The Salem Trials : The Causes Of The Salem Witch Trials

The Salem Witch Trials were a time of paranoia and mass hysteria. In this small town of Massachusetts hundreds were accused of witchcraft and 19 people were executed. Salem was home to very devout Puritans. The worries arrived when young girls would become sick with no explanation or cure. The doctors not knowing what the cause of the illness was, quickly pronounce the girls bewitched. It spread terror through the town. The girls, as well as other residents, started accusing others of witchery. Many accusations were because of vengeance or self-interest. There were rivalries between families over land or wealth. Neighbors started accusing each other in order to gain their land. The religious community had an intensified sense of fear that the Devil was walking among them. They believed witches were out to destroy the Puritans. In order to purify the village of evil they had trials for the accused.

Abigail starts to accuse several people in Salem soon after Tituba in a desperate ploy to get attention, that soon gets blown out of proportion and becomes a massacre of innocent people.

Most people who were accused were Females and most were married there were a total of 134 accused people 110 of them were Females and only 24 of them were Males. Accused people were on different age groups 24 of them were under 20 years old, 21 people were 21-40 years old, 52 people were 41-60 years old, and 21 people were over 60 years old.

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

Living as we do in the 20th century, the charges imposed on people throughout New England during the 1680s and 1690s seem preposterous. Any behavior regarded as strange by fellow citizens was sufficient to hold a trial with a sentence of death. Though such scenarios seem unfathomable in our modern culture, it was a reality for hundreds of New England settlers. The causes of the famous outbreak of witch trials in Salem, Massachusetts are rooted in social, economic, and political aspects of the late 17th century Salem community.

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).

The Salem witchcraft trials resulted from a climate of repression, religious intolerance, and social hierarchy combined with fanaticism and the oppression of women. The Puritan leaders used the trials as a way to control the community and to prevent change in the strict social hierarchy. The trials ensured that the teachings of the church would be followed - anyone not following the church was simply accused of being a witch and punished accordingly. Witchcraft was considered a crime, and punishment was severe. The first recorded incidents of Witchcraft originated in the mind of a young girls who would supposedly use crystal balls to try and predict their future.

Salem Witch Trials was a series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft in the Salem Village of the 17th century New England. The trials caused executions of many people, mostly women. Salem Witch Trials exposed the different gender roles during the seventeenth century. Women were supposed to take on “wifely duties” such as, be mothers and housewives. Women were taught to follow the men. There were strict religious norms during the seventeenth century. There was rigid moral code believed that God would punish sinful behavior. Those who were under the covenant by the church of the Salem Village believed that Satan would select those to fulfill his work and those who followed Satan were considered witches. Witchcraft was considered a punishable crime. Salem Witch Trials revealed that gender played a role for the accused and accusers. The trials also revealed that one’s relationship with God will set deliverance from Satan’s attacks. Salem Witch Trials demonstrated how rumors, jealousy, and the idea of male dominance affected people of the Salem Village.

The Salem Witch Trials of 1692 is one of the biggest events in American History. Before the trials began the Protestants, and the Catholics worked together to hunt down people that practice witchcraft. It is said that people that practice witchcraft use powers to bewitch others, and those that are accused of witchcraft must face a consequence. The trials began when two young girls became ill, and accused their slave of bewitching them. Then the spectral evidence case against Bridget Bishop was brought to court, and ended in execution along with twenty others.

Witchcraft is the use of magical powers. Witchcraft is often regarded as “black” magic. The article called “The Salem Witch Trials: 1692-1693” states that “[s]ince the early fifteenth century, so-called witch panics had periodically swept across Europe, causing witch hunts, accusations, trials and executions” (“Salem” 1). Although some children and males were accused, the greater part of the arraigned individuals were female (“Salem” 1). A debatable amount of around forty thousand individuals were implicated and executed as witches between fourteen hundred and seventeen hundred and fifty (“Salem” 1). Although the causes of the witchcraft hysteria are debatable, there are three widespread and favored explanations for the hysteria within

The Salem witch trials were brutal by way of taking innocent people and putting them on trial because they pinched someone or just muttered some word. The people accused of practicing witchcraft which are Sarah Good, Tituba, John Proctor, Bridget Bishop, Dorcas Hoar, and George Burroughs all were accused of practicing witchcraft. They were put in an examination and questioned about the devil and why he made them torment the children or people. In these trials, examinations ended in two ways, they either confessed and turned in other witches such at Tituba or they completely denied having involvement in witchcraft. Most of the time the witches said they had no involvement in such deeds or played the victim card. For example, Sarah Good was arrested and examined that after saying numerous times that she had no involvement, she then turned

Abigail williams accused Tituba (her maid) of witchcraft. Abigail told her uncle she made them dance in the woods and drink blood, and summon the devil. tituba scared for her life pleaded guilty; thus starting the Salem Witch Trials. If Abigail williams did not accuse her of witchcraft and her uncle didn't

Salem Village is located on the northeast coast of Massachusetts. The settlements first title was Naumkeag but was changed to Salem, meaning peace, because it was preferred. Salem was founded in 1626, and is best remembered for the witch hysteria beginning in 1692. A few girls started acting deranged and crazed. A doctor diagnosed them as bewitched, leading to trials and hunts for accused witches. These witch trials and hunts caused nineteen people to be hung and caused one person to be pressed to death. There were more than 150 accusations of witchcraft during this period. There were many factors that contributed to the witch hunt happening. The superstitious and religious beliefs of the people as well as political, economic and

the accused behalves were frequently in turn accused of being a witch. The Salem Witch Trials

Were the Salem Witch Trials made up by leaders just to gain power in the community? The Salem Witch Trials were a hysteria that took place in 1692 when Abigail Williams, Betty Parris, and Ann Putnam started acting strangely. The girls were checked out by a doctor, who was the first on to suggest that the girls were bewitched. This hysteria spread because the girls accused other women of being witches and that the women had spells cast upon them, and this is what caused them to act in this way. These girls caused many people to be accused of witchcraft, even if they were innocent. There are many logical theories to suggest why the girls were really acting this way, and why they accused others of witchcraft. Today, no one is entirely sure what really did cause the girls to act this way. There is evidence leading to the leaders wanting to gain more power, but why did they feel this way, were the trials taken farther than they expected or intended, and did these trials really give attention to the church?