...The year of 1962 was a major turning point in history in Salem Village, Massachusetts. The trials lasted for about one year. Nineteen people died as a result of the trials and more than a hundred people were found at fault by performing the Prince of Darkness’ sorcery. This paper will debate the events leading up, the events that took place throughout the trials, and the people who suffered because of this. The Salem witch trials began in the spring of 1692. A group of youthful girls in Salem Village, Massachusetts claimed that the demon possessed them and “accused local women of the Devil’s magic” (Salem Witch Trials - Facts & Summary - HISTORY.com, 2011). The court announced Bridget Bishop of being a sorceress and sent her to the gallows on June tenth....
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...fifty witches were hung, for performing acts of sorcery, without a fair trial (History staff). Those who were killed includes men, women, and unfortunately children. Salem, a colony located in Massachusetts, was where many innocent people were killed for being thought of using witchcraft. Salem was not the only one killing people for witchcraft, before Salem hundreds of women and men were burned at the stake in Europe and neighboring countries. The Salem Witch trials has proven that words can be stronger when fear is involved, the enforcement of the constitution is crucial, and how learning to communicate with the person at trial it more beneficial than staying close minded. When fear is a factor between life or death it makes things very bias. 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts a witch, Tituba an Indian slave, was accused of...
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...Puritanism: Religious Peace and Violence By Cameron Devereux Douglas Honors College 261 Geraldine O'Mahony October 19, 2015 In this paper I will discuss the religious acts, both violent and peaceful, of the Puritans from the 1600s. Religion as referred to in this paper can be defined as a community of members worshipping or practicing common goals based off of common beliefs. Violence will be discussed as a term of destruction of order and conflict that can lead to intentional damage and/or harm of people and their environments. Readers will understand the Puritans motives in their acts as well as how they thought violent acts would bring them peace. Peace is defined as harmonious with the absence of violence/pain, however universally impossible, peace is equality and satisfaction with all people and all environments. This paper will also focus on the justifications that the Puritans had for their doings. Puritanism began in England in the 17th century and had the intentions of splitting from the Catholic Church and introduce reforms in a new protestant religion. Small colonies were able to form on the east coast of Massachusetts and eventually grow their population. (Hughes) Generally the Puritans were very disliked. This could have been because people didn't understand their justification for separating or people didn't agree with their beliefs and rules. Puritans were very devoted and faithful to God and any acts against God should not go unpunished...
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...A Representation of the Accused Witches of Salem The Salem Witch Trials were a series of executions that took place in Salem, Massachusetts during the years 1692-1693. These executions took place due to a large number of people in Salem being accused of witchcraft. The amount of tried witches primarily consisted of women, although men were also accused. This paper argues that a specific pattern can be found with regards to how the women accused of witchcraft were viewed in their society. In particular, women who stood out in a negative manner were often the victims of public accusations, especially those represented as religious heretics, deviant members in society, and social outcasts. In order to interpret the Salem Witch Trials, one must...
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...Witch-Hunts, Then and Now Witch-Hunts, Then and Now, is the topic I have chosen for my research paper, which will define similarities and differences between the “Salem Witch Trials” and “The Second Red Scare”. The actions that took place during both events played on the fears of citizens to further the personal, political and social agendas of those individuals that conducted the trials. These two events are just two examples of how history repeated itself, where hysteria of the masses has been used as justification to trample on the basic rights that we, as humans, have come to believe as essential to our lives. I chose this research project because the effect of the McCarthy era tactics that infringed on the Constitutional rights of many Americans can be seen today in the policies and actions implemented since September 11, 2001. As an American, I am disturbed to see that we as a people and our government appear not to have learned from our past. During the eras of the Salem Witch Trials and that of McCarthyism, there existed a fear that the values of each society were being threatened from both internal and external entities. During the Court of Oyer and Terminer, influential members of the Salem community used the trials to punish ministers with in the colony who were seen as tolerant to other religions. There was a movement within the colony to relax the strict customs of the Puritans, but the community leaders wanted to maintain a tight control on their spiritual beliefs...
