Causes Of The Salem Witch Trials

It all began in 1692, in Salem, Massachusetts, a Puritan town. Ironically, this supposed religious town, put 20 people to death for witchcraft. The invisible crime had made itself prevalent in the town through two girls, Betty Parris, age nine, and her 11 year old cousin Abigail Williams. These two girls, in order to escape punishment for witchcraft, accused two local white women and the slave Tituba (What Caused the Salem Witch Trial Hysteria of 1692?, Background Essay). It was this first accusation, that set forth the next turn of events. From here, the number of accusers grew. Suddenly, everyone’s neighbors became witches and the jails began to overflow. A special court was built to hold trials, however, the judicial system was biased along with the rest of the town. They allowed their set religious beliefs interfere with logical reasoning and evidence. Hence, the bias. The court proved all for not though, when it ordered a mass hanging on September 22, ending the witchcraft epidemic in Salem. To this day, historians still don’t fully understand what caused the hysteria in Salem. Thus, it could only be theorized the causes of such an event. Taking a gander at probability, the Salem Witch Trials of 1692 were likely rooted in scapegoating, greed, and bias.

I am writing this report today to explain the major reasons behind the horrific witchcraft trials that took place in Salem, Massachusetts in the years 1692 and 1693. For years this event has been ignored. However, after analyzing the evidence in this case, I have some startling news to share. First, I will share with you the various theories that make the most sense. Then I will explain what I believe caused the Salem community to respond in such a cruel and violent way.

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.

The number of different interpretations of the Salem Witch Trials illustrates that historiography is ever changing. The historians, Hale, Starkey, Upham, Boyer and Nissenbaum, Caporal, Norton and Mattosian have all been fascinated by the trials in one way or another because they have all attempted to prove or disprove certain elements about the trials. By analysing their augments about the causes of the Salem Witch Crisis, it is evident that this historical event can be examined from a range of different perspectives and interpreted in a range of

Puritans settled in the Massachusetts town of Salem in 1630, with their leader John Winthrop. Winthrop claimed that Salem would be “As a City Upon a Hill,” meaning that the Puritans coming to the New World would set a religious and civilized example among other colonies. However, this wasn’t the case. The Salem Witch Trials were a series of accusations and persecutions due to what was thought to be witchcraft among Salem townspeople. King Philip’s War played a role in the trials. It caused regional mass hysteria which lead to the accusing of witches in Salem. Samuel Parris was the local preacher of Salem and in 1691 he started preaching about the devil and focused more on hell instead of more positive things which also played a role in the crafting of the witch trials. Rich versus poor feuds, the desire to feel around and inspect women, and easily being able to have someone punished by accusing them of being a witch, fueled and motivated the Witch Trials of Salem in 1692.

The view that religious beliefs were behind the Salem Witch Trials of 1692 is predominantly incorrect. While the Puritan culture’s strong Christian beliefs did dictate the behaviour of New England society, for the authorities that instigated the Witch Trials, religion was a mere justification for their actions that allowed them to gain support by instilling in the masses the fear of a higher power. Their true motives lay in the political and social issues of the time, with Salem Town’s division due to two disputing families, the ever-present fear of smallpox, and the male population’s immense opposition to female independence and sexuality. Thus, while society had strong religious beliefs, they were merely a pretext for the political and social factors of family conflict, disease, and fear of women that were the true bases for the accusations dealt in 1692.

In 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts, hysteria broke out throughout the town in an event that later became known as the Salem Witch Trials. They were the largest account of witch hangings ever in America, as 20 women and men were put to death for being accused of practicing witchcraft. Historians have been debating about how these trials were caused. The frenzy in Salem happened because at first, young girls were afraid of punishment and wanted to avoid it so they blamed older women and accused them of being witches. These accusations began to spiral out of control when the religion of the town supported the allegations, which causes paranoia and panic to spread throughout Salem, which blinded the townspeople from clues revealing that the

Since there never was a spurned lover stirring things up in Salem Village, and there is no evidence from the time that Tituba practiced Caribbean black magic, yet these trials and executions actually still took place, how can you explain why they occurred?

The Salem Witch Trials of 1692 were a series of events that changed the lives of many Puritans forever. Myriads of innocent people were scapegoated, convicted and even executed of witchcraft. It is hard to believe that this absurdity really occurred, and many tried to locate the reasons that led to the evolution of this crisis. While some turned to economic patterns to explain the hysteria, the people’s belief in the Bible and eagerness to conform to slander contributed most to the progression of the Witch Trials.

As the somber wind blew, the victims of injustice swayed eternally from the tree of insanity. New England was supposed to be a land of opportunity for the Puritans. During the summer of 1692, Salem Village proved to be a wretched example of this; twenty people were falsely accused of witchcraft and were accordingly jailed and executed. Salem’s infamy has bewildered many, for nobody knows in entirety what caused the hysteria of the Salem Witch Trials of 1692. The answers as to how the trials came to be are still shrouded in an ever-growing cloak. Although most hypotheses as to what happened have yet to be confirmed, there are three major factors that may have played a part in this disaster:

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

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.

"You 're a liar! I 'm no more a witch than you are a wizard! If you take my life away, God will give you blood to drink!" (Sarah Good). To this day, there is still so much speculation on what was the actual cause of the hysteria that was the Salem Witch Trials. Were any of the women accused, like Sarah Good, actually practicing witchcraft? Or were the accusations placed on these women placed out of spite or jealousy? What caused these young women to have these strange symptoms in the first place? There are many theories to the cause of the chaos that occurred in Salem. The goal of this paper is to identify the different factors that played into the start of the trials and to discuss what went on in the trials themselves. This paper will explore these theories and come to a conclusion on what caused Salem to go into such a frenzy as it did in this time.

The Salem Witch trials are an infamous moment in American history , portraying old American thought on society and religious belief. Throughout the years, scholars have adopted theories to explain one of America’s greatest mysteries. In light of such theories, it becomes apparent that there is no magic to explain the decisions that the people of Salem made, but was rather fueled by jealousy of economic success and religious misguidance.

Many people have heard of the Salem Witch Trials and also many people have not. “The Salem Witch Trials occurred in colonial Massachusetts between 1692 and 1693.” Blumberg, Jess. Some people say the Witch Trials occurred because of a fungus the people did not know about, and the fungus was consumed by them. Yet, some people believe that the people in the town just had gone completely insane. To an extent the fungus accusation was a big possibility, but it’s a possibility to an even bigger extent that many of people were hung or executed for a crime they did not commit. Living in Salem at this time was like living in a warzone, everybody was against everybody just to keep themselves safe and that is just how it was for the people