Salem Witch Trials Research Paper

The Salem witch trials were a result of mass hysteria. It was caused by false accusations. On May 1693, fourteen women, five men, and two dogs were executed for supposed supernatural crimes. The Salem trials have a unique place in our collective history today. (" Saxon, V,Procedure Used in...").

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 Witchcraft Trials of 1692 were a dark time in American history. There were many possible causes of the Salem Witch Trials. A few major causes that led to the Salem Witch Trials were religion, reputations, and lack of laws.

The Salem witchcraft trials began because people were paranoid of witches that they just started to accuse people that they disliked or people who were acting weird of being witches. The Salem witch trials ended because the mayor’s wife was accused of being a witch. What made the Salem witch trials such a threat to people in Massachusetts in 1692? The Salem witch trials drama started in 1692 because of how much people feared witches and they started to accuse people.

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

The Salem Witch Trials of 1692 was a tragic time in New England that was caused by the choas of mass hysteria. The inciting incident that started this event was in January 1692, when two young girls were afflicted with convulsions and halleucionations, and witchcraft was apointed the blame. Most of the accused were women a generation above the accusers, who were young women ages 11-20. The accused were also linked to 'socially unaccepted behavior.' The onslaught of accusations made it clear action needed to be taken, so Governor William Phips created a court so that the precedings were as fair and as close to the law as possible. However, the judges had contrasting views, one believing whole-heartedly that witchcraft had torn the town apart, the other doubting the entire crisis. Also, the court accepted spectral evidence,

The Salem Witch Trials tried to accuse innocent members of the society of doing witchcraft. The trials began June 2, 1692 in a court house in Salem, Massachusetts (Burgan 18-19). It affected four counties in Massachusetts: Salem Village, Ipswich, Salem Town, and Andover Counties (Totallyhistory.com). Anyone accused would be brought to a local magistrate to testify if they were truly a witch or not. Over two-hundred people were accused of doing witchcraft and 19 people were hanged (Brooks).

How many deaths and arrests could a few young christian girls possibly cause in a small colonial town? The town of Salem is located north of Boston on the coast of the North Atlantic. This was an ideal location for puritan and quaker immigrants to escape persecution for their beliefs. They were mostly persecuted by the Roman Catholics in Europe. Hard life styles, constant work, and disputes led to hard feelings between the settlers of Salem. Soon, girls started acting strange and accusing witches afflicting them. This led to over two hundred accusations, ninety unjust arrests, and claimed the lives of twenty four victims.

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.

The search for commies and witches happened at different points in time but had many similarities with very few differences. George Santayana said that, "Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it." this quote I feel directly goes along with McCarthyism and the Salem Witch Trials.

The salem witch trials started because of multiple girls dancing in the woods and were accused of being witches. The Devil came to Salem in 1692. Parris, minister of the town, had a slave from Barbados named Tituba. (Witchcraft 1) Ministers from nearby communities came to Salem to lend their sage advice. (Witchcraft 1) Puritans believed that to become bewitched a witch must draw an individual under spell.

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 The Salem witch trials began in Salem Massachusetts during the spring of 1692. The first “witch” convicted was Bridget Bishop, she was publicly hanged the June. Under British Law people thought to have been consulting with the devil or other spirits where considered felons. There where two different forms of confrontation, the afflicted and the accused. The afflicted where those supposedly possessed whom cried out the names of those possessing them.

Some events that lead to the Salem Witch Trials were warring Indian tribes and Charles II revoking the royal charter. Stress levels were high, and it didn’t take much to push someone over the edge. When the first three were accused, it sparked a frenzy.

Einstein once said, “The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who do nothing” (Gurteen). The Salem witch trials began in the Spring of 1692 in Salem Village, Massachusetts. A group of young girls, who claimed to be possessed by the devil, began accusing a few women of witchcraft, which caused hysteria among the people in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Approximately 150 people were convicted of practicing witchcraft, 19 were hanged at Gallows Hill, and others died in captivity (“Salem Witch Trials”). These tragic events lead to the convictions of many innocent people in Salem Village and later in Salem Town, Ipswich, Gloucester, and other towns (Brooks). The Salem witch trials are a