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...Tragic Times In Salem Salem Witch Trials The Salem Witch Trials was a horrific event that occurred in colonial Massachusetts between the years 1692 and 1693. More than 200 people were accused of practicing witchcraft and 20 ended up being executed. Some researchers believe that there may have been other current events that were affecting the trials during the same time period. Throughout this research paper I will explain the Salem Witch Trials and show the research I have done in terms of the events that may have a connection to the event, along with other factors that may have influenced the Salem Witch Trials. In the late 16 hundreds in colonial North America, the supernatural was highly considered to be a part of everyday life. Many people were strong believers that Satan was present and active on Earth. These beliefs were first formed in Europe during the fifteenth century and later spread throughout North America. Peasants were known for often using a particular kind of witchcraft to help enhance their crops, and to benefit farming and agriculture. Over time, the idea of witchcraft transformed into a very evil act. It started to became associated with demons and evil spirits. From 1560 to 1670, witchcraft persecutions became common as superstitions became associated with the devil. Through out the colonies, the most common cause for a witch hunt was caused by young girls having a mysterious screaming fit; they would often be diagnosed as having been bewitched...
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...Salem witch trials This research paper is to show the events of the Salem witch trail of 1692 and how it affected American literature. Authors who were inspired to tell the story have written multiple books. The authors wrote about how the resident turned on each other to get what they wanted, and the strict supersticous religious practice they followed. And to tell the personal conflicts that had existed throughout the community. The Salem witch trail began in February 1692 due to a group of teenage girls playing fortune-telling game to see whom their future husband would be. They were caught in the act of fortunetelling game witch is not acceptable in there puritan society. After these event Betty Parris, Abigail Williams, Ann Putnam Jr, Mary Walcott and Mercy Lewis, Elizabeth Hubbard, Susannah Sheldon, Mary Warren and Elizabeth Booth started to show symptoms. The symptom the girls started to experience fits, hiding under furniture, uncontrollable pain and experiencing fever. In February Samuel Parris called for doctor to come and check if there was anything medically wrong with the girls. The doctor was unable to find any problems with the girls. The doctor later suggested that The girls might be bewitched. The girls later began to name people who they believed bewitched them. They named the social outcast of Salem. They accused three women, the three women they accused were Sarah Good, Sarah Osborn and a slave named Tituba. These women were seen as easy target to...
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...There are many allegations on how the Salem Witch Trials started. Of course, there will never be a definite answer, but there is a theory that is very convincing. Ergot poisoning. A fungus that infects rye has a byproduct called ergotamine, which is related to Lysergic Acid Diethylamide, or LSD. Linnda Caporael, a psychology major at U.C. Santa Barbara, was told to choose a subject for a paper in her American History class. Her just seeing a production of “The Crucible” she began to write about the witch-hunt. "As I started researching," she remembered, "I had one of those 'ah-ha!' experiences." An author for one of her sources said he remained at a loss to explain the hallucinations of the villagers in Salem. "It was the word 'hallucinations' that made everything click," Caporael said....
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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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...GERARDO PEREZ-GARCIA 20120415 Y33-41-8925 DEP2000 REACTION PAPER WHAT IS PERCEPTION? Perception is our sensory experience of the world around us and involves both the recognition of environmental stimuli and actions in response to these stimuli. Through the perceptual process, we gain information about properties and elements of the environment that are critical to our survival. Perception not only creates our experience of the world around us; it allows us to act within our environment. Perception includes the five senses; touch, sight, taste smell and taste. It also includes what is known as proprioception, a set of senses involving the ability to detect changes in body positions and movements. It also involves the cognitive processes required to process information, such as recognizing the face of a friend or detecting a familiar scent. When it comes down to our understanding of the world it is ultimately the result of our sensual means of perception. In other terms, can we really trust the truth, or anything that we know of scientifically? What does it mean to know something is true and also why it is important to distinguish between what you know and do not or cannot know? It is very difficult to be able to believe everything you hear, unless you experience it for yourself. Let’s say that perception is like viewing through goggles. If the tint of the goggles is green, the world appears green; if it’s black the world too becomes black. You want to see poverty, you...
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...Response Paper #2 Chase Stadler The witch trials where a major period of darkness for the colonies and all who resided in them. Puritan colonies were extremely religious and based their life around god. The thought of witches being within their ranks drove them to mass hysteria. Major witch hunts started and people were unfairly tried for their crimes, resulting in most cases death. The Salem Witch Trials had many crucial cases that were detailed in The Wonders of the Invisible World, which has affected today's government branches in a multitude of ways. In the work The Wonders of the Invisible World Cotton Mather, the court's record keeper, would write down the various trails that were presented, the evidence ,and outcomes of them. One of the most famous cases he recorded was the case of Martha Carrier, a suspected witch. Martha was accused of bewitching people, cows, and committing crimes with her spectre. She proceeded to plead not guilty to these charges. The court called numerous witnesses that each gave their case against Martha. The biggest being her children, who accused her of being a witch and turning them into witches. The others accused her using spectral evidence, which is the crime of the person using their spectre to commit deeds. After hearing...
