Summary: Most Accused Witches

The Salem Witchcraft trials was an outrageous event that began in 1692, and ended May of 1693 seeing the execution of many people. Unfortunately most of the victims of this phenomenon were women. For the most part these women were accused for very trivial reasons, such as for being widowed, being of old age and living alone, or for simply collecting herbs and other plants. During this time in history women and men were treated very differently both as they should contribute in the home and in society, this would have presented reasons as to why women were predominantly accused of witchcraft, along with any religious beliefs. The Crucible by Arthur Miller takes place at a time of a patriarchal society, the roles of men and women were different, along with how they were treated overall in society. This contributed to the stereotype of women being the ones predominantly associated with witchcraft.

What was the Salem Witch Trials? During 1692 and 1693, colonial Massachusetts accused more than 200 people and executed twenty women for practicing witchcraft. Witchcraft at the time was known as the Devil’s magic. Several centuries ago, many religions had a strong belief in the Devil. Among these religions was Christianity. The religions believed that the Devil would give the witches the power to harm others. The witches, in return, would offer the Devil their loyalty. Between the 1300s and the end of the 1600s, more than ten thousand women were executed due to be involved with witchcraft. The Salem Witch Trials occurred when Reverend Samuel Parris’s daughter and niece started to behave strangely. Samuel Parris was Salem’s first ordained minister

The persecution of witches started in the fourteen hundreds and carried on into the seventeen hundreds. This persecution happened only in the Catholic and Protestant Countries. They were not just endorsed by the churches, but the entire craze was caused by the churches; which gave its full support behind the cause. While the persecution of witches effected every type of person the most effected people where older women, poor, and usually considered outsiders by their society.

What was the cause of the witch trial? There maybe many reasons why there were witch trials but something had to cause it right?

One of the most interesting aspects of the European witch trials between 1450 and 1750 is the frequency with which accused witches confessed to the crime of witchcraft throughout the legal proceedings. While some confessions were offered voluntarily, most were not, and extreme measures were often employed by prosecutors to force confessions from the accused. Among the questions this raises, a prominent one is why obtaining confessions to witchcraft was so crucial. This paper argues that confessions were so important in continental Europe because of the critical developments they facilitated: namely, confessions allowed prosecutors to secure convictions of witchcraft within a judicial system that required high standards of proof; they produced information that was invaluable to the creation and spread of the concept of witchcraft; and they validated the guilt of the accused, the reality of

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.

Witch hunting was the persecution and possible execution of individuals considered to be ‘witches’ loyal to the devil. It was an all too common occurrence from 1603-1712 all over Europe. However in order to understand why this happened the context must be taken into account. It was a time of change, the Renaissance - the rebirth of culture, ideas and attitudes to living. The Reformation had also only been implemented in England in the last 80 years back from 1603, when it had previously been catholic for centuries. The English civil war from 1642 to 1651 is argued to have played a part in the intensification of the witch hunts in England due to the peak in executions whilst it was on going. Some historians have taken the view that in time of crisis certain groups can be victimised like in wars, famine, disease outbreaks and changes in society structure.

In the book Witches! The Absolutely True Tale Of Disaster In Salem, Rosalyn Schanzer explains how the feud in Salem,Massachusetts all came about. It all started when the Puritans wanted a perfect world, a heaven on Earth. So when Betty and Abigail, two sick girls informed the people in there town that they were bewitched, the whole town went into a frenzy.They started accusing and blaming people of being witches all over the little town of Salem. The reasons behind the accusations are all because they had hatred,sought revenge,and craved attention.

In the document Words of the Bewitched, Bridget Bishop’s witch trial takes place in Salem in the year of 1692. Bishop is accused of being an evil witch and having harmed others on several occasions. The document goes on to state that little evidence is needed of her being a witch for it is “evident and notorious to all beholders.” Witnesses and victims begin to testify, declaring Bishop guilty of threats and physical force to have them sign a book, the devil’s book. As the trial is occurring, it becomes apparent that the victims present are extremely upset, and “tortured” by the mere presence of Bishop.

There is advice given to everyone when they go about blaming someone for some morally object actions: “Don’t blame the victim.” In a situation like the witch trials, there is no single person that can be blamed so who should take the most responsibility and assume blame: the person with the greatest ability to stop the situation. In this particular situation, many will argue the accusers or the judges who were fooled by the girls or even themselves had the easiest means of stopping the trial.

It was because of this idea that more women than men were brought to trial, found guilty, and killed. Women, once accused of witchcraft, were almost certain to burn at the stakes because once accused publicly, a woman entered into a "modern" day lose-lose situation. If she sits idly at her trial and makes no attempt to refute the evidence presented against her, she is presumed guilty because she cannot prove herself innocent. However, if she defends herself, she is considered to be possessed by the devil for acting out of her sex. This was the case in the infamous trial of Anne Hutchinson. It is clear from the transcript that Winthrop was accusing Hutchinson of minor wrongdoings and had already set his mind on destroying her.

In New England the legal system changed dramatically as an effect of the witch trials. A conflict occurred which led to social damaging in a community believed to be plagued with suspected spiritual enemies. Even when such instances occurred the system that was used would be a relatively reasonable one especially when it came to deciding if someone was guilty or innocent was determined by the fate of the suspected witches’ lives.

Although several broad factors are always influencing the outcome of events, in different time periods some factors become more influential than others. Upon analysis of the two texts, it appears that during the time of Martha Ballard and the Salem witch hysteria, people’s class, gender, influence in society and the role of ideas, values and attitudes, especially in the forms of religious and political beliefs were the pivotal factors which determined the outcomes of Mrs. Foster’s rape and the Salem witchcraft cases.

(1)The Malleus Maleficarum is a treatise on the prosecution of witches, written in 1486 by Heinrich Kramer, a German Catholic clergyman. The book was first published in Speyer, Germany, in

Witchcraft was a crime no one should want to be charged with. It was something people were afraid of, it was heinous, it was truly evil. In most communities, it was one of the worst crimes you could ever be accused of. Many countries no longer consider witchcraft to be a crime, although some countries such as Saudi Arabia and Uganda still consider it a serious offense even to this day. The focus of this piece, however, is to discuss how countries like England and Sweden handled witch trial cases, how that may have influenced the townspeople of Salem, and how some Salem trials worked.