Dbq Salem Witch Trial

Salem, Massachusetts became famously known for the witch trials that took place in the late 1600’s. For the men and women residing in Salem, Massachusetts it was a time in which they lived in fear of allegations and deceit. Twenty men and women lost their lives during what is known as the Salem Witchcraft Hysteria. Socioeconomic tensions within the community are to blame for the witchcraft hysteria in Salem, Massachusetts during the late 1600’s. Factors such as politics, religion, and social status all played a role in the deadly and devastating era.

In the 1600s, a group of Protestant Christians, known as Puritans, migrated to the New World to form a colony completely based on the Bible. Because the Puritans were fundamentalists, they believed everything said in the Bible was a true word of God, and thus, they believed everything in the Bible to be true. This included the Devil and witches. The Devil could possess a human’s body and turn them into a witch. During the 17th Century, witchcraft became a serious offense and lead to 24 deaths. The causes of these many deaths were deep religious beliefs, relations of the church and government, and bored girls striving for attention with the infliction of paranoia.

The Salem Witch Trials were a series of trials in the 1690s which accused society members of practicing witchcraft, they took place in Salem, Massachusets. What caused this mass hysteria to occur? Some contributing factors could include some socio-economic reasons, an overbearing Puritan society and the influential sense that witchcraft was taking place all over the world.

“THOU SHALT NOT SUFFER A WITCH TO LIVE.” (Document A, Exodus 22:18 KJV Bible) The Salem Witch Trial Hysteria started on June 10 and lasted until September 22, 1692. During this time 19 men and women were hanged for witchcraft, furthermore, even one man was pressed to death with stones just trying to get him to testify. The hysteria started with two very young girls, Betty Parris, age nine, and her eleven-year-old cousin Abigail Williams. (Stated in Background essay) There were at least three causes of the Salem witch trial hysteria. These reasons were the two young girls mentioned before, Ergotism, and Puritan beliefs.

In Rosalyn Schanzer book Witches! The Absolutely True Tale Of Disaster In Salem a story is told about a time when Salem, Massachusetts was flooded with witchcraft accusations. In 1692 Betty Parris and Abigail Williams started having mysterious fits. After a doctor examined the girls he diagnosed them with being bewitched! The people started a hunt for all witches in the new land. The first cause are the accusations, the second cause, the fits and the third cause is anger.

During the late 1600s, Salem, Massachusetts faced a period of witch trials due to panic stirring among the Puritans in the area. Because of these

A good friend of Samuel's, William Phips, appointed judges that would always side with him, thus allowing them to make a concrete vote (Source 2). This court, along with the afflicted girls, went on to accuse many other, until Cotton Mathers, a reverend, stepped in. Reverend Mathers ruled out that spectral evidence was not admittable, which held back the accusations in court (Source

What Caused the Salem witch trial hysteria of 1692? In Exodus 22:18 it states, “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.” In Salem, Massachusetts 1692, a very vile event happened in American History. This vile event involved 19 people hanged and 1 person pressed to death.

20 people were hanged for being accused for being a witch, in the period of three months. The people involved were the men and women in Salem ,but the women played a big role in the salem witch trial. Women were being accused of being a witch mainly women and the people accusing these women were mostly young girls. Over 20 people were hanged for being accused of being a witch but also for defending them. My opinion for what caused the Salem Witch Trial hysteria was that Jealous poor women accused rich old women of being witches to get their husbands.

For instance, in Document 3, a primary source of Mather, one of New England’s most intellectual minister's, own accounts, the following is recorded, “These evil spirits are all around… Go tell mankind, that there are devils and witches…” During this period of time, the church and the state government were the same, and as a result, the word of the church was taken extremely seriously. Consequently, as Mather, a very influential person during the time period, emphasizes that witches and devils were real, the Puritans believed him, for his word was as important as the bible's. This shows how the power of suggestion was a cause of the Salem Witch Trials as incorrect suggestions had the potential to mislead everyone and send them into believing false conclusions. Furthermore, in document 7, a primary source from the trial of Bridget Bishop that was recorded by Samuel Parris on April 19th, 1692, the recorder writes, “ She shook her head and the afflicted were tortured.” This shows that the Puritans were still forgiving and had an interpretation of the Bible, but it also proves that the power of suggestion was so strong that one’s word was taken extremely seriously, just as Bridget Bishop’s was taken during her examination. Putting together these two pieces of evidence show the power of suggestion and how heavily important one’s word was, so much so that it influenced court decisions and people’s definition of whom to kill for being a

The first listed cause of the Salem Witch Trial Hysteria were the acting abilities that young women possessed. Charles Upham, a mayor of Salem, who studied witchcraft most of his adulthood, claims that the girls (the main accusers), “became intoxicated…. By the terrible success of their imposture (acting) ….” (Doc. D) This means that the girls who were accusing, became obsessed with their abilities to act and accuse whoever they wanted, making others take their side and accuse others with them.

The year was 1692 when people called Puritans who believed in spreading their beliefs, in which witchcraft is forbidden. Anyone accused of being a witch was hanged, 20 people died. It all ended after the goner of Salem’s wife was accused. The Salem witch trial hysteria of 1692 was caused by being accused of being a witch which also was a crime worthy of death and being possessed by the devil.

In the 1680’s and 1690’s there was mass hysteria in New England over supposed witchcraft. The most famous outbreak was in Salem, Massachusetts, hence the name Salem Witch Trials. In Salem, there were young girls who started acting strangely, and they leveled accusations of witchcraft against some of the West Indian servants who were immersed in voodoo tradition. Most of the accusations were against women, and soon the accusations started to shift to the substantial and prominent women. Neighbors accused other neighbors, husbands accused their wives, etc. and it kept going on for a while. There was this nature of evil and the trials didn’t end until nineteen Salem residents were put to death in 1692, more importantly before the girls

In 1692 the town of Salem, Massachusetts experienced a time of mass panic and paranoia. This was an age of anxiety after a lot of social change and upheaval. Some of the causes of this mass panic stemmed from Salem’s religious beliefs and authority, politics, and social– politics. Although there are many contributing factors there is no single explanation for the events that took place in Salem.

In 1692 Salem, Massachusetts, experienced death, dying crops, young girls doing strange dancing and barking like wild dogs. By most religious views witchcraft had ivated Salem. Witchcraft was the worst crime a person could commit. If caught experimenting witchcraft that person would be put on trial and given a sentence of life in prison, or death. This was the beginning of the Salem witch trials. The witch trials were caused by extreme religious views, economic division, and moldy bread.