...Salem Witch Trials Salem Witch Trials has always been an intriguing topic to me in our part of American History. This story depicts the Puritan Community and their beliefs that lead them into thinking that several women of the community were witches. I. Accusations of the three young girls and the Indian Slave unravel and this is where the break out of the Salem Witch Trials begins. ← Suspicion started to brew when a young girl became ill with convulsions associated with what seemed to the Puritan Community as someone who was possessed by the devil. ← John Putnam started the Puritan Community he was the local preacher in community in addition, he invited the Parris Family to live in Salem at preach at their church. ← Parris Family brought with them their daughter, niece and there Indian Slave. ← These girls started to have frantic fits, complaints of pinching and other acts of super natural origin. ← Tituba the Indian Slave taught the young girls how to forecast fortunes by using magic that closely relates to voodoo today. II. Salem Witch Trials began in February 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts, during a time when people were extremely closed- minded and uneducated and religion was the spoken gospel of truth! ← Tituba the Indian Slave tries to cure the young girl by baking a so-called witch cake. ← Several articles speculate that the rye that was used to make bread and other...
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...The Salem Witch Trails were a time in which people believed in the supernatural. This belief began in Europe during the 14th century. It would eventually spread throughout colonial New England; due to increase fears of outsiders and resentment of fellow townspeople which were fueled by the smallpox epidemic and fears of Native American attacks, as well as a rival with the community of Salem Town. In January of 1692, two girls by the name of Betty Williams and Abigail Williams began to have fits. These fits consisted of violent contortions and uncontrollable outbursts of screaming and yelling. William Griggs, a local doctor, diagnosed the girls with bewitchment. As time passed other girls- Ann Putnam Mercy Lewis, Elizabeth Hubbard, Mary Walcott,...
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...How much are “The Salem Witch Trail” and “The Baseball Steroid Scandal” are alike? The author of “The Crucible” is Author Miller. The similarities of these stories are people die, lives are ruined, people are accused, and causes disrespect to families. The Crucible was the first huge huisache. People in Salem got accused and some confessed even though it wasn’t true (Miller). In the story, Hale states, “you have confessed yourself to witchcraft, and that speaks with to come to Heaven side. And we will bless you, Tituba” (1058) Tituba was pressured to confess by Hale and Parris (Miller). Over half of the town was accused by the end of the story. The steroid scandal in base ball started way before it became a huge problem. It started...
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...In Arthur Miller’s book, The Crucible it provides realistic information about the Salem witch trials. Miller relates the Salem witch trails to the 1950’s issue of accusations of Communism in the United States. Within this book our understanding of the witch trials increases and we can relate the issues to problems world wide. In The Crucible many characters are hung for being a witch. There was not enough accurate evidence to say that there cases where fair. Current events can relate to this situation if there is a place where there are unfair and false accusations against innocent people. Parris the Reverend of Salem, is responsible for bring the witch trials to his town. This also affects his reputation in Salem, which he is very concerned about. The amount of power he has shifts over the course of the play along with the trust of the citizens of Salem. Throughout the book many people become frustrated with Parris which leads him to put fear in himself. Parris is now responsible for the tragedies in Salem because he brought the witch trials to Salem. Many people turn on him throughout the whole entire play. Parris’s reputation in the town of Salem and his position within the...
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...The cauldron The Crucible a play written by Arthur Miller is a story about the the witch trials in Salem. The theme of Arthur Miller's The Crucible, is that dishonesty started and perpetuated the witch trials, while honesty brought about their end . The girls started the witch trials in Salem. Lies from the accused kept the trials going. The Honest brought about their end. The girls started the witch trials in Salem with their dishonesty and lies. It started when Abigail and Parris talking about, why they (the girls) were dancing in the woods. Then Proctor shows up and Abigail tells him the truth, Betty starts to scream and hale shows up Abigail tells him that Tituba’s a witch. “She sends her spirits on me in church; she makes me laugh at prayers”(Miller 46). In this quote...
