The Salem Witch Trials began in the spring of 1692 after a group of young girls in Salem Village, Massachusetts claimed to be possessed by the devil and accused several residents of witchcraft. Nineteen of the accused were executed by hanging and one person was pressed to death. The young girls claimed that Samuel Parris’ Caribbean slave, Tituba, was the first to perform witchcraft and tell the girls about witchcraft and voodoo. The fatal frenzy began after the nine-year-old daughter and eleven-year-old niece of Salem’s Puritan minister, Samuel Parris, started behaving strangely and erratically. Abigail Williams, his niece, was the first to display fits of hysteria. Betty Parris, the daughter, soon became sick, and soon after her two more …show more content…
Sclerotia can be mistaken for large, discolored grains of rye. Within them are potent chemicals such as ergot alkaloids, lysergic acid, and ergotamine. The drug LSD is a derivative of ergot, and is made from the lysergic acid within sclerotia (“The Witches Curse, Clues and Evidence," par. 3). Ergot-contaminated food can lead to a convulsive disorder characterized by violent muscle spasms, vomiting, delusions, hallucinations, crawling sensations on the skin, and a host of other symptoms such as a fixedly twisted head and feeling as though you have been bitten. Ergot poisoning would also explain the sudden end to the "bewitchments," as the following year there was a drought, so ergot would not have infested the rye crop (“The Witches Curse, Clues and Evidence," par. 4). The physician, Dr. William Griggs, did not originally diagnose the girls with a disease, because he knew that diseases were contagious. Since it seemed as if the fits did not spread quickly throughout the population, he did not pursue alternative medical explanations. This is why the physician believed that it must be Satan who was responsible (Ray, “Salem Witch Trials Notable Persons," pg.
In the Salem Witch Trails 20 people were hung because the people in town (mainly woman) would accuse others of being a witch. More than 20 people were accused, it all ended when the mayors wife was accused of being a witch. So what caused the hysteria surrounding the Salem Witch Trials? The Salem Witch Trials In the Salem Witch Trails 20 people were hung because the people in town (mainly woman) would accuse others of being a witch. More than 20 people were accused, it all ended when the mayors wife was accused of being a witch. So what caused the hysteria surrounding the Salem Witch Trials? The Salem Witch Trial hysteria of 1692 was caused by the fear of being accused and hung for a witch the beleife people could be a witch, the belief people could be a witch, and the parranoia of being a witch.
The Salem Witch Trials were a constant and consistent occurrence in 1691 Massachusetts; hangings became consistent, but the fear of the unknown became the true evil unleashed amongst the dark times that reigned upon Salem. Such atrocities were caused by a development of preposterous dispositions created by desperation and fear. The colony ran into hardship after exposure to illness, misfortune, and power struggles. Due to their religious ideology, they believed that an evil force was responsible for their hardship, and was responsible for wreaking havoc within their civilization.
Have you ever been called a witch or heard it someone else be called it? Now and
In today’s society we are always hearing about teens, predominantly teen girls, threatening each other via social media sites, such as Facebook, Twitter and Ask.fm and this type of crime can be traced back to several centuries ago, like during the Salem Witch Trial in 1692. This incident arose not only because adolescents were in quest of attention but also because back in the seventeenth century religion played a starring role in the community and according to the bible verse Exodus 22:18 “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live” (Doc A). For that reason people who were identified as witches were hanged and that created massive tension throughout the community between the different age groups and genders.
The Salem Witch Trials began after a group of young girls claimed to be possessed by the devil during the spring of 1692. Abigail Williams, the 11-year-old niece of Reverend Samuel Parris Was, along with her 9-year old cousin Betty were the first afflicted. On February 29,
Ashlyn Richardson Ms. Knabel ENG 4 5 February 2018 Salem Witch Trials In Spring of 1962 in a small village of Massachusetts, that Abigail Williams and Elizabeth Parris were bewitched by Sarah Good she was one of the accused by the girls. They claimed being bitted and abused by Sarah, Good was sentenced to trial and imprisoned months later she was hung after giving birth to her baby in which died in her cell. The girls accused multiple people of performing witchcraft or so-called “devil’s magic” more than 200 people were accused and 20 executed and over 100 jailed.
Imagine this: You live in Salem Village, and you’re the perfect example of a good Puritan. You go to church every Sunday, read the bible daily, and you’re kind to everyone. All of a sudden, your life is ripped apart when you’re accused of witchcraft by a girl who you’ve known since she was little. This was exactly how it went for some, including Rebecca Nurse, a kind and loving grandmother who never should have been accused. The Salem Witch Trials were times of woe and despair, with many accused but all being innocent.
