...Salem Witch Trials In 1691 Salem, Massachusetts was like any other typical Puritan populated town. The Puritans were followers of the Church of England and put God above everything. But, in January of 1692 two girls starting experiencing uncontrollable screaming, violent contortions and fell ill. A local doctor diagnosed them with bewitchment. Then in late February of 1692 arrest warrants were issued for three girls. A Caribbean slave named Tituba, another being a homeless beggar named Sarah Good and last being a poor elderly woman named Sarah Osborn. They were accused of bewitching the afflicted girls. The three woman were brought before the local magistrates and interrogated for several days, starting on March 1, 1692. Osborne claimed...
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...In 1692 a terrible event happened in Salem that might have just been a misunderstanding. In 1692 a few girls decided to disobey the strict orders in Salem, in the middle of the night and in the middle of the woods they danced and sung like no tomorrow. That's how the whole misunderstanding started. Once the story got out that there might be witches among the little town, disaster struck. There were all sorts of trials, accuses and denials about who were the real witches. 25 people were accused and hung, more than half of them innocent. The town was in chaos already before the girls had to stir up more trouble. The town had no governor and the towns people were in a really hard time. All the children had to live with other family's because people couldn't afford anything. The town had made their church and religion very strict. Everything out of church schedule was considered a sinful distraction. If you didn't believe in God, then you were accused of worshiping the devil. The girls hated the strict rules, they were always punished for small acts and breaking adult code....
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...Salem Revisited In 1692, the town of Salem Massachusetts turned on each other. They accused their own neighbors of witchcraft. Between June and September of 1692, nineteen people were unjustly executed by hanging, one crushed to death by stones, and many more incarcerated after trials had found them guilty of acts of sorcery. The trials have been researched and looked at many different ways for years. Scholars and students alike continue to be intrigued by the trials and continue to seek answers for how a small town could do this to itself. Every scholarly discipline contributes to what could be the possible answer from ergot poisoning to the psycho-social factor among Africans and American Indians. The road that leads to Salem comes from Europe where witch-hunts rose and fell. The reasons behind the trials themselves are complex. While economics, socioeconomic class issues, tainted food supply, property disputes, and congregational feuds are all listed as causes, the clergy and its congregation are what fueled the accusations and thereby deaths of many town citizens. Witchcraft and sorcery have long attracted the attention of historians and other scholars with the spotlight aimed at 14th-17th century Europe. During the 14th-17th centuries, thousands were executed but to try to be a number to it would be futile. There have been those who have been able to calculate those executed for witchcraft in small towns but the sheer number of countries a part of the craze makes it...
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...In Salem Village in 1692, Betty Parris, age 9, and her cousin Abigail Williams, age 11, the daughter and niece (respectively) of the Reverend Samuel Parris, began to have fits described as "beyond the power of Epileptic Fits or natural disease to effect" by John Hale, minister in nearby Beverly.[13] The girls screamed, threw things about the room, uttered strange sounds, crawled under furniture, and contorted themselves into peculiar positions, according to the eyewitness account of Rev. Deodat Lawson, a former minister in the town. The girls complained of being pinched and pricked with pins. A doctor, historically assumed to be William Griggs, could find no physical evidence of any ailment. Other young women in the village began to exhibit similar behaviors. When Lawson preached in the Salem Village meetinghouse, he was interrupted several times by outbursts of the afflicted.[14] The first three people accused and arrested for allegedly afflicting Betty Parris, Abigail Williams, 12-year-old Ann Putnam, Jr., and Elizabeth Hubbard were Sarah Good, Sarah Osborne, and Tituba.[15] Sarah Good was homeless and known to beg for food or shelter from neighbors. Sarah Osborne had sex with her indentured servant and rarely attended church meetings. Tituba, as a slave of a different ethnicity than the Puritans, was an obvious target for accusations. All of these outcast women fit the description of the "usual suspects" for witchcraft accusations, and no one stood up for them. These women...
