The Causes of the Salem Witch Hunt

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The Causes of the Salem Witch Hunt

Many American colonists brought with them from Europe a notion in

witches and an intrigue with alleged manipulation with the devil.

During the seventeenth century, people were executed for witchcraft

all over the colonies, chiefly in Massachusetts. Various of the

accused were women, inducing some recent historians to recommend that

charges of witchcraft were a way of dominating women who endangered

the present economic and social order at that time.

In 1692 the famous Salem, Massachusetts, witchcraft trials took place,

and that summer hundreds of people in the colony were taken into

custody without any reason whatsoever.

To comprehend the events of the Salem witch trials, it is essential to

investigate the times in which allegations of witchcraft occurred.

There were the everyday stresses of 17th-century life in Massachusetts

Bay Colony. A strong creed in the devil, factions among Salem Village

fanatics and antagonism with nearby Salem Town, a recent small pox

epidemic and the intimidation of assault by warring tribes constructed

a fruitful ground for fear and skepticism.

The Salem Witch Trials of 1692 resulted in nearly 200 people

imprisoned, 20 executed and a further 8 dying in prison. Most of the

participants knew each other. Either blood or marriage tied some

together. This was true of my ancestors, some were victims, others

prosecutors and still others the afflicted.

The trials came about because of the action of a small group of

teenage girls who had spent the winter of 1691-92 at the home of their

friends, Elizabeth and Abigail Paris. There the girls became

fascinated with the ...

... middle of paper ...

...years passed, apologies were offered, and compensation

was made to the victim’s families. Historians and sociologists have

carefully thought about this most complex event in our history so that

we may grasp the issues of that time and apply our understanding to

our own society. Finally in the year 1711 the colony passed a bill,

which restored the rights and good names of those accused of

witchcraft. It also granted 600 pounds to their heirs as a form of

compensation.

Works Cited

Bush, Margaret A. Witch-Hunt: Mysteries of the Salem Witch Trials.

Horn Book Magazine, Jan/Feb2004, Vol. 80 Issue 1, p96.

Jones, Trevelyn E.; Toth, Luann; Charnizon, Marlene; Grabarek, Daryl;

Larkins, Jeanne; Medlar, Andrew. Witch-Hunt: Mysteries of the Salem

Witch Trials. School Library Journal, Dec2003, Vol. 49 Issue 12, p163.

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