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...Hailey Cappiello The Salem Witch Trials took place in 1692. The people of Salem killed innocent people, accusing them of witchcraft. These killings were a result of a group of girls, which were claimed to have been possessed by the devil. Most of the people accused were women, but there were men killed and accused also. The Salem Witch Trials is worthy of study to remember all the people who died in vain. Approximately 200 people were accused of witchcraft and thrown in jail, awaiting trail. Over 20 people were killed. They were hung, burned, drowned, and some died in prison due to starvation and sickness. One man, Giles Corey, was pressed to death. They placed a board on his chest, and as people watched, they placed many heavy stones on the board. He was pleading for more weight so his death would go by quickly. But, as a result of his pleading, they slowly added more and more weight until his bones crushed under the board. After a year of people being killed and accused, the people stopped and admitted it was a mistake. All the people that were killed were innocent and shouldn’t have been killed. People got scared when others were different, so they made up a reason for peoples differences in culture. These people were demonstrating McCarthyism, they were accusing and killing people of witchcraft and they didn’t have any real evidence that they were witches. The short-term impact was that 20+ people were killed. Families and friends lost people in their lives. Then...
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...The Crucible Final We live life with a trust that the lies of others will be found out, and all sins will be pardoned. However, life isn’t always filled with the happy endings that people want them to be. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, the people of Salem started to dance with the devil, causing reputations to become entangled with life and death. Spurious witchcraft claims appeared rampantly in the town, forcing everyone to pick whether they want to live by their morals, or stray and be safe. The negative impacts of the witch trails are rooted all around, there was, a social unrest among the townspeople, failure in the court system and a misguided church which together form a bad situation to be in. All the claims of witchcraft started due to Abigail and her group of friends out in the forest dancing. Getting caught, in a time were dancing was prohibited. In the beginning of the story, Parris talking to Abigail says, “And what shall I say to them? That my daughter and my niece I discovered dancing like heathen in the forest?” (Miller, Act 1) Basically, the Parris, the minister of the church in Salem, was...
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...Three Sovereigns for Sarah A notorious event in U.S history was the witchcraft hysteria that had mesmerized Salem, Massachusetts, had a few contributing factors. The village Salem, Massachusetts, had many trials for people who were believed to practice witchcraft. The accused people were sentenced to cruel deaths and the awaiting people were jailed and waited for trail. Some ways people were killed were by hanging, laying bricks upon them, and the rest died in prison. In total, 20 people were killed. Prison in those days were held in terrible condition which caused a mother and her son to die. The Salem witch trials would take place between February 1962 and May 1963. A possible contributing factor to the witch hysteria that took place in Salem, is the town was already a troublesome community. The town would...
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...In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, the tone of irony boats from every corner you look, this story casts a mirror onto McCarthyism and reflects the outcomes of this ironic process. The Crucible depicts the reality of the Salem Witch Trials in a time of hysteria and fear. Miller uses a past event to emphasize the effects of unnecessary fear imposed by McCarthyism, indirectly relating to the Salem Witch Trials. Miller’s, The Crucible, is one of irony in which it obliquely equates to the consequences of fear and blaming others by relating the Salem Witch Trials to McCarthyism. Abigail’s intentions regarding John Proctor are nothing if not ironic, you can see this perfectly in which Abigail acted out in a complete façade so that she could be...
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...In Salem, Massachusetts a trail took place , a trial of that Sarah Good. Sarah Good was one of the first women to be accused of witch craft, who was found guilty and later hanged. Sarah Good did not get a fair trial, she was found guilty before she even knew what she was accused of. Through the trail she was asked a series of questions that were dismissed as soon as words came out of her mouth, her answers made no difference there was no way her life could be saved; by here or anybody else. The only so called evidence they had against her was her muttering under hear breath, to which she repeatedly says she was saying a commandment from Psalms. She then repeats the commandment but they do not put it in her trial script, as if to make her appear unable to speak of God or to even say his Holy name. The examiners fails to examine the accusers, the young girls, because it would have been a waist of time. They...
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...During the 1940’s through the 1950’s America was overwhelmed with concerns about the threat of communism growing in Easter Europe and China (Goss 20). The anti-Communist McCarthy hearings of the 1950’s and the witchcraft trails of 1692 both were known for accusing and imprisoning people with little proof. This is shown in Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible. He was able to capture the panic and simple madness of many Americans in a symbolic way. McCarthyism is very similar in the way that Joe McCarthy accused Americans of being communist and in The Crucible the people were being accused of being witches. Joe McCarthy, born on a farm to Irish-American Roman Catholic parents, was a relatively unknown U.S. senator from Wisconsin. He was the youngest member of the new senate and his voting record was conservative, even though he didn’t follow the Republican Party line (Appleton Public Library, pars 2). He later became a chairman of the committee on government operations. With that he became the leading spokesman of the post war anti-Communist Crusade in 1950 to 1954 (Klingaman 253). McCarthyism was a search, or “witch hunt”, led by Senator Joe McCarthy, for Communists in the 1950’s United States Government. McCarthy continued to make accusations of communist infiltration of the U.S. government, though he had failed to provide evidence. On December 2, 1954 the full senate, by vote of 67-22 passed a resolution, condemning McCarthy for abusing his power as senator. He remained as...
