In 1692, witchcraft accusations were prevalent in Salem Massachusetts. Hundreds of innocent people were accused and jailed on charges of witchcraft which stemmed from social class tensions, intense religious beliefs, and adolescent behavior. The accusations began with a group of young girls whose strange behavior caused many to believe that the devil and witchcraft were at play. The charge of witchcraft was considered a capital offense in the seventeenth-century, which ultimately led to the stoning death of an 80-year-old man and the executions of fourteen women and five men. The madness all began in a small town called Salem Village. Salem Village was fast growing farming town who had to depend on the wealthy merchant town of Salem …show more content…
Therefore, another contributing factor was jealousy and fighting between the two towns; with many believing that land was a huge motivator for accusing people of Witchcraft. “The whole life of a Christian should be nothing but praises and thanks to God, we should neither eat nor sleep, but eat to God and sleep to God and work to God and talk to God, do all to His glory and praise.” (Sibbes 1). The Puritans, a very religious group, came to Massachusetts looking for a new colony free of religious tolerance. They wanted to live in a place without sinners and expected everyone to follow a rigid moral code. Not attending church was considered a sin that would also affect your social standing so we can see how the witch trials came about as many people did not live up to the Puritan’s beliefs. The diagnosis of witchcraft launched the Puritans into a state of hysteria causing them to accuse falsely people of which led to the jailing of hundreds of innocents. Many things contributed to the witchcraft hysteria including the Indian wars of 1622. The Puritans believed there was a connection between the natives, the devil, and witchcraft. So it was not farfetched for this to have a tremendous impact on the people of Salem many of whom were survivors of the war. These people would tell stories of the atrocities that occurred lighting the imagination of those around them
1692 was a hard time to live in. People could be accused of being a witch even without proof, so if you had an enemy at this time it was easy to say she's a witch. So you might be asking yourself, what caused the Salem witch trial hysteria of 1692? There really isn't a right there answer to this question, it could have been a lot of things, but the most logical answer would be either malicious intent, empowerment, or jealousy.
The most contributing factor in the witchcraft hysteria was due to the unstable colonies of the Americas. During the early 1600’s the new colonies had rough times establishing religion. Eventually the 13 colonies passed a law indicating that religion and state
In late 1691, witchcraft started to become a belief when a group of teenage girls got together with Reverend Parris’ slave Tituba. Many historians believe there is only one cause for the hysteria of 1692 in Salem. On the other hand, historian G believes there are many reasons for the instability in the town. Historian G’s theory is that the unstable conditions in Salem caused the native accusations to start the hysteria.
The Salem witch craft trials are the most learned about and notable of Europe's and North America's witch hunts. Its notoriety and fame comes from the horrendous amount of people that were not only involved, but killed in the witch hunt and that it took place in the late 1700's being one of the last of all witch hunts. The witch craft crises blew out of control for several reasons. Firstly, Salem town was facing hard economic times along with disease and famine making it plausible that the only explanation of the town's despoilment was because of witches and the devil. As well, with the stimulation of the idea of witch's from specific constituents of the town and adolescent boredom the idea of causing entertainment among the town was an
The purpose of this book was to examine the history and social life of Salem Village to try to figure out what was the cause of the events that occurred there. I believe that the authors achieved their objective at least they did to me. Boyer and Nissenbaum's explanation for the outbreak of witchcraft accusations in Salem hinges on an understanding of the economic,
Between June 10 and September 22, 1692, 20 people were put to death in Salem Massachusetts for witchcraft. Neighbors turned on neighbors, women turned on women. Nobody was necessarily safe from being accused of witchcraft. During the time of the 1600s many English immigrants arrived in New England, a number of them being Puritans. They came to New England to practice Christianity in ways they felt were pure. To help guide the Puritans through life, they read the bible. Whatever the bible said, they believed and one subject was about the Devil. One of the tricks the Devil used, was to enter a normal person’s body and turn that person into a witch. A witch could cause terrible damage. Of course, the Puritans believed it, so every bad act they saw, they often accused the person of being a witch. What
Salem, Massachusetts became famously known for the witch trials that took place in the late 1600’s. For the men and women residing in Salem, Massachusetts it was a time in which they lived in fear of allegations and deceit. Twenty men and women lost their lives during what is known as the Salem Witchcraft Hysteria. Socioeconomic tensions within the community are to blame for the witchcraft hysteria in Salem, Massachusetts during the late 1600’s. Factors such as politics, religion, and social status all played a role in the deadly and devastating era.
