Essay On Salem Witch Trial

In January 1692, when a group of juvenile girls began to display bizarre behavior, the tight-knit Puritan community of Salem, Massachusetts couldn’t explain the unusual afflictions and came to a conclusion. Witches had invaded Salem. This was the beginning of a period of mass hysteria known as The Salem Witch Trials. Hundreds of people were falsely accused of witchcraft and many paid the ultimate price of death. Nineteen people were hung, one was pressed to death, and as many as thirteen more died in prison. One of the accused Elizabeth Bassett Proctor, a faithful wife and mother, endured her fictitious accusation with honor and integrity.

The Salem Witchcraft trials in Massachusetts during 1692 resulted in nineteen innocent men and women being hanged, one man pressed to death, and in the deaths of more than seventeen who died in jail. It all began at the end of 1691 when a few girls in the town began to experiment with magic by gathering around a crystal ball to try to find the answer to questions such as "what trade their sweet harts should be of ". This conjuring took place in the Parris household where a woman named Tituba, an Indian slave, headed the rituals. Soon after they had begun to practice these rituals, girls who had been involved, including the Master Parris' daughter and niece, became sick.

During the seventeenth century, many Puritans became fed up with the Church of England and its devilish ways. They wanted to break free from it, and make changes elsewhere. They got permission to set up a colony in Massachusetts Bay, and soon after that, over twenty-thousand Puritans fled from England to America. They decided to base their colony on the word of God, and believed God would protect them if they followed his commandments. This meant that if anyone were to sin, “they didn’t want God to protect them because they already worshiped the devil,” and “anyone who worshipped the devil was a witch who used witchcraft to possess others.” Because of this theory, many people were accused of being witches and using witchcraft. The most notorious series of hearings and prosecutions for those accused of witchcraft took place in Salem Village, Massachusetts, known as the Salem Witch Trials.

The Salem Witch Trials were a series of accusations, trials, and executions based on the supposed outbreak of witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts. The trials began during the spring of 1692, and the last of them ended in 1693. It all started when two young girls, Abigail and Betty Parris, began experiencing violent convulsions and outbursts, which were thought to be brought about by witchcraft. Whether they were faking these symptoms, were afflicted with an actual sickness, or were experiencing them because of some sort of psychological reason is widely debated, though it is known that the sisters accused their maid, Tituba, of forcing them to participate in witchcraft with her. Some who theorize about the causes of the trials dismiss the Parris girls involvement in the beginning and instead attribute the outbreak of accusations to judgement upon the members of society who break social or religious rules, or who struck the upright members of society as ‘strange’ and ‘suspicious’, such as the homeless, the poor, and old or widowed women. The cause of the hysteria that went on in Salem after this is what is speculated by so many. There are probably hundreds of theories out there, but a few in particular are more widely known, accepted, and supported than others.

The Salem witch trials were a difficult time for the citizens of the Massachusetts Colony in the late seventeenth century. They were accused of practicing the Devil’s magic, which many believed to be real; so real that people were being imprisoned and executed for it. Between the years 1692 and 1693 there were over two hundred accusations and about 20 people and two dogs were killed altogether.

The Salem Witch Trials were a sequence of hearings, prosecutions, and hangings of people who were thought to be involved in witchcraft in Massachusetts. These trials occurred between February 1692 and May 1693("The Salem Witch Trials, 1692." ). The Trials resulted in the execution of twenty people, in fact, most of them were women. The first of the trials began in several towns in the Province of Massachusetts Bay, such as Salem Village (currently known as Danvers), Salem Town, Ipswich, and Andover("Salem Witch Museum." ). The most infamous trials were tried by the Court of Oyer and Terminer in 1692, in Salem Town. Robert Calef, the author of More Wonders of the Invisible World, a book composed throughout the mid-1690s denouncing the recent Salem witch trials of 1692, summarized the trials saying

