Salem Witch Trials

1062 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Salem Witch Trial

Salem Witch Trials

Early in 1692, the witch hunt started in Salem, Massachusetts. During

this time there were many stresses in the Massachusetts Bay Colony among

Salem Villages, who had a strong belief in the devil. A town not too far from

Salem had had a recent smallpox outbreak, and created fear and suspicion for

the Salem Villages. Nine-year old Elizabeth Parris and eleven years old

Abigail Williams started having fits, strange behaviors and would scream

with anger. A doctor looked at the girls and decided that

the only explanation was spells caused by witchcraft. The girls then

accused Tituba who was a family slave, Sarah Good, and Sarah Osborne of

telling them tales of omens, voodoo, and witchcraft.

Cotton Mather had just published a book about witchcraft and

the symptoms of the people under the spells. Since the girls fits were much

like those described in Mather's book, the family accepted of the doctor's

conclusion that the girls were under a spell. Leading to the

Trials against Tituba, Sarah Good, and Sarah Osborne as being the

one's responsible to what was occurring to the girls.

On March 1, 1692 John Hawthorne and Jonathan Corwin began of examining the three

accused women.

They asked each one the same questions: Are you a witch? How do

you explain what is happening to these girls? The Three maintained her

innocence, but eventually Tituba confessed to being a witch and claimed that

she, Good, and Osborne had flown through the air on broom sticks and even

Show More
Related

  • Social Issues In The Salem Witch Trials

    1403 Words  | 3 Pages

    Salem Village, Massachusetts was the home of a Puritan community with a strict moral code through 1691. No one could have ever anticipated the unexplainable events that were to ambush the community’s stability. The crisis that took place in Salem in 1962 still remains a mystery, but the accusations made by the young girls could be a result of ergot poisoning or the need for social power; this leads the people of Salem to succumb to the genuine fear of witchcraft.

    Read More

  • Examples Of Discrimination In The Crucible

    744 Words  | 2 Pages

    A group of young girls in Salem, Massachusetts, claimed to be possessed by the devil and accused several local women of witchcraft. The women were the main targets of this for women at the time had little voice and if a man said that a woman was possessed then that woman was. Another instance of discrimination was at Tituba, Abby had blamed her because she knew no one would believe Tituba for she was black and a slave so if she didnt go with what Abby said no one would believe her and she would be hung. Then there was the rich against the poor aspect the wealthy landowners would have their daughters accuse neighbors of demon worship so that they could acquire the

    Read More

  • Salem Possessed: The Social Origins Of Witchcraft

    931 Words  | 2 Pages

    Salem Possessed: The Social Origins of Witchcraft is a concise, 231 page informational text by Paul Boyer and Stephen Nissenbaum. Published in 1974, it explores the economic and social conditions present in the Salem village during the 1600s that led to the hysteria surrounding witchcraft. Multiple graphs and illustrations are present, as well as an average sized font, an abundance of footnotes typically on the left page, and a prominent voice from the authors. The book was written to serve as a more comprehensive informational piece on the Salem witch trials due to the authors finding other pieces written about the same topic to be inaccurate. Paul Boyer and Stephen Nissenbaum wanted to create something that utilized

    Read More

  • Comparing the Salem Witch Trials and Modern Satanic Trials

    2443 Words  | 5 Pages

    Starkey, Marion L. The Devil In Massachusetts: A Modern Inquiry Into The Salem Witch Trials. London: Robert Hale Limited.

    Read More

  • The Salem Witch Trial Hysteria Of 1692

    395 Words  | 1 Pages

    “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.”, Exodus 22:18. In 1692 , in Salem Massachusetts , the Puritans believed everything in the bible, they also believed in witches and that witches should not be able to live.There were at least 3 causes for the Salem witch trial hysteria. There are: age, gender, and marital status , lying girls, and a divided town.

    Read More

  • The History of the Salem Witchcraft Trials

    2587 Words  | 6 Pages

    During the time of the Salem Witchcraft Trials of 1692, more than twenty people died an innocent death. All of those innocent people were accused of one thing, witchcraft. During 1692, in the small town of Salem, Massachusetts many terrible events happened. A group of Puritans lived in Salem during this time. They had come from England, where they were prosecuted because of their religious beliefs. They chose to come live in America and choose their own way to live. They were very strict people, who did not like to act different from others. They were also very simple people who devoted most of their lives to God. Men hunted for food and were ministers. Women worked at home doing chores like sewing, cooking, cleaning, and making clothes. The Puritans were also very superstitious. They believed that the devil would cause people to do bad things on earth by using the people who worshiped him. Witches sent out their specters and harmed others. Puritans believed by putting heavy chains on a witch, that it would hold down their specter. Puritans also believed that by hanging a witch, all the people the witch cast a spell on would be healed. Hysteria took over the town and caused them to believe that their neighbors were practicing witchcraft. If there was a wind storm and a fence was knocked down, people believed that their neighbors used witchcraft to do it. Everyone from ordinary people to the governor’s wife was accused of witchcraft. Even a pregnant woman and the most perfect puritan woman were accused. No one in the small town was safe. As one can see, the chaotic Salem Witchcraft Trials of 1692 were caused by superstition, the strict puritan lifestyle, religious beliefs, and hysteria.

    Read More

  • Salem Witch Trials: The Salem Witch Trial

    946 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the modern day it’s hard to believe there’s even still ‘’witch hunts’’ as you can say where a group of people are stereotyped as something without them doing the actual stereotypical thing. We live in a world where blacks are getting shot for no reason when they were just walking down the street unarmed and not harming anyone. Blacks and Latinos are always looked down upon in any shape or form. They could be driving a nice car they get pulled over for suspicion of a stolen car, they can get pulled over in an old broken car and they will get pulled over for suspicion of ‘’criminal activity’’. But if it’s a white person the cops will NOT bat a single eye at them despite being in the same situations as the black. And you know what the problem

    Read More

  • The Salem Witchcraft Trials

    821 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Salem Witchcraft Trials of 1692 were the largest outbreak of witch hunting in colonial New England up to that time. Although it was the largest outbreak, it was not something that was new. Witch-hunting had been a part of colonial New England since the formation of the colonies. Between the years 1648 to 1663, approximately 15 witches were executed. During the winter of 1692 to February of 1693, approximately 150 citizens were accused of being witches and about 25 of those died, either by hanging or while in custody. There is no one clear-cut answer to explain why this plague of accusations happened but rather several that must be examined and tied together. First, at the same time the trials took place, King William's War was raging in present day Maine between the colonists and the Wabanaki Indians with the help of the French. Within this war, many brutal massacres took place on both sides, leaving orphaned children due to the war that had endured very traumatic experiences. Second, many of the witch accusations were based on spectral evidence, most of which were encounters of the accused appearing before the victim and "hurting" them. There were rampant "visions" among the colonies' citizens, which can only be explained as hallucinations due to psychological or medical conditions by virtue of disease, or poisoning.

    Read More

  • The Salem Witch Trials

    1555 Words  | 4 Pages

    In 1692, everyone was sure that the Devil had come to Salem when young girls started screaming, barking like dogs and doing strange dances in the woods. The Salem Witch Trials originated in the home of Salem's reverend Samuel Parris, who had a slave from the Caribbean named Tibuta. Tibuta would tell stories about witchcraft back from her home. In early 1692 several of Salem's teenage girls began gathering in the kitchen with Tibuta. When winter turned to spring, many Salem residents were stunned at the acts and behaviors of Tibuta's young followers.

    Read More

  • The Trials Of The Salem Witch Trials

    1060 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Salem Witch Trials took place in the summer and into the fall of the year 1692, and during this dark time of American history, over 200 people had been accused of witchcraft and put in jail. Twenty of these accused were executed; nineteen of them were found guilty and were put to death by hanging. One refused to plead guilty, so the villagers tortured him by pressing him with large stones until he died. The Salem Witch Trials was an infamous, scary time period in American history that exhibited the amount of fear people had of the devil and the supernatural; the people of this time period accused, arrested, and executed many innocent people because of this fear, and there are several theories as to why the trials happened (Brooks).

    Read More

  • The Salem Witch Trials

    2023 Words  | 5 Pages

    During the early winter of 1692 two young girls became inexplicably ill and started having fits of convulsion, screaming, and hallucinations. Unable to find any medical reason for their condition the village doctor declared that there must be supernatural forces of witchcraft at work. This began an outbreak of hysteria that would result in the arrest of over one hundred-fifty people and execution of twenty women and men. The madness continued for over four months.

    Read More

  • Salem Witch Trials

    422 Words  | 1 Pages

    It even states within the Bible, "You shall not let a sorceress live," (Exodus 22:17).

    Read More

  • History Of The Salem Witch Trials

    1155 Words  | 3 Pages

    The New England Colonies of seventeenth century America were quite different from the other colonies in North America at this time. The climate was colder and the rules of religion much stricter, thus having an impact on the colonists living in this colony. The physical and cultural environments of these colonies were without question a factor that played a major part in the Salem Witch Trials.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Salem Possessed: The Social Origins Of Witchcraft

    1028 Words  | 3 Pages

    While Salem Village remained an agricultural community, Salem Town transformed into a mercantile town. These factions created strained relations and high levels of anxiety among the residents which led to accusations of witchcraft. Tensions exacerbated as Salem “experienced two different economic systems, two different ways of life, at unavoidably close range” (437). Within Salem Village, witchcraft accusations steadily increased as “the first twelve witches were either residents of the Village or persons who lived just beyond its borders” (435). However, witchcraft was not confined to a specific, geographic location as it spread beyond Salem Village and into other geographic boundaries. In fact, the majority of the people accused of witchcraft came from the surrounding villages. The outgrowth of conflicts and bitter disputes between the people of the rising mercantile class and the people of the land-based economy continuously led to witchcraft accusations. The accusations were not limited to farming communities, but also extended to political representatives and people higher up on the social ladder. For example, Boyer and Nissenbaum mention the accusation of Daniel Andrew and Phillip English who were two elected Salem Town selectman. As more

    Read More

  • Free Essay on The Crucible: The Deterioration of Social Structure

    919 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

More about Salem Witch Trials

Open Document