In Salem Massachusetts 1692, many innocent people were accused of practicing witchcraft, or being possessed by the devil. The puritans believed everything in the bible and that people had been inhabited by the devil either by force or on purpose and needed to be killed. What caused the chaos in Salem, 1692? The witch trial hysteria was caused by the fear of being accused and hanged, or for being possessed when they weren’t. In that time, you would die either way, unless you confessed in which case you would be sent to church to fix yourself. Also, back then people were very proper and not allowed to sit improperly, otherwise they would get in trouble.
There are many factors that have contributed to the rising of witchcraft frenzies that gripped Salem in 1692. Even though there is an abundance, there are quite a few that are extremely important. These factors include, not only, economics, superstition, religion, politics, and gender.
The events that took place in Salem in 1692 are parts of a pattern throughout history. The role of religion, the want of attention from young girls, and different classes from the community caused a mass hysteria of witchcraft going on in the community causing the persecution of innocent people, especially women, as witches.
Salem Witchcraft Trials and Its Possible Causes - Adolescent girls in Salem MA used spectral evidence for accusations against others about witchcraft; an actual belief in witchcraft by Puritans hysteria from the rigid society a way of poorer and less landowning farmers getting back at the rich way to target women (especially widows or those with land) who were seen as inferior
In the 1680’s and 1690’s there was mass hysteria in New England over supposed witchcraft. The most famous outbreak was in Salem, Massachusetts, hence the name Salem Witch Trials. In Salem, there were young girls who started acting strangely, and they leveled accusations of witchcraft against some of the West Indian servants who were immersed in voodoo tradition. Most of the accusations were against women, and soon the accusations started to shift to the substantial and prominent women. Neighbors accused other neighbors, husbands accused their wives, etc. and it kept going on for a while. There was this nature of evil and the trials didn’t end until nineteen Salem residents were put to death in 1692, more importantly before the girls
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 witchcraft hysteria of 1692 happened within the Puritan colony known as Salem Massachusetts. It’s important to know that the belief in witchcraft was carried over from their home country, England. In England, an act of witchcraft was considered treason against the Church of England, not to mention the king, who was the head of the church, so if one was to turn their back on the church also meant going against the king. Many acts against witchcraft were passed, the one dated closest to the Salem witch trials was the Witchcraft Act of 1604 that moved trials of the supposed witches from churches to actual courts. The fact that they were once held in churches rather than courts seems like a biased situation to me. The puritans were afraid of witchcraft so having the church conduct the trials of said witches could only mean that death was certain. The puritan faith to my understanding was a tough faith to follow, especially for women.
The largest outbreak of witchcraft in America took place in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. A group of girls, including the Parris’s Indian slave Tituba, gathered in the Salem village and were attempting to see the future by decoding “messages”. Shortly after this gathering the girls started showing signs of the possessed (pg. 73). To this day people all over America are still amazed with the events that took place in this time. But why is that? The fear of the village fell heavily onto the judicial system, which later made people focus on the proper separation of government and religious beliefs. Mass hysteria broke out amongst the village and many people were being accused, therefore leading to many innocent deaths. Although there could be many theories as to the reason the witch trials in Salem began, there are two points of view that are very commonly shared amongst people. Some believe that the Salem witch trials were women unconsciously searching for power, whereas others believe it was an encephalitis epidemic.