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Historical analysis of the salem witch trials
Historical analysis of the salem witch trials
Influence of religion on the salem witch trials
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The Salem Witch Trials occurred in Massachusetts from 1692 to 1693. Approximately 200 Salem townspeople were falsely accused of being witches. 19 men and women were executed because of this hysteria. Even dogs were hanged! The hysteria was created from multiple factors, including ergot poisoning, superstition/religion, and/or boredom.
One theorized reason of the cause of the Salem witch trials was because of Ergot Poisoning. Ergot of Rye is “a plant disease that is caused by the fungus Claviceps purpurea… The occurrence of the fungus was so common that it was thought to be part of the rye plant, until the 1850's”. This fungus causes hallucinations when consumed. Rye is used in bread and alcohol, two things that the Puritans in Salem ingested…
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.
The Salem witch craft trials are the most learned about and notable of Europe's and North America's witch hunts. Its notoriety and fame comes from the horrendous amount of people that were not only involved, but killed in the witch hunt and that it took place in the late 1700's being one of the last of all witch hunts. The witch craft crises blew out of control for several reasons. Firstly, Salem town was facing hard economic times along with disease and famine making it plausible that the only explanation of the town's despoilment was because of witches and the devil. As well, with the stimulation of the idea of witch's from specific constituents of the town and adolescent boredom the idea of causing entertainment among the town was an ever intriguing way of passing time.
What really happened in Salem that ignited the spark of the Witchcraft Trials? Was it out of boredom? Did the girls come down with a case of Schizophrenia, encephalitis, or Huntington’s chorea? (Vogel 1). These are all possibilities, but there is still one theory that could reveal the truth behind the Salem Witch Trials. According to the research by psychologist Linda Caporael, of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute of Troy, New York, the poisoning of ergot originally created the hysteria. (Vogel 1 and Clark 2). Ergot is a form of fungus that spreads best in cold, damp weather. (Vogel 1). This fungus mostly grows on different types of grain, wheat, and especially rye. (Vogel 1). In the year of 1692, Salem, Massachusetts suffered a cold, wet winter. (Vogel 1). The growth of rye was substantial, making rye the main grain for the citizens of Salem. (Vogel 1).
The Salem Witch trials were when hundreds of citizens of Salem, Massachusetts were put on trial for devil-worship or witchcraft and more than 20 were executed in 1692. This is an example of mass religion paranoia. The whole ordeal began in the home of Reverend Samuel Parris. People soon began to notice strange behavior from Parris’s slave, Tituba, and his daughters. Many claimed to have seen Parris’s daughters doing back magic dances in the woods, and fall to the floor screaming hysterically. Not so long after, this strange behavior began to spread across Salem.
In 1976 Linnda R. Caporael writes Ergotism:The Satan Loosed in Salem? where she explains that ergotism is the cause of the people acting the certain way. The evidence of ergotism in the Salem Village was the growing conditions and localization. The growing conditions for rye were perfect and rye is known to be a host plant for ergot. The cycle at which rye is harvested and stored for months fits the timing of the Salem Witch Trials. The pattern of residence of the accusers, the accused, and the defenders of the accused living within the Salem Village may have been an area of contamination.2 The result of not understanding ergotism at the time caused the people to start assuming witchcraft for the people with convulsions, mental disturbances, and perceptual distortions.3 In 2000 Dr. Alan Woolf being a medical toxicologist writes Witchcraft or Mycotoxin? The Salem Witch Trials in which she states that some people believed the Salem Witch Trials people were affected with egotism like Linnda R.
As one can see, the chaotic Salem Witchcraft Trials of 1692 were caused by superstition, the strict puritan lifestyle, religious beliefs, and hysteria. Puritan Lifestyle was one reason that might have caused the witchcraft hysteria in Salem.... ... middle of paper ... ... He believed strongly in having the witches of Salem executed for their wrong doing (Fradin 26-27).
More than three centuries ago, an entire community in Salem, Massachusetts, just 5 miles from Salem Town fell victim to what would become the most notorious instance of witch hysteria in United States history. The infamous witch trials of Salem, Massachusetts remain one of the most unscrupulous and inexplicable phenomena in the United States, having resulted in a total of 20 deaths and 165 accusations related to Witchcraft within the span of four months. [3] The brief, but tumultuous period has long been a source of debate amongst historians. For nearly a century, it was widely accepted that social tensions and Puritan religious beliefs were the primary cause of the trials, but in the 1970’s, a college undergraduate suggested ergot poisoning might be to blame. Ergotism – ergot poisoning – is born from the fungus Claviceps purpurea, which is known to infect rye and other cereal grains, it produces a chemical known as ergotamine which is the base for toxic hallucinogenic chemicals such as LSD. [2] Studies have shown that the consumption of ergot-contaminated food results in symptoms much like those associated with the afflicted girls in Salem, 1692. [2] Collectively, Ergot poisoning, and the implication Puritanism and Puritan values had on the genuine fear of witches, and socioeconomic tension caused the events that would become the Salem witch hysteria of 1692.
The Salem Witch Trials took place in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1692. At this time there appeared to be an outbreak of witches. This started when the children of the Goodwin family begin having mysterious fits. The doctors, not knowing what had happened to the children, blamed it on witchcraft. From that point on many people were accused of being a witch and were killed. This occurred for many different reasons; either they were hanged for their crimes, crushed by stones for refusing to stand trial on their cases, or from waiting in the jail for so long before their case came up. As people began to investigate the Salem Witch Trials further they came up with two explanations; either the people of Salem were begin acted through by the devil or
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
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.
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).
The Salem Witch Trials were a horrible event in the history of the United States of America. The Salem Witch Trials happened in colonial Massachusetts between 1692 and 1693. During this event over 200 people were accused of being witches and the ones found guilty or would not confess were executed 20 people ended up being executed. The court finally admitted the trials were a mistake and compensated the families of those convicted (Blumberg).
More than two hundred years have gone by since the discovery of the new world. People of with all types of backgrounds and problems came flocking over the ocean to start anew. Jamestown, Virginia and Salem, Massachusetts, were very early settlements, and perhaps two of the most known names of colonies. Jamestown was known for many things, including Bacon’s Rebellion. And Salem was known for one reason, the Salem Witch Trials. These two pieces of history reflect the tensions of the unstable society and of their beliefs.
According to Jones, modern estimates suggest perhaps 100,000 trials took place between 1450 and 1750, with an estimated execution total ranging between 40,000 and 50,000. This death toll was so great because capital punishment was the most popular and harshest punishment for being accused of witchcraft. Fear of the unknown was used to justify the Puritans contradictive actions of execution. Witch trials were popular in this time period because of religious influences, manipulation through fear, and the frightening aspects of witchcraft.
The Salem witch trials of 1692 were one of the bloodiest witch-hunts in America colonial history. The event started in the house of the new minister of Salem, Samuel Parris, when his daughter, Betty, suffered from mysterious symptoms, and later she accused her slave, Tibuta, for using witchcraft on her. Later, two other women, Sarah Goode and Sarah Osborne, were accused of using witchcraft on other girls; right after the accusations, they were arrested (Lecture 9/13/2016). As a result, the hunt of witches began which led to hundreds of arrests, and nineteen accused were hanged (Text 190). Although three hundred years have passed, the true cause of the episode remains a mystery. Many scholars have conducted numerous studies of the trails, however,