In Salem Possessed, Paul Boyer and Stephen Nissenbaum theorize that opposed to the traditional approach of saying trauma or disease caused the mass hysteria in Salem, it was the way in which the strange behavior of the girls was interpreted as witchcraft by the adults in the community that caused such chaos. In fact, when the first occurrence of affliction happened, nearly a month had passed before the girls made any accusations. During this time, it would’ve been so easy to blame the girls themselves for witchcraft. So why instead were the girls treated as innocent victims in all of this? Simply put, the witchcraft accusations were guided by adults and it was only once the girls were influenced to do so did they started to point fingers. …show more content…
Many people, especially the younger generation, would come together to pray for those who were afflicted. Groups of young people would spend time together transforming these “frolics”, or the times in which the girls would exhibit strange behavior as an opportunity to turn these events for prayer and worship. Some girls even attributed their behavior to a heavenly source, not a demonic one. But perhaps what’s most important is that the groups of young people left behind their subservient roles in the community in favor of leadership positions. Because of the strange behavior of the young people in the community, priests and ministers were able to exploit that behavior for their own benefit. In Northampton, a minister named Jonathan Edwards thought of the strange behavior of the girls and the young people’s reaction to it as a religious revival. Whereas in Salem, one of its most influential ministers, Samuel Parris immediately presumed it to be the work of witches. Both situations started out relatively similar, but once it was seen as witchcraft it gave people the ability to assign blame and that’s what turned a relatively mild situation into a …show more content…
He was an influential man, so anything he said would likely have an effect on others in the town. In 1692 alone, Thomas testified against 12 people and complained about 24. His wife, his daughter Ann, and his servant Mercy Lewis were among the afflicted. The afflictions even spread from his house to that of Thomas Putnam junior. And although those who were torturing the afflicted were imprisoned, the symptoms remained and they started to blame others. In the end, between Thomas and the afflicted Putnam, they managed to convict and imprison Rebecca Nurse and Martha Corey. To understand Thomas Putnam and his family is to understand all of Salem Village; the line between what was personal and what was private was very thin. It was almost a chain reaction, all it took was one influential person to get the ball rolling and once that happened there was no stopping
The Salem Witch Trials were a series of prosecutions of men and women who were accused to practice witchcraft or have associations with the devil. The first Salem witch trial began with two girls in 1692, Elizabeth Parris and Abigail Williams who started to have “fits”, in which they would throw tantrums and have convulsions. The random outburst of the girls threw the town of Salem into a mass of hysteria. Although historians have not found a definite reason or cause for the witch trials, they have taken different approaches to explain the hysteria that took over Salem. Some historians approach a psychological theory by proposing the girls suffered from diseases that made them act out. Other historians refer to factors such as religion, economics, and weather to explain the beginnings of an unforgettable time in Salem, Massachusetts. For over 300 years, historians have tried to reveal the truth about the beginnings of the Salem Witch Trials, but in order to do so historians must look at both the way of life in Salem in the seventeenth century and use knowledge that is available now to explain the phenomenon.
In the small town of Salem, the year of 1692, people were being inaccurately accused as witches by people they did not know. The Salem witch trial hysteria of 1692 may have been caused due to a combination of a civil war and the intention to cause a stir. There were at least three causes of the Salem witch trial hysteria. These were economic status, girls acting as if been affected by witchcraft, and a combination of gender and age.
Although this was not entirely true, his personal attachment to the trials swayed his judgement and impacted his ability to send innocent people to jail, based on his beliefs. Thomas Putnam played a crucial role in the Witch Trials, influencing many deaths and arrests. Elizabeth Proctor was the third wife of John Proctor, the first man accused of witchery.
As said, it is believed that with little to do in the town and strict Puritan beliefs, the girls had a wide variety of things that could have urged them to do this. One girl, Abigail Williams, niece of Reverend Samuel Parris, was one of the main accusers in the event. When Tituba, the slave in the Parris’s household was trying to tell the girls of a fabricated witch story that ended up causing a huge hysteria that never mean to happen. When word got around about witchcraft in the town, people started getting accused. When Abigail realized what an outcome the hysteria uplifted in the town, it became an obsession. Abigail idolized the fact of the innocent town’s punishments and executions because of interaction with the witchcraft. With Abigail being the minister’s niece she took advantage of the deaths of many innocent people. No one knows exactly why Abigail would bring about the hysteria. Before the trials became to an end, Abigail left the town of Salem. It is untold what happened afterwards, but she was believed to have never healed from her affliction. She was also believed to of died at a young
At that time, Salem was a small town or village; it was a farming community that was only 550 of population. Their goal was that they want to be a model society on the hills. Not all of them were puritans because there were people that want a better life and want to live in a society out of England; their life in England were difficult. There were two groups in the village: those who were separatists and others that were puritans (those who believe in predetermination and follow the rules). Samuel Parris was a reverend that was the minister of the group of the separatist. He helped divide these two groups. The reverend Parris and his wife had 2 children living with them, who were Betty and Abigail. These two girls were the motive that the trials started. These girls screamed, rolled their eyes back into their heads, shook, twist...
This was a very dark and eerie time for the Puritans in Salem, Massachusetts (P. Shaunak). A group of young girls in Salem, Massachusetts, told the people of their town they were possessed by the devil and accused several women from their town of possessing them. The ringleader of the girls was Abigail Williams, the niece of Samuel Paris, the town’s priest. Abigail and her cousin Elizabeth Paris started having irrational fits and violent outbursts. Since the girls kept having these violent outbursts, Samuel Paris called for doctor William Griggs.
The notorious witch trials of Salem, Massachusetts occurred from June through September. It is a brief, but turbulent period in history and the causes of the trials have long been a source of discussion among historians. Many try to explain or rationalize the bizarre happenings of the witch hunts and the causes that contributed to them. To understand the trials and how they came to be, we must first examine the ideals and views of the people surrounding the events. Although religious beliefs were the most influential factor, socioeconomic tensions, and ergot poisoning are also strongly supported theories. A combination of motives seems the most rational explanation of the frenzy that followed the illness of the two girls. This paper looks closely at the some of the possible causes of one of the most notable occurrences in history.
Thomas Putnam takes advantage of the hysteria driven persecutions to gain more land for himself, but at the expense of others. Thomas Putnam is “ a man with many grievances” (Miller 14) and, because of this, he has a very bitter personality and cares little about others. This bitter and vindictive personality of his causes him to value himself far above others. This explains why Putnam feels little remorse for using the witch trials as a tool to for personal gain even though the in order to do so he must hurt his neighbor. In the beginning of the play while arguing with John Proctor over land, Putnam threatens, “You load ...
The Salem Witch Trials occurred because “three women were out in jail, because of witchcraft, and then paranoia spread throughout Salem” (Blumberg). In the Salem Village, “Betty Paris became sick, on February of 1692, and she contorted in pain and complained of fever” (Linder). The conspiracy of “witchcraft increased when play mates of Betty, Ann Putnam, Mercy, and Mary began to exhibit the same unusual behavior” (Linder). “The first to be accused were Tituba, a Barbados slave who was thought to have cursed the girls, Sarah Good, a beggar and social misfit, and Sarah Osborn, an old lady that hadn’t attended church in a year” (Linder). According to Linder, Tituba was the first to admit to being a witch, saying that she signed Satan’s book to work for him. The judges, Jonathan Corwin and John Hathorne, “executed Giles Corey because he refused to stand trial and afterwards eight more people were executed and that ended the Witch Trials in Salem”
Carlson claims that the notorious events that created the outbreak of witchcraft hysteria in Salem correspond with the physical and neurological symptoms displayed by the residents of the town. However, Carlson’s argument lacks conviction as she fails to explain why other related family members and other communities were not affected by the epidemic. If this was truly an epidemic, the unexplained symptoms would have spread across the entire population, and eve the world, affecting millions of people. Epidemics put the entire human population at risk, not just select groups of people. Also, the majority of the accused were women which fails to explain why an epidemic would only affect women and not the male population as well. Attempting to blame the hysteria on an epidemic seems a little too simplistic. Furthermore, Carlson’s argument does not explain why the witchcraft hysteria faded as the economic conditions improved. As soon as the socioeconomic conditions and tensions improved, the witchcraft accusations seemed to fade. Therefore, in Salem Possessed: The Social Origins of Witchcraft, Boyer and
In the book Witches! The Absolutely True Tale of Disaster in Salem, Rosalyn Schanzer describes what happens all because two girls fell ill. When Betty and Abigail started having fits, a doctor diagnosed them as bewitched. Almost immediately they accused the first witch, their slave Tituba. From there all the accusations started pouring out, Ann Putnam Jr., a friend of Betty and Abigail, became “afflicted” as well as multiple others, and soon the jails were overflowing. The first “witch” was hanged on June 10, and the last “witches/wizards” were hanged on September 22. The most likely reasons for the accusations were a thirst for revenge, boredom, and peer/parental pressure.
...Putnam all played a major role in Salem witch trials, while none of their roles were positive ones they all did what they did for themselves. Abigail Williams did what she did so her and her friends could harvest attention from the people of Salem. Judge Danforth was ignorant to fact that verbal evidence is very unreliable just because he wanted to be correct about every decision in the trials. Thomas Putnam accuses several people in Salem all for personal gain of land and money. Many people were charged as guilty but in reality they were innocent, the only people who were actually guilty are Abigail Williams, Judge Danforth, and Thomas Putnam. The Crucible shows how honesty may not seem like the popular choice to make but will always be the right one.
Thomas Putnam is behind the accusations toward many people. 'Did you ever see Sarah Good with him,'; he questions Tituba, 'or Osburn?';(46). With fear and panic, Tituba confesses she sees the Devil with them. Sarah Good and Osburn are insignificant in Salem. They certainly don't satisfy Putnam's fastidious demand, so he moves on to the next victim and eventually accuses Rebecca Nurse. 'For murder, she's charged! For the marvelous and supernatural murder of Goody Putnam's babies';(71). Putnam truly stands out of the crowd this time. He is perhaps the only person corrupt enough to accuse Rebecca. Last but not to the least he manipulated his daughter to accuse George Jacobs. Does Putnam simply wants to killed the witches and save the children? No, there is something bigger he is after.
Being isolated from any other group of people with different beliefs created a church led Puritan society that was not able to accept a lot of change. The church was against the devil, at the same time it was against such things as dancing and other premature acts. The reputation of the family was very important to the members of the community. When the girls were caught dancing in the woods, they lied to protect not just themselves but the reputation of their families. They claimed that the devil took them over and influenced them to dance. The girls also said that they saw members of the town standing with the devil. A community living in a puritan society like Salem could easily go into a chaotic state and have a difficult time dealing with what they consider to be the largest form of evil.
... and biologically to explain the “bewitchment” of the young girls. They have come up with three basic psychological approaches when analyzing the trials: sexual repression in the Puritan communities in New England, the low status of women (they did in fact, have no say in matters, and men were thought of as much more intelligent), and the lack of opportunity for any sort of entertainment. Other scholars believe that the “diet of Salem villagers at that time might well have led to calcium deficiency, which is known to cause spasms and “hysterical” states”1 and that the claims that they were visited or choked by the accused witches could be linked to a condition known as sleep paralysis. But all these theories also lead to the question: Is it possible that every girl in this group suffered from sleep paralysis? Or could some of them have possibly been faking it?