In 1692, a town in Massachusetts by the name of Salem Village found itself in one of the most well-known cases of mass hysteria. This saga started with three girls Elizabeth Parris, Abigail Williams, and Ann Putnam a neighborhood friend. Abigail Williams, the niece of the town’s minister, began to display weird and questionable behavior. The town’s physician William Greggs, was called to determine the cause of this sporadic behavior. The town’s physician determine that the three girls were under “the Devil’s influence” and they had been bewitched. What started as a silly game between children, slowly brought the town of Salem to the edge of insanity. This insanity lead to the killing of 25 innocent people due to their crimes of witchcraft. When scholars look back at the Salem Witch Trials they often time ask the question “What were the key factors in the spread of hysteria throughout the town of Salem?” Most scholars contribute the widespread of hysteria to three important factors; these factors include social, political, and religious tension that occurred in Salem Village. Each one of these factors played a key role in the start of the Salem trials and why it spread so rapidly throughout Salem Village.

The year 1692 is remembered as one of the most scandalous times in American History. Throughout the Salem Witch Trials of 1692, over a hundred people were accused of practicing witchcraft (the majority of them being women). 14 women were hung, and 5 men were accused leading to a total of 19 people dying due to these trials. One man was even pressed to death by substantial weights for declining to enter a plea (Linder 1). No less than eight individuals passed on in jail, including one baby and one child; and more than one hundred and fifty people were imprisoned while anticipating trial. The primary reasons for the witch trials were clashes over managing governmental issues, religion, family, financial aspects, and apprehensions of the citizens. The Salem Witch Trials reflect the harsh and rigid judgements of the Puritans and citizens of Salem. It is one of the most intriguing story in American History.

The Salem Witch Trials of 1692 were a dark and very crucial time in American history. The late sixteen hundreds consisted of relying on young girls for the truth; but to what extent did the puritan’s religion and culture have in the proceedings of the Salem Witch Trials? A focus on the religion that the puritans believed in and their culture will be discussed. Also, how their faith turned them against those who were accused of witchcraft. It is also needed to discuss how they faith of the puritan’s even came about.

The Salem Witch Trials took place in Salem, Massachusetts during 1692 when citizens turned on each other and accused their neighbors of witchcraft, the Devil’s magic. The trials, which lasted from June to September, resulted in nineteen men and women being hanged, one man being pressed to death, and many other people dying in jail. Almost as soon as it began, the hysteria that had swept through Puritan Massachusetts ended. There are many opinions as to why the witchcraft trials caused such hysteria in Salem but many conclude that it was triggered by a spoiled food supply, Puritan religious beliefs, the constricted roles of females in Salem society, and the political and social tensions in the colony.

The well-known Salem witch trials began during the spring of 1692, after a set of young girls in Salem Village, Massachusetts, claimed to be possessed

Throughout history citizens have branded people as witches, and warlocks. Maybe, a person act's different than ourselves, or they have strange habits, does this make them a witch? In the Massachusetts Bay Colony in January of 1692, you would be branded a witch for these odd doing's. Being accused of witch craft had serious consequences.

The Salem witch trials began in the year of 1692, after a group of young girls in the village, Massachusetts, claimed to be possessed by the devil. These young girls incriminated several local women of witchcraft. As the wave of hysteria spread throughout Salem, a special court got together to hear the cases. People who believed in supernatural powers or the devils practice of giving certain people the power to harm others was considered witchery. Medical examinations found no evidence of physical illness or ailment. Soon after the first two girls showed symptoms, supplementary women began to show the symptoms too. I believe that the hysteria could have commenced

The Salem Witch Trials were a series of hearings and prosecutions of accused witches in Massachusetts during the year 1692. It is notorious for being a dark time in American history because 20 innocent people were killed. Today, many people know about the actual outcome of the witch trials; but many people don’t know how the trials even started.

Life in the New England colonies during the 1600’s proved to be harsh with the constant fear of Native American attacks, scarce food, freezing winters, and conflicting opinions about religion. From this perpetual state of distress, the Salem Witch Trials were birthed, causing a wave of hysteria in Salem Village and Salem Town. Though the exact day and month is uncertain, historians can claim that the trials emerged in early 1692 and came to a close in 1693. The Salem Witch Trials started in 1692 with more than one hundred fifty people being accused of practicing witchcraft, and the trials finally ended with the courts declaring there was no evidence in the cases being tried, and the Governor stopped the trials because his wife was accused.