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...1. Intro The Salem witch trails was a very scary and confusing time in early American history. It all started from people spreading rumors about witches that scared civilians in Salem. These rumors costed hundreds of people's lives just because the accused people lied to save their life but put others lives in danger. A time in history that is compared to the Salem witch trails is the red scare where the same incident happened but innocent civilians were accused of being Russian spy's because the United States was scared of communism at the time. Henry Popkin's article showed this relationship between the two famous events in American history that changed America forever. 2. Body "The Crucible" by Arthur Miller was very interesting,...
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...In Arthur Millers, The Crucible, the Salem witch trails occurred. In Salem, while the Salem witch trials were occurring, the citizens tell many lies. This is one thing that led to the mass hysteria that defined the Salem witch trials. It also led to many conflicts between the characters in this book. This is because in the eyes of the puritans anyone who was involved in “witchcraft” was against the church and thought to be communicating with Satan and deserved death. One of the conflicts that occurred in The Crucible was between John Proctor and himself. Because lying is a sin and in turn causes negative effects, John Proctor is forced to face the reality and the consequences of his deceitfulness. In the play The Crucible, John Proctor, the main character, endures multiple inner conflicts. He believes his affair with Abigail Williams, another citizen of Salem, has permanently damaged him and his worthiness in the eyes of God. After scolding Elizabeth Proctor, his wife, for continuing to be suspicious of his actions with Abigail and not giving him forgiveness, Elizabeth expresses that she does not judge him, but that it is, “The magistrate sitting in [his] heart that judges [him].” Lying is a recurring theme in The Crucible and Proctor’s actions with the affair is an example of this....
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...The Crucible: Salem Witch Trails Have you ever been responsible for the fate of dozens of innocent lives. In the play The Crucible by Arthur Miller where young girls play in the woods and are accused of witchcraft but only to lie and get others killed for their wrong doing. The play has three characters that are responsible for the trials in Salem, Abigail, Samuel Parris and Judge Danforth because of Abigail telling about others, Danforth wouldn’t come to believe what the people were saying who were right and hearing the ones that are wrong, lately Parris would lie only to keep his lying niece safe. Abigail is a seventeen year old niece of Parris and is one of the three people responsible because of the way she told lies about the people in Salem. ''Sometimes I wake and find myself standing in the doorway and not a stitch on my body. I always hear her laughing in my sleep. I hear her singing her Barbados songs and tempting me with-'' (Miller 483)This quote shows how Abigail would make up lies about what others would do to her like Tituba singing and being in her dreams. Which would lead Tituba getting in trouble and accused of witch craft. Parris is the minister of Salem, however he is very greedy which would lead him to getting the lives of the citizens in Salem, killed because he would care about his own niece and just to...
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...of the puritan society. As the governor of Massachusetts during the Salem witch trials, Judge Danforth was called, along with Judge Hawthorne, to deal justice and deal with the situation. Throughout the play he is made out to be incredibly precise and scrupulous with everything he does. Due to a perhaps pompous position of power, his attitude and demeanor come across as very stubborn. Nearing the end of the play, his mindset that any wrongdoing is punishable becomes applicable to him, and he is unwilling to consider the possibility he might have made a grave mistake. Almost ironically however, the real-life Thomas Danforth is much the opposite. Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible to criticize the McCarthy hearings and the hysteria surrounding them and he used the Salem witch trails to do so; as he saw many parallels between the two. To do this, Miller portrays Thomas Danforth, who, in real life, did not even sit on the Court of Oyer and Terminer,(Linder 1) (A group dedicated to the prosecution to those accused witches) is a bitter, scrupulous, controlling old man set on keeping order, or, what he believes to be order. The McCarthy hearings were quite harsh and Miller needed a reciprocated leadership shown in the Crucible. (Lorcher 1) To do this, Miller bent the more level headed, genuine Thomas Danforth and transformed him into the domineering Judge we know in the crucible. While the McCarthy era and witch trails follow each other closely, they are not a perfect mesh. To add onto...
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