Salem Witch Trials Dbq

The Salem Witch Trials of 1692 were a series of prosecutions of people who were accused of acts of witchcraft or of being a witch in Salem, Massachusetts through the time period of February 1692 through May 1693. This was a dark time in history as more than 200 prosecutions took place and at least 20 people were killed during this time of fear and hysteria. The accusations began as three girls Tituba, Sarah Good, and Sarah Osborne were accused of witchcraft from other young girls in the community. During this time period, fear of the Devil was common as people in Salem were very devoted to their religion and religious practices. As one of the accused girls, Tituba, confessed to working for the Devil and admitting to being a witch, this caused panic and hysteria as a massive witch hunt took place to find more of these witches. This confession was the main reason behind months and months of fear and mass panic as it triggered more accusations.

The first reason the Salem witch trials occurred was mainly because people were scared of the devil. The people of Salem were all Puritans and were extremely scared of Satan. Since they were so scared, once one person was accused, everybody became spectacle and believed that there was witchcraft in the village. The smallest little suspicions caused people to think that you were a witch. Even by the way you acted in one little way, the town would freak out

1. Salem, Massachusetts is known for the witch trails. The trails were all about how people claimed other residents in the town were witches to get the guilt of being called a which off of them. This phenomena spread though the entire town as people were proclaiming each other were witches and many were hanged for the crime of being a

Hysteria is defined as an exaggerated or irrepressible emotion or excitement, especially among a group of people. In Salem, Massachusetts, in 1692, hysteria rocked a small Puritan community. Over the span of four short months, nineteen people were hanged to death and another was pressed to death by stones. Puritans in the community accused one another of witchcraft—a crime punishable by death—and so hysteria swept the village. The causes of the Salem Witch Trials of 1692 remain a mystery to this day; however, religious, economical, and social reasons were undoubtedly to blame.

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 salem witch trials hysteria of 1692 was caused by the Puritans strict religious standards and intolerance of anything not accepted with their scripture. The largest account of witch trials as well as deaths by witch trials occurred in Salem, a village heavily populated with the Puritans. Because most of the trials were occurring in Salem, this meant that the accusations were happening among the Puritans themselves, which could very well be anything as long as the Puritans found it as contradicting their bible. Not only did the strict religion intolerance fuel the accusations and trials, but also the possible factor of ergot being involved which has been known to cause symptoms leading to hysteria.

The Salem Witch Trials were a time of paranoia and mass hysteria. In this small town of Massachusetts hundreds were accused of witchcraft and 19 people were executed. Salem was home to very devout Puritans. The worries arrived when young girls would become sick with no explanation or cure. The doctors not knowing what the cause of the illness was, quickly pronounce the girls bewitched. It spread terror through the town. The girls, as well as other residents, started accusing others of witchery. Many accusations were because of vengeance or self-interest. There were rivalries between families over land or wealth. Neighbors started accusing each other in order to gain their land. The religious community had an intensified sense of fear that the Devil was walking among them. They believed witches were out to destroy the Puritans. In order to purify the village of evil they had trials for the accused.

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.

In 1692-1693, the Salem Witch Trial Hysteria occurred, resulting in 20 deaths out of the 200 accused of practicing the Devil’s magic, a practice that women were commonly accused of. Salem, Massachusetts, was a colony that consisted of Puritans, both Separatists and non Separatists alike. From the start, the Puritans believed that the Bible was true in all aspects: every word, every idea, every thought--was true. The Puritans also had minimal understanding of science, which led them to believe that phenomenon was an act of the Devil. Thus, when three young girls admitted to seeing demons and started behaving strangely, the Puritans grew progressively hysterical because they became more convinced that witches existed within Salem as they had little scientific knowledge. In a nutshell, the cause of the Salem Witch Trial Hysteria were Puritan fundamentalism, misogyny, and hysteria.

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.

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.

“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.

The final cause of the Salem Witch Trial Hysteria is the Puritans strict religion. According to Evidence Set B, the Puritans believed that there was a Devil, and that this devil would enter the body of the social outcasts, therefore turning them into a witch. This lead to the Puritans not trusting the outcasts, which made the outcasts an easy target for the

Salem was first settled in 1626 by Puritans who were seeking a safe place to practice their strict religious beliefs (Source 1). Over time, Salem grew in size, both increasing their boundaries and population over 500%. As Salem spread, rumors began to emerge, and darkness covered Salem. In February of 1692, three woman were accused of witchcraft, Tituba, Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne, by girls who were supposedly affected by witches (Source 4).

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.