Salem Narrative

It was a cold dark wintery night in Salem Mass. Titubia could feel the wind bellow through the cabin as she gently rocked the baby in front of the fireplace. Two older children sat by her feet listening to a wild tale.

The Salem witch trials was a story of envy, lies, and the danger of the people. Others wouldn’t defend those accused, and if they did, they themselves were eventually charged as witches. In many ways, defending others was condemning yourself. Such was the case for John Proctor in “The Crucible”. John Proctor was someone who had made mistakes, but through his own crucible made peace with himself and defended the honor of himself and the others that would not admit to witchcraft.

When considering possible explanations for the Salem witch trials, it is important to consider and reference other historical accounts of witchcraft. Although Salem presents its own unique case, and therefore is a result of things specific singularly to Salem, there may yet be a link

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,

The Salem Witch Trials began during the spring of 1692 after a group of young girls in Salem Village, MA, said they were being possessed by the devil and accused local women of witchcraft. With chaos running around the village, the special court began taking on cases. Bridget Bishop, the first convicted witch, was hung that June month. Many people of the Salem community had major consequences including death and harrassment. Belief that the devil could give certain humans, or witches, power to harm others in return for their loyalty emerged throughout europe as early as the 14th century. All of this chaos and phenomenon led to a pointing fingers game of who is guilty. Chaos also brought up the question of why it happened, malice, spite, or

ESCAPING SALEM: The Other Witch Hunt of 1692 In Richard GodBeers novel “Escaping Salem: The Other Witch Hunt of 1692” he tells of a witch trial that took place in Stamford Connecticut in 1692. GodBeer starts readers off with the setting taking place in Daniel and Abigail Wescots household. He tells of a dilemma going on in the household pertaining to their servant; Katherine Branch. She was experiencing hallucinated fits that caused her to convulse and scream in pain. The ongoing fits led the Wescot’s and other citizens of Stamford into believing the fits were caused by bewitchment. The suspicion then leads Katherine Branch to tell of visitations from the devil in numerous forms, as well as being tormented by witches. She accuses Elizabeth Clawson, Mercy Disborough, Goody Miller, Mary Staples, and Hannah Harvey as the individuals visiting her and tormenting her in her hallucinations. The accusation then led to a witch hunt trial resulting in the arrestment of all the women Katherine had named. Kate’s accusations led citizens of Stamford to agree with her statements due to past confrontations with any of the accused individuals. The trial resulted in all women being found innocent or given their freedom due to insufficient evidence. The witch hunt trial of Stamford Connecticut corresponded with the infamous witch hunt that took place in Salem Massachusetts in the year 1692. Salem’s trial was ignited by a group of girls whom also fell into convulsions and fits just as

The Visible and Invisible Worlds of Salem Salem Village was one of many non-urban inhabitants. They were looked upon as country folk because of their interests and beliefs in the church and growing tobacco to survive in this new land. There was not much for children to do except go to church, work on the fields, or go to school. You can imagine how bored these children can get. In such a secluded lifestyle as this, you would be a crazy person if you were at all different, and this episode would be so different that it would be traumatic to the people of this small village. Traumatic as it was, I believe the people just did not know how to react in such a situation.

In 1692, a series of trails over witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts resulted in the deaths of fourteen women and six men. Witchcraft thought to be a widespread epidemic plaguing the colonies during the seventeenth century. Many believed the Devil walked among the colonist looking to lure them into doing evil. Unfortunately, the continually growth of paranoia involving the Devil and his minions, economic conditions, social strife, and personal jealousies can account for the arrests, trials, and deaths of twenty accused individuals in the spring and summer of 1692.

The Mystery of the Salem Witchcraft Trials Jennifer Hollenbeck AP United States History Mrs. Price November 12, 2014 The Salem witchcraft trials were a particularly dark and mysterious time in the history of America. These trials that were arranged upon the belief of witchcraft could have multiple explanations. In my opinion these trials began as a combination between religious factors, boredom, social issues and all coming together in a mess of suspicion and deceit. Although these trials did start because of the Puritan’s imagination, their true religious belief in witchcraft, childish antics, and their hatred for their neighbors helped to fuel their imagination. The people’s imagination began to lead the people in the town of Salem, Massachusetts into a deadly witch hunt.

Salem was a city of Christian puritans. Between 40 – 60 percent of the women ranging from 15-44 years of age were unmarried, widows, spinsters, and midwives in the 16th century. All them were in danger of being accused because of either their lifestyle or practices represented as a threat

There are many characters to blame in The Crucible for the umpteen deaths of the innocent people who were hanged because of an enormous rumor going around Salem. Characters like John Proctor, who had an affair with Abigail, can easily be targeted as the antagonist. If Proctor was faithful to

Whewwww! The wind whistles along Gallows Hill waiting for its next victim that will be condemned as a servant of the Devil. This was the Salem Witch trials, which happened in 1692 through 1693, were a series of court trials and executions of people that were thought to be practicing witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts. These trials were very tragic and most often an innocent person was accused of the crime. The Salem Witch Trials included a cause that started it, different ways that people were convicted, specific women who were accused, and finally it ended in 1693. Most people think the Salem Witch Trials were just another event that happened in history. But what really happened during the Salem Witch Trials?

The Salem witch trails were in an age of superstition. There were great tensions with the fact that some individuals were changing religions, or they were leaving to gain different religious opinions. Although the Massachusetts colony was under a lot of stress and tension that did not give them the right to hang or burn individuals because they were witches. Now, some of the members of this colony that participated in the Salem witch trial might have had a psychological and issues, but that still did not give them the right to hang innocent people.

Only surpassed by ministers as the most respected profession, magistrates wielded tremendous power in New England. Hand-in-hand with that power came the understanding that they would preserve the puritanical doctrine of the colonists. In the quest to maintain the purity of the colony, haste sometimes led to improper judgments, and the courts infrequently convicted those who were innocent in an effort to maintain the sanctity of the province. This situation manifests itself in Salem, where, in order to further their own personal desires to continue the trials and free Salem, the judges and prosecutors prefer to preserve their own veneer of authority over administering justice, rely on unreliable and easily manipulative witnesses, and fail

Psychologist Caporael did some research into the Salem witch trials and noticed a connection between the unusual symptoms that the accusers reported and symptoms of the hallucinogenic effects of a drug like LSD. LSD is a derivative of ergot, a fungus that affects rye grain which is caused by the fungus Claviceps purpurea. This fungus can affect rye, wheat, and other cereal grasses which were all in popular demand in Salem at the time of the witch trials. Toxicologist found that eating ergot-contaminated food could lead to violent muscle spasms, vomiting, delusions, hallucinations, crawling sensations on the skin, and a host of other symptoms. This was very ironic due to the fact that these symptoms were reported by the accusers in the witch trials. Majority of the accusers lived in Salem Village which was a region of swampy meadows and would be a perfect place for the fungi to grow. The accusers could have easily been contaminated by the large quantities of ergot which would explain their symptoms.