might have occurred for a variety of reasons such as people's ignorance that led to superstitions. It might have also occurred because people's crave for power, or it might also be because of fear.…