The Salem Witch Trials Essay - 2186 Words

In 1692, a small town, by the name of Salem, in the Massachusetts Bay Colony was riveted by events that would be a significant part of our history today. Those events would be known as the Salem Witch Trials. As Americans, we should be knowledgeable about this time in our history; what caused it, what happened, and what the outcome was. Nineteen men and women were hanged from June to September of 1692, as a consequence of being accused of witchcraft. It all started in February, 1692, when Betty Parris, Reverend Samuel Parris’s daughter, became oddly ill. No one knows the exact cause of her illness, whether it was from boredom or an actual disease called â€Å"Convulsive Ergotism.† (Unknown, What Happened, Unknown). This disease begins when a person eats ergot infected rye (ergot is a fungus that invades developing kernels of rye grain, especially in warm and damp conditions, which was Salem’s summer before). This disease causes violent fits, a crawling feeling on the skin, vomiting, choking, and hallucinations. (Unknown, What Happened, Unknown). This is only a theory and does not fully explain the reason of her fits. Her fits consisted of her claiming that witches were biting and clawing at her. Since a Boston Irish washerwoman had earlier been accused of witchcraft, people in the Salem began believing that the Devil was at hand, and so they believed her and her fits. (Unknown, What Happened, Unknown) Ann Putnam, Mercy Lewis, and Mary Walcott joined the fun with Betty. TheyShow MoreRelated salem witch trial Essay1180 Words   |  5 Pagessalem witch trial This is about witchcraft and is started like this: In the winter of 1691-92, several people in Salem Village, most of them young women, but eventually including a few men and boys, began behaving in a strange unusual manner†, with an affect which was interpreted as illness. The towns minister, Samuel Parris, whose daughter and niece were among those with this odd affect, sought to cure the perceived problem with prayer; others, including a doctor of physic who was calledRead MoreSalem Witch Trial Hysteria Essay818 Words   |  4 PagesTwenty people were put to death for witchcraft in Salem during the 1692 Salem Witch Trial Hysteria. In The Crucible, a woman, Elizabeth Proctor, gets accused of witchcraft by a young girl by the name Abigail Williams, who just so happens to be having an affair with Elizabeth’s husband, John. Once John finds out Abigail accused his wife, he starts trying to find proof that all of these young girls are pretending that they are being hurt by these older women, just so that they will be hanged. The officialsRead MoreEssay about Salem witch trials1931 Words   |  8 Pages Salem Witch Trials: Casting a spell on the people Today, the idea of seeing a witch is almost inconsequential. Our Halloween holiday marks a celebration in which many will adorn themselves with pointy black hats and long stringy hair, and most will embrace them as comical and festive. Even the contemporary witchcraft religious groups forming are being accepted with less criticism. More recently, the Blair Witch movie craze has brought more fascination than fear to these dark and magical figuresRead MoreEssay on The Theories of the Salem Witch Trials1135 Words   |  5 PagesThe Theories of the Salem Witch Trials The Salem Witch trials and what caused them is very debatable. Some theories lead to Rye poisoning from bread to even people faking it. The most believable claim is that people were faking it. Everyone had a motive and they all just wanted to save themselves. It was a time when people were selfish and only cared for themselves. This time in Salem was a troubling time, making it seem likely that satan was active (Linder). The townsfolk are believed to haveRead MoreThe Salem Witch Trials Essay1369 Words   |  6 PagesThe Salem Witch Trials The witch trials of the late 1600s were full of controversy and uncertainty. The Puritan town of Salem was home to most of these trials, and became the center of much attention in 1692. More than a hundred innocent people were found guilty of practicing witchcraft during these times, and our American government forced over a dozen to pay with their lives. The main reasons why the witch trials occurred were conflicts dealing with politics, religion, family, economicsRead MoreThe Salem Witch Trials Essay1333 Words   |  6 PagesThe Salem Witch Trials, taking place between February 1692 and May 1693, arose from a period of mass hysteria regarding witchcraft. The puritanical society of New England emphasized a need for a Bible-based society, which caused a fear of the supernatural and gave rise to the false accusations of â€Å"witches.† With testimonies of witches rooted in the Old Testament, the idea of witchcraft eventually made its way into the superstitious and everyday Puritan life, and was fueled by the rejection of theRead MoreThe Salem Witch Trials Essay2008 Words   |  9 Pageswomen and men. The madness continued for over four months. The notorious witch trials of Salem, Massachusetts occurred from June through September. It is a brief, but turbulent period in history and the causes of the trials have long been a source of discussion among historians. Many try to explain or rationalize the bizarre happenings of the witch hunts and the causes that contributed to them. To understand the trials and how they came to be, we must first examine the ideals and views of the peopleRead MoreSalem Witch Trials Essay1478 Words   |  6 Pages1692 marked a major event in history in the town of Salem, Massachusetts. The Salem Witchcraft Trials still leaves this country with so many questions as to what happened in that small town. With all the documentation and accounts of the story, people are still wondering why 19 people died as a result of these trials. This paper will discuss the events leading up to the Salem Witch Trials and the events that took place during and after the trials, and the men and women who were killed or spent theRead MoreThe Salem Witch Trials Essay1349 Words   |  6 PagesBefore 1692, the supernatural was a part of people’s everyday normal life. This is so as people strongly believed that Satan was present and active on earth. Men and women in Salem Village believed that all the misfortunes that befell them were the work of the devil. For example, when things like infant death, crop failures or friction among the congregation occurred, people were quick to blame the supernatural. This concept first emerged in Europe around the fifteenth century and then spread toRead More Salem Witch Trials Essay876 Words   |  4 PagesSalem Witch Trials The Salem Witch Trials was probably considered the darkest time for the New England Colony. This was a mass murder of women and a few men that were supposed witches. All of this started from two little girls and a bacteria in the bread that affected the brain. This all started on January 20,1692 when nine-year-old Elizabeth Parris and eleven-year-old Abigail Williams started to exhibit strange behavior. Blasphemous screaming, Seizures, Trance-like states and Mysterious