How Did The Salem Witch Trials Support Mass Hysteria

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In late 17th century Massachusetts, there were The Salem Witch Trials. It was a series of prosecutions and hearings of people that were accused of witchcraft, and those who did witchcraft were to be praising the devil. All of this ended up taking place in the year 1692 and 93, it resulted in 20 people being executed during that period. It was mostly women who were too accused of all of it. The big question that's been around for a long period was whether the trials were really about witches or something else, which has been debated by scholars and historians for years. Many people at the time believed in that big of a reality of witchcraft, it's clear that all of it was about more than just witchcraft. In 1692, during the winter was when the …show more content…

One of these things is politics. Salem village was into two factions, the traditionalists and the modernizers. The traditionalists were farmers who wanted the old ways of doing things, but the modernizers were business owners who wanted to expand on new things for the village. But the witch trials became a war for these two factions, with both sides accusing each other of witchcraft and using the trials to gain the advