The Salem Witch Trials

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Imagine a man being accused of a crime he did not commit, yet his punishment whether he did or did not do it is death. Again, imagine a world where accusations from thirteen year old girls are taken under serious consideration in court. Absurd, ridiculous, and out of the question are some of the words most people would use to describe such situations. Between being pressed against large stones for a confession, or being thrown into the river to test for witchcraft, the people of Salem were in a mass hysteria. Sadly, these were exactly the type of situations happening in Salem, Massachusetts 1692. Rejection of the abnormal, corruption of government, and ignorance are the sparks the town of Salem needed to ignite the mass panic known as the Salem Witch Trials.
Bridget Bishop, almost sixty years old, was the first “witch” killed of the Witch Trials. She was hung from a tree on June 10, 1692, signifying the beginning of the dark times that were the Salem Witch Trials. The Salem Witch Trials were started by a couple of bratty girls who decided it would be enjoyable to accuse someone of being a witch, and then contort their bodies and act afflicted any time that person came around. Sadly, the accusations of these girls were taken very seriously by the judge and adults of Salem. People were convicted of witchcraft simply because they had irregular moles or blemishes on their faces. Yes, the people of Salem were in a mass hysteria, filling up jails with “witches” to the point where the jails reached capacity and they could not fit any more people in them. They were able to accuse these people through mob mentality, Puritan culture, and forced conformity.
One cause of the Salem Witch Trials can be very easily defined as “mob mentality...

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...r old for being accused of witch craft. The Complete Salem Witch Trials book says, “Dorcas Good, four-year-old daughter of Sarah Good, became the first child to be accused of witchcraft when three of the girls complained that they were bitten by the specter of Dorcas.” Dorcas spent nine months in jail, being torn away from her family and seeing her mother also be accused of the very same thing. The people of Salem were in a frenzy, hanging and squashing living human beings all based on word of mouth accusations.
Between killing the innocent, ignoring the obvious truth, and incarcerating the undeserving, the Salem Witch Trials were the epitome of rash decision-making. The people of Salem were misled by teens who were simply amusing themselves. Although the modern world scoffs at the people of Salem, unfounded accusations have made reappearances throughout history. I

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