The Causes Of The Salem Witch Trials

Between the months of June to September of 1692, the infamous witch trials in Salem, Massachusetts resulted in the hanging of 19 men and women; the deaths of five others, including two children, while imprisoned in jail; the pressing to death of an 80-year old man, and the stoning of two dogs for collaborating with the Devil. Hundreds of others faced accusations and dozens more were jailed for months during the progress of the trials. For over three hundred years these events have not only captured the general publics' imagination, but that of the academic community. Beginning with Charles Upham, in 1867, historians have attempted to explain the mass hysteria that swept through Salem in 1692. These accounts vary both in their

The view that religious beliefs were behind the Salem Witch Trials of 1692 is predominantly incorrect. While the Puritan culture’s strong Christian beliefs did dictate the behaviour of New England society, for the authorities that instigated the Witch Trials, religion was a mere justification for their actions that allowed them to gain support by instilling in the masses the fear of a higher power. Their true motives lay in the political and social issues of the time, with Salem Town’s division due to two disputing families, the ever-present fear of smallpox, and the male population’s immense opposition to female independence and sexuality. Thus, while society had strong religious beliefs, they were merely a pretext for the political and social factors of family conflict, disease, and fear of women that were the true bases for the accusations dealt in 1692.

The Salem witch trials were a series of different court trials. They occurred after a group of young girls were claimed to be possessed by the devil. These individuals experienced hallucinations. Some of the suspects explained the attacks as if bugs were crawling under their skin. When the outbreak began to spread, the government proceeded to accuse multiple people in the colony of witchcraft. This is how the Salem witch trials came to be. The trials took place in colonial Massachusetts. According to the History channel, “They begun during the spring of 1692,” in a town called Salem (History.com staff,1). During this series of hearings, many people, women specifically, were accused of witchcraft. These people and their families were

The Salem Witch Trials are a big part of history that is still hard to unravel today. These trials occurred in 1692, when a few teenage girls admitted to being possessed with the devil and blamed other local residents with committing Witchcraft (“Salem Witch Trials”). The accusations all started with a young girl named Abigail Williams. She believed that if she blamed other people, she would not be punished for the things she did. As a result, many other girls followed her lead and named innocent people, who they said did witchcraft. It is sad to say many people died due to false accusations and factious evidence. From this horrific event, Arthur Miller wrote a book called The Crucible.

20 witches were sentenced to death in Salem 1692. Salem was made up of about two varieties of individuals. Puritans which were Protestant Christians and English immigrants. The Puritans believed anything that was written in the bible. They believed that the devil was real and that he was liable for the witches. He would enter a person’s body and convert them into a witch. Within Exodus 22:18 it states, “Though shalt not suffer a witch to live!” This ideology convinced the settlers that anyone who was proven to be a witch should be killed. However, no substantial evidence or proof that someone was a witch could be concluded; however, the people still wanted the accused witches to be killed. Now, why were twenty people sentenced to death in Salem because they were accused of being a witch without any corroborating evidence? We will discuss this with the principal concepts of Age/Gender; Acting/Lying; and the want of Power/Money.

During the 17th century, the puritan religion had a strict code to follow. Due to the strict puritan lifestyle that they were to follow, any sin that was confessed by an individual was expected to be punished. Due to the strong religious beliefs that Puritans had faith in, it was also often believed that the devil was finding ways to test their faithfulness (1). During this time, the puritans believed that the devils way to test their religious beliefs was regarding witches. In the bible, Deuteronomy 18:10 states "There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, one who uses divination, one who practices witchcraft, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer” (2). This bible verse helps to support the idea that supporting any figure other than God was not accepted. When the accusations of witchcraft were brought upon individuals, they became scared. Many of the accusations of being a witch was

What makes a little town implode and cause a standout amongst the most heartbreaking occasions in U.S. history? Amid the mid year of 1692 pressures were high and many individuals started to isolate from the congregation. Puritan pioneers started to stress they were losing control of the group and needed to counteract change in the strict social hierarchy. The pioneers needed to guarantee that the lessons of the congregation would be tailed anybody not following the congregation was just blamed for being a witch and rebuffed in like manner. Witchcraft was viewed as a wrongdoing of conspiracy, and discipline was extreme. The Salem witchcraft trials came about because of social hierarchy , fanaticism, and religious intolerance .

The Salem Witch Trials occurred in 1692, when a group of girls accused people in Salem of bewitching people. The devil had supposedly given these few people in the village the power to hurt others, and in return the devil would gain their loyalty. In the short film "The Witches of Salem: The Horror and The Hope,” by The Phoenix Learning Group, the young girls accuse Tituba, Sarah Goode, Bridget Bishop, Rebecca Nurse, and Elizabeth Proctor as tormentors who bewitched them. This group was the first of hundreds to be accused of practicing witchcraft. The factors that caused the Salem Witch Trials were because of a church-state run government, fear and the socioeconomic status of men and women in Salem.