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...Thematic Questions 1. What is a crucible and how is it used? Justify Miller’s choice of title for his play. A crucible is a ceramic container that can withstand very high temperature and is used for metal, glass and pigment production as well as a number of modern laboratory processes. Miller’s choice of the title “The Crucible” is due to the same reason as the courtroom being referred to as a crucible: using the heat of questioning and scrutiny, they burned away all the impurities, i.e. lies and half-truths, to get the purified product the “truth”. 2. How do Hale’s preconceptions influence his interpretation of events? How does his interpretation change? What are the implications of his conversion? Hale’s preconceptions has influenced his interpretation of events in that he initially thought that he had the authority over the town due to his extensive knowledge of witchcraft. He expected to find witches, however his interpretation changes throughout the play as he realises that innocent townspeople are being falsely accused, such as John Proctor. The implications of his conversion are when he encourages the accused to confess, i.e. the good people to lie, even though he believes that he is doing the “Devil’s work”. 3. Proctor calls Hale “Pontius Pilate.” Explain the allusion. Do you agree or disagree? The allusion is that Pontius Pilate was the ruler in Bethlehem who ordered the crucifixion of Jesus Christ at the order of the Jewish leadership, despite the...
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...Crucible paper Throughout time and history man has always fear what differs from itself. Whether it be skin color, sexual orientation or religious beliefs; we’ve hunted that which is different from us. In today’s day we’d like to think we have grown pass these urges, but unfortunately we almost certainly do the same thing we did during the Salem witch trials in the 1600’s just minus the hangings (sometimes), and that’s what I’ll be discussing today by comparing events from the past 150 years to the crucible. But before we start here’s a quick over view of the crucible. The crucible is a play about a group of women who were practicing witch craft which is punishable by hanging because it is a sin. The got caught and to cover their tracks they lie on towns people they dislike claiming they are witches. The only way for the town’s people to avoid death is to lie which is also a sin, so they basically get charged with a sin and gave to sin for their life which challenges their beliefs. So to truly start this paper I would like to talk about the trials of the African American people. The African American people have been hunted since we gained are freedom in the 1860’s. As soon as we got are freedom the Caucasian people refused us basic living rights because we were different. If you were black and caught by the racist they lynched you, Lynching is when a person is hung from an object and for an alleged event, kind of like in the crucible they were different so they hung. Caucasian’s...
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...but in a different manner: it lives out colonial cultural anxieties of Irving’s present, as he seems to be concerned with constructing archetypes of folk and with placing folk culture in the new American literary landscape. Examining the two versions of the tale, then, provides a fascinating peek into the transformation of concerns and values in America from Irving’s nineteenth century landscape to Burton’s twentieth (on the verge of twenty-first) century. Burton makes several significant moves that modify the basics of Irving’s tale, frequently at the cost of the folk elements of Irving’s version. The frame narrative of Irving’s story—the tale, part of a series titled “The Sketch Book,” begins with the preface “Found among the papers of the Late Diedrich Knickerbocker—is completely done away with (Irving 41). What is more, the second narrator of the story, who is narrating to Knickerbocker “at the corporation meeting of the ancient city of the Manhattoes,” is also disposed of (Irving 61). There is no narrator at all in Burton’s film, and the action that...
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...Putting oneself on the line, and willingness to sacrifice oneself for the greater good of the community is an attribute borne by very few people in history. However, such people do exist - and they are the individuals that transform the world for the better, through their unfailing belief in goodness. In Arthur Miller’s, The Crucible, this elusive quality is displayed by John Proctor, and over two centuries later in 1955, we see it again in an African-American Civil Rights Activist, Rosa Parks. John Proctor is an honourable farmer from Massachusetts, USA, who after making the mistake of committing adultery with Abigail Williams, becomes caught up in the mass-hysteria of the Salem Witch Trials. Rosa Parks is a Coloured-Rights Activist from Alabama, USA, who’s defiance of American Segregation Laws features as an important landmark of the Civil Rights Movement in the US. Themes such as justice and community, found within the play The Crucible and Rosa Parks’ story are universal, and apply as much today as they did in 1955 and 1692. In The Crucible, a single, small accusation of witchcraft escalates into a full-blown witch hunt, in which dozens of innocent citizens are accused and persecuted on the basis of false charges. This opportunity for allegations becomes a way for people to express their grudges and upset towards others, to show them how they feel by muffling it with all the similar claims around the community. Similarly, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat once,...
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