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...shaped the world as we know it today. For as long as history goes back, fear has been a key aspect of every civilization. Governments have brainwashed their people in order to scare them into thinking that what they are doing is the only thing to do. During the 1600’s, the Salem witch trials began, striking fear in the eyes of all the people living there. Civilians were forced behind bars if they did not attend church regularly, and the scare of witches caused many to be hanged for all to see. These acts were recounted in a book called “The Crucible” by Arthur Miller. The things that happened in Salem were not the only time fear has ruined lives, for fear is still a part of society...
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...The well-know Salem witch trials began when a group of girls were diagnosed with bewitchment after showing symptoms of uncontrollable outbursts of screaming and contortions. These symptoms spread to other young girls in the community and most likely were caused by other reasons that could have included epilepsy, child abuse, mental illness or even a disease caused by eating rye bread infected with fungus. Nevertheless, the bewitchment diagnosis stuck. Some of the young girls claimed to be possessed by the devil and a few of them accused certain women in the community of being witches. The people of Salem, who already lived in fear from the real world dangers such as political instability, small pox and Indian massacres, were terrified of this evil. The hysteria this caused spread throughout colonial Massachussets. The Puritans were...
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...Williams of the minister of salem village randomly started having screaming and violent outbursts. The doctor diagnosed them with being controlled by witches. After they have been diagnosed other females started mimicking the same symptoms that the two girls had. The young girls accused a caribbean slave, Tituba, and other women of using witch spells on them. Years latter it was revealed they were lying, and Abigail Williams were the mastermind behind the lies of the young girls being bewitched. The people Abigail Williams accused of being witches were brought to the magistrates Jonathan Corwin and John Hathorne and being questioned while the teens who lied about them being...
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...THE BEGINNING AND END OF THE SALEM WITCH TRIALSIntroductionThe Salem witch trials have been drawing attention of researchers and historians for manycenturies due to the unexplained nature of the events and their continuance. From the 17thcenturyuntil now scientists present and explore different possible reasons which caused the witch hysteriain Salem and brought harm to many people.The Salem witch trials were a series of prosecutions which began in Salem town, stateMassachussetts, in 1692, and the consequences of the trials lasted till 1697. In 1692, two little girlsstarted to demonstrate weird and frightening behavior including convulsions and hallucinations.Very quickly several other girls and some adults developed the same symptoms, and...
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...Horrifying and sad, the witch trials of Salem, Massachusetts, still haunt the little town of Salem to this day. Many accusations were thrown around Salem during the time period of 1692 and sadly many people were killed without proper evidence. Superstitions and fear led the trials in Salem instead of justice, causing the downfall of Salem. The witch trials of Salem, Massachusetts have continued to enchant the state as a time of paranoia and injustice; without this conflict, however, superstition and the lack of decent trials would still continue to endure in not only Massachusetts but also the country as a whole. A lot of things occurred before the Salem Witch Trials that contributed to this unfortunate event. Superstitions and the belief in the supernatural arose and spread out in colonial New England (Salem Witch). Belief in the Supernatural involved the belief in the evil doings of the devil. These superstitions led to a witch craze that occurred through Europe to start up in America especially in Salem, Massachusetts (Blumberg). The superstitions that had already been is Salem only helped to fuel this witch craze. Rivalries that had existed in Salem did not help to stop the craze; in fact, these rivalries only increased the witch craze making it a strong part in Salem life. The Puritan community of Salem Village included a rivalry between what was then called Salem Town known as Salem today (Blumberg). The strain on Salem’s resources also aggravated the existing rivalries...
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...The use of the spectral evidence themselves was the central problem in the trials. Apparitions of demons were invisible to other people in the same room and only the afflicted girls could see the shapes, which was one of the problem with spectral evidence. The possibility that Satan could appear in the shape of an innocent person was another concern. Confessions were vigorously sought to overcome these obstacles. One thing I noticed in the Salem witch trials is that the defendants who confessed were generally not hanged, and those who adamantly maintained their innocence were. In my opinion. I think that the afflicted girls are just outright frauds and liars. Maybe there were just victim of disease, or looking for excitement, or they were sincere...
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...Tituba was one of the first women to being accuse of witchcraft in Salem Village , Massachusetts . Tituba was knowledgeable of witchcraft and since the people in that town knew of that, she was accused of the crime. The so-called crime that Tituba committed caused her long-suffering and heartache. However, Tituba was a very strong woman and she made it through her tough times. Although Tituba had bad experiences, she still found love for her husband. Sold off to a slaveholder Tituba and her newfound husband went to live in Massachusetts with their owner. Tituba was then in a new life style. She was being a female love slave, for her master. It seems as if Tituba was having mixed emotions and feelings even upon her life decisions. An old woman whom Tituba became very comfortable with adapted Tituba. While staying with the older woman Tituba became very educated about herbs and the healing process. Tituba accuse of using the herbs and healing knowledge in a way to harm and hurt the children within the home. Therefore, the knowledge that Tituba gained turned out to hurt her more than help. It appeared that since Tituba displayed her knowledge when Minister Samuel Parris It was very clear that the slave master, Minister Samuel Parris had mixed emotions about Tituba. He was very well a parent that believed everything his daughter said. He turned out to be like every other slave master. He was inconsiderate and showed no sympathy when Tituba needed him most...
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...hierarchy. The children making the accusations, under many accounts were, seeking attention. The children of Salem needed an excuse in order to receive much wanted attention. A local doctor diagnosed the girls with “bewitchment” after medical analysis resulted inconclusively. The kids’ acting out may have been subject to lack of importance in the colonial society. Colonial children were traditionally overlooked in those days and were allowed to do as they pleased after their daily chores were completed. This lack of...
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...During the Salem Witch trials many disastrous events occurred. The “mass hysteria” of the people during those times can be logically explained scientifically. One may be a symptoms may be “ergot” which causes hallucinations. Another, is that the girls just simply wanted attention. Last, is that the stories they read could have influenced the girls to believe in something that isn’t true. Every actions can be explain logically and factual. The events in Salem Witch Trial may be unnatural and weird. It can be explain from what everyone ate. According to Berlureau (Source A) and Caporael (Source E), “ergot” was common in Salem Town. Ergot was a wheat which is also a grain that can be made into many common delicacy of sandwiches, bread, or more food which everyone in town ate. It also can causes hallucinations which can make the residents of Salem Village to believe and see objects differently. The girls may have believed that the “spirits” may have been controlling their actions and seeing the “spirits” due to the consumption of the “ergot”. Not everything is what it seems to be. According to Berlureau (Source A), one of the reasons of the ‘hysteria” is that the girls simply wanted attention and were having fun. Elizabeths and...
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...While there are many people to blame for the salem witch trials, Judge Danforth, Tituba, and Abigail Williams are the most guilty for causing the trials. Judge Danforth was one person to blame for what happened in Salem. He was the main judge for deciding if the people are guilty of witchery. Danforth had a huge influence on the townspeople he put them on trial and forced them to admit the worshipping of Satan when they were innocent. Danforth is guilty of believing complete lies, pressuring people into false confessions and ignoring Rev Hale. Had he only accounted for the lies and listened to other people then the innocent executions might have never happened. Tituba was another person to blame for what happened in Salem. She was the lead...
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...In The Crucible, the witch trials were a major point of focus. There are numerous acts that needed to happen to lead to the witch trials and the ending of the novel. Girls in Salem had countless expectations, including the expectation to be perfect children. They were trained, even as children, to act like mature adults. The problem is that when a child is forced to act like an adult at such a young age, but aren’t treated as adults, they may feel ignored. When a child is ignored, they do irrational things to get attention, and occasionally, these things can get people hurt. The first step in these witch trial was the unjustifiable and defiant acts. One of the girls had an affair with a man, which meant rebelling against the entire...
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