The Salem witch trials took place in Salem, Massachusetts and began around spring of 1692 (History). They started when a group of young Puritan girls believed that they were possessed by the devil, and they accused many innocent people of witchcraft. This lead to trials being held, and almost always would the witch be deemed guilty. During this time period, they would use various forms of evidence to prove someone guilty that are not seen today, and a good example of this is in The Wonders of the Invisible World written by Cotton Mather. In their trials they would strange methods of evidence to prove a person guilty, and obviously there is no way that this is seen in our modern society today.
The Salem Witch Trials, which occurred in colonial Massachusetts, were an act of mass hysteria leading to the deaths of twenty citizens. In late 1691 a young group of girls, including Betty Parris and Abigail Williams who lived with Revered Samuel Parris, began asking an African American, or possibly Native American, slave named Tituba about witchcraft. They soon began acting abnormally and were diagnosed as being bewitched. In April of 1692, Ann Putman accused the first three people, Tituba, Sarah Good, and Sarah Osburne, as being witches. The next month, Governor William Phips established the Court of Oyer and Terminer to handle any cases involving witchcraft. Bridget Bishop was the first accused witch to be hung in June 1692, followed by
Salem, Massachusetts in 1692, infamously known now for witchcraft. The Salem Witch trials, engulfed by an event so ingrained with popular culture of today, needs to be examined to further understand why an affair of its magnitude happened. Historically, several witch trials where happening during the seventeenth century, but the Salem Witch trials stands out. Salem was submerged into a madness of witchcraft because of several outstanding factors. These factors led the charge of the witchcraft crisis in Salem, connecting the crisis.
Imagine living in a place where people are at each other's throats, and in most cases physical aggressions occur. Additionally, the sad thing was that the people being assaulted were not some malicious, dangerous criminals, most of them were next door neighbors, or a baker, or even a teacher, they were a member of society who played an important role in the community, yet they were still being accused of the misfortune of others. Instead of identifying and assessing the real issue, and solving it, these people were doing the exact opposite. This place I so generously refer to is located in none other than Salem, Massachusetts, but more specifically, I am referring to the historical event that took place there, the Salem witch trials. Any other normal human being would probably choose a less violent, per say, place to visit. I on the other hand would much rather visit a place that seemed like most, very calm and peaceful to the naked eye, but if you looked
The Salem Witch Trials were a set of hearings and prosecutions in Salem, Massachusetts that were nothing short of horrific and involved many people accused of witchcraft. The trials that took place were seen as moral in the eyes of the leaders in Salem but as we know today, they were most certainly immoral. Innocent women were hanged, drowned, and even an innocent man was pressed to death. The unforgettable events of the Salem Witch Trials began in 1692, when several young girls accused numerous women of the town of witchcraft. There were fears about religious extremists as many critics perceived witchcraft as being counterproductive.
The Salem Witch Trials In 1692, a fateful event took place in Salem Massachusetts. The Salem Witch Trials was a time in history where more than two hundred people were incriminated for practicing witchcraft. Several factors motivated the witch trials of 1692. This eventful time started with twelve year old Abigail Williams pretending to be possessed. Rumours were spread throughout Salem, and the blame for practicing witchcraft was focused on certain people.
The witch trials began when nine girls, known as the afflicted girls, experienced strange symptoms. In the beginning, there were only five afflicted girls: Betty Parris, Abigail Williams, Ann Putnam Jr., Mary Walcott, and Mercy Lewis. Elizabeth Hubbard, Susannah Sheldon, Mary Warren, and Elizabeth Booth later began experiencing the symptoms, which involved strange fits, irregular body contortions, and fevers. Although the symptoms seem phenomenal, modern theories suggest that the children were merely bored, abused, or had epilepsy, a mental illness, or a disease that was obtained from eating rye bread infected with a fungus. Reverend Samuel Parris, Betty Parris’ father, asked Dr. William Griggs to deduce the problem, and Dr. Griggs concluded that they were bewitched. The group of girls accused three women of causing their unnatural behaviors: Sarah Good, Sarah Osborne, and Tituba, a slave owned by Samuel Parris. The women were easy targets for the girls because they were outcasts (Brooks). Sarah Good was a beggar, Sarah
The Salem Witch Trials occurred in seventeenth century Massachusetts. The small Puritan town of Salem was first burdened with the accusations of witchcraft in January of 1692, according to the article “Salem Witch Trials” on “History.com.” The article also states that two local girls, Elizabeth Parris and Abigail Williams, began having violent fits accompanied with bloodcurdling screams (“Salem Witch Trials). When the girls never healed, the town doctor, William Griggs, was called to the girls’ homes says the article “The 1962 Salem Witch Trials.”