On definition the Salem Witch Trials, was widespread pandemic where people would turn each other in for supposedly dealing in witchcraft and making deals with the devil. The Salem Witch Trials occurred in Massachusetts during 1692 through 1693. It did not matter who or what you were, you could still be convicted. There was not specific people that could convict you anyone could say you were a witch. Once a person was accused of being a witch, they went to jail. To supposedly prove that you were a witch people would use spectral evidence and a simple accusation. Furthermore, if a person was see acting weird or out of the ordinary, they would have been accused of being a witch. There were many reasons that the people of Massachusetts had for the witch trials. Most of the people killed knew that they were innocent but many of them took the punishment regardless of what they believed. Because of these trials the town and its people were ripped apart.

Puritans seemed to be “pure” people, but put witchcraft in the scene and they were seen as people who conspired with the devil. There were many causes of the Salem Witch Trials of 1692, and tons of them are quite obvious. Most of the people of Salem, Massachusetts were Puritans, so any form of witchcraft made them hysterical. Anyone accused that would not confess, hanged until dead. Anyone that confessed received a jail sentence. Consequently, many innocent people ended up getting killed because they could not confess, or they would be considered “damned.” This certainly posed a problem.

The Salem Witch Trials were started after a group of three girls started to have fits, and were accused of being possessed by the devil and performing witchcraft. One of the girls, Tituba a Caribbean slave, had confessed that she had encountered the devil in a dream and the devil had requested her to serve him. The Salem Witch Trials had caused mass hysteria throughout Massachusetts, but once the governor's wife had been accused of witchcraft the governor had stepped in to put a stop to the Salem Witch Trials.

The trial begins in 1692, in Massachusetts. After three young girls in the Salem village claimed being possessed by the devil, they accused other individuals of witchcraft. A hysteria began in September of 1692 and everybody started turning on each other. Several people got charged with witchcraft and either got hung or served time in jail. Although the Massachusetts General Court later annulled guilty verdicts against accused witchcraft. According to others, the devil gave the number of people (witches) the ability to harm others. Soon three little girls began to throw fits, such as violence and uncontrollable outbursts of screaming. They were diagnosed with bewitchment and soon others started growing the same symptoms. Later on, in February, arrest warrants has been taken place with three other adults. In Three Sovereigns for Sarah three little girls were acting as if they been possessed by the devil after playing a few “games” that had to do with bad spirits. Tituba, Abigail Williams, the minister's niece, family slave, who practiced voodoo, taught them how to play. After all that, everything started to happen. The Salem witch trials lasted from 1692-1693. A “special tea” had been made by Tibula, which she gave to the Elizabeth Parris so it can cause her to act in a certain way. Once the girls finished playing voodoo, later on they started disturbing contortions, sudden outbursts of screaming, and psychological effects, they are diagnosed by the village

The first ever Witch-Hunt accusations started in B.C.E. .Which is Bible times and it states the hebrew scriptures addressed Witch-Craft , including the Exodus 22:18 and, various verses in the Levicticus and Deutereromony ( thoughtco.com ) . Another early Witch Hunt happened in around the year 910 , ( according to thoughtco.com ) just before the Roman Empire began . Some witch-craft specialist think the fall of the roman empire because witches brainwashed the emperor and forced his empire down , so they could rule . Also during this time people who did fortune telling and spell casting were being hunted and killed because citizens claimed bad things were happening to them after reading. Also , people casting spells were accused of making people sick , and causing deaths of common people . Even though most people thought believers of witches were delusional and frauds , majority ruled at the time . Today people define Witch-Hunts as accusing a group of people for not having the same beliefs as society / majority group of people .

The Salem witch trials were an important event in American history. However this affected more than Salem, the ripples from these trials swept throughout the United States. Over two hundred “witches” where accused and twenty where killed. Later the judges admitted that they had been mistaken and tried to make it right but frictions lasted for a long time after word. (Blumberg, 2007)

In 1692, vast paranoia swept the New England countryside. Citizens of Salem were being accused of casting spells and being associated with the devil. This was a new occurrence in America, however, across France, Italy, Germany and England massive witch-hunts had been going on for three hundred years. In Salem Village, Massachusetts, in the spring of 1692, a group of young girls claimed to have been possessed by the devil. They accused several local women of witchcraft. Over a period of several months, one hundred and fifty more citizens including males, females, and even children were accused. The turmoil caused by the trials would endure for centuries.