Causes Of The Salem Witch Trials

The events which took place in Salem in 1692 could be described as awful and unjust. 19 innocent people were hanged, another person pressed to death and 4 others died in jail. Witches or Wizards are what they called these people, people who made pacts with the devil. The idea of witches provoked fear into the puritan fundamentalist society. Further more, two young girls, Betty Parris and Abigail Williams, were said to have been acting strangely.

During the 17th century, people were hung even if the did not deserve it. The trials started when little girls acted like they had been bewitched. The trials took place on a famous site called Salem Village, Massachusetts in the summer of 1692, killing more than 20 people. Salem’s infamy has bewildered many, for nobody truly knows, entirely, what caused the hysteria of the Salem Witch Trials of 1692. Clearly, there were a few possible causes of the hysteria; however, these three stand out as the main causes envious, young, single woman; sexism; and lying little girls.

(Source 2, Boyer) This demonstrates the animosity between the two families and their differing views of Salem’s future whether it’d be an old-timey farming community or a bustling, politically involved community. This then evolved into very assumptious opinions that the other side were apparent witches that would take the town into the ground if they had gotten what they wanted, which was similar to the first theory of the psyche of the girls and how everyone assumed and associated them with witches and

Lying by the accusers and the belief in lies by adults of Salem due to ongoing class and land struggles were all prevalent causes of the 1692 Salem Witch Trial hysteria. The young female accusers possibly due to a lack of power under the older married women were motivated to accused those older women of witchcraft. Not only did the girls lie in their accusations, they were also given power to continue doing so by the belief of Salem’s adults. This belief was backed by the struggles of the west and the want for better land in the east where the majority of the accused lived. The people of Salem had their own wants for their actions causing accusations that were random in nature due to the absence of actual proof of witchcraft. These motivations caused a hysteria on both sides from fear of being accused and others succumbing to the stress and possession of

In Salem Village, many of the teenagers sought a way to entertain them. According to Sutter, it has been suggested that a com- bination of boredom, financial stress, and experimenting with witchcraft led to the provocation for certain citizens of salem to be accused of being witches (2007). Linder shows that the majority of the accused were considered well off, while the accusers were less fortunate and stood to gain property from the convictions of those accused of being witches (2007). According to Sutter, many of the accused supported Minister George Burroughs while families of the accusers supported Minister Samuel Parris (2007). With so many factors effecting it’s society, Salem was on the edge of the tipping point between calm and hysteria. It would only take one person or action that contra- dicted the status quo of Salem to put the population into a state of hysteria-and when this hysteria hits society, individuals of the population are forced to choose a side. The accusations are an example of how accusations can destroy the lives of many

The hysteria of the Salem Witch Trials commenced in the spring of 1692 when, the daughter of Reverend Parris, Elizabeth Parris, the niece of Reverend Parris, Abigail Williams and Ann Putnam a girl who associated herself with Elizabeth and Abigail and began to act strange and have bizarre fits. This was nowhere near ordinary to the villagers and the word began to spread through the village. After a doctor visited the girls to see the reasons for their strange attitudes, he concluded that the reason behind all of it was due to something unnatural. The doctor determined that the girls were being bewitched by someone. Soon after recovery the girls began to blame women of witchcraft causing an uproar in the village (1).

Have you ever been wrongly accused of something and get in trouble for it? Have you ever wrongly accused somebody because you were mad at them? This is what occurred in Salem Village, Massachusetts during 1692. These erroneous accusations, according to Document A, led to the hanging of 19 people, and the crushing of another. But what caused the accusations? According to An Unsolved Crime: The Salem Witch Trials, the hardships the villagers endured, teenage boredom, and the Puritans strict religion were the causes of the Salem Witch Trial Hysteria. .

In 1692, in the small village of Salem, Massachusetts, 20 people were hanged for offenses they did not commit. But what was the charge against the 20? The answer would be witchcraft. The charges deeply affected the small community. Neighbor turned on neighbor. Every act that a person made would be carefully scrutinized, dissected, and repeated to others. This would lead to the question. What caused the Salem Witch Trial Hysteria of 1692? The 3 main factors that would cause widespread panic in the town of Salem were gender, marital status, and age, actors and attention seekers, and neighbor conflicts within the village of Salem.

What caused the Salem Witch Trials? Why was everyone so onto it, and wanting to kill someone because they do not believe in the religion Salem, Massachusetts wants a “Witch” to believe in just ‘Christianity,’ even though the villagers wanted to set their own rules, and believe in whatever they can. The Puritans had a governor in which the town of Plymouth had no Charter, nor laws to be enforced. But why come to this, why focus on Witchcraft, when you have other things to pay attention on - Smallpox, and being under attack with the French, and Native American People.

The time of the Salem Witch Hunt was a confusing, fast paced experience for all involved. For the accused, it was rife with drama, loss of property, and conflict between their deeply held religious beliefs and the doubts that they may truly be practicing witchcraft. The accusers held more power than they had ever had before ; many were young women and girls limited by the patriarchal Puritan society in which they dwelled. The elaborate presentations of the women and girls afflictions’ shook the small village to the core. Many hypotheses exist to explain what may have happened, including those of: Marion L. Starkey, Carol F. Karlsen, Mary Beth Norton, Paul Boyer, and Stephen Nissenbaum. Although each

To begin, one cause of the Salem witch trial hysteria was envious, young women. One piece of textual evidence that supports this cause is out of the 34 accusers, 67% of them were single females. Married women were the most targeted group for accusations of witchcraft (doc B). This evidence helps to explain the hysteria because most of the single women were jealous of the lifestyle others were living. Married women showed status in the community. They had security, a family, and money. These things would cause younger single girls to become envious of married women. Furthermore, another piece of textual evidence is the westside of Salem village were the poor people the accusers. On the eastside of Salem village were the wealthy the accused (doc E). This evidence helps to explain the hysteria because the poor single women were jealous of what the wealthy married women had. More married women were accused by young single women. 96% of accusers lived on the west side of Salem

In the 1690s “The “afflicted” girls [whom] made the accusations were some of the most powerless members of their society” (“Part II: The Witches of Salem”). Salem Witch Trials quickly became famous and researchers began exploring the multiple possibilities behind the trials. Although many theories were considered, none could explain why so many were accused and hanged.

The Salem Witch Trials of 1692 were considered to be a dark and difficult time in American history. More than 200 people were accused of practicing witchcraft and 19 were killed during the time of the trials.The Salem Witch Trials were a series of witchcraft cases brought before local magistrates in the Massachusetts Bay colony in the 17th century. The Salem Witch Trials officially began in February of 1692, when girls accused the first three victims, Tituba, Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne, of witchcraft and ended in May of 1693, when the remaining victims were released from jail.

In the year (1692) witch trials held the Salem area hostage people were terrified. People of

“I am no witch more than you are a wizard!” This quote from Sarah Good is an eerie reminder of The Salem Witch Trial Hysteria. In the summer of 1692, the tiny town of Salem Massachusettes suffered a series of mass hangings. The people being hanged were accused witches. In the 17th century being a witch was a serious crime, in fact, in the Bible, it said:“Though shalt do not suffer a witch to live!” What caused The Salem Witch Trial Hysteria of 1692?I have determined the three main causes of the hysteria the first was the age, gender, and marital status shown in document B. In document C & D the text and dialog depicted the acting involved in the hysteria and lastly, town division was indicated in document E.