Dbq Salem Witch Trials

From the beginnings of the United States there have been many natural and man-made disasters. Some disasters have affected the nation as a whole, while others affected communities in small areas throughout the states and territories. While large disasters are widely known and covered, the lesser disasters fall through the cracks of time and are soon forgotten by all who were not in its area of affect. In researching lesser known American disasters, I stumbled across one that caught my attention that occurred in Salem, Massachusetts. Salem is most known for its dark pages in history, the witch trials, which took place in 1692. After the witch trials Salem was pretty quiet in the history pages, prospering as major fishing and maritime trade center. With prosperity came …show more content…

Many of the homes and businesses were built during the colonial times so they were made mainly of wood, and during this time fire safety measures were not a priority which led to the disaster, "The Great Salem Fire" on June 25, 1914. The fire began at the Korn Leather Factory at 57 Boston Street, which is located in the northern part of the city. Chemicals that were used to create varnish exploded starting the blaze. It is believe that the heat of the day built up in the storage room where the chemicals were kept that caused the explosions and started fires. Some of the factory buildings had a sprinkler system, but because of the wooded structures the buildings were made of the few that had the sprinkler systems were ineffective, allowing the fire to grow hotter. It was a hot windy day that day, and the wind caused the man-made fire to become exponentially worse. The strong wind fanned the flames south into the heart of the city and the fire jumped to nearby buildings and kept growing. During this time most building and homes did not follow any fire ordinances, so the roofs were made out of combustible material like plain wood shingles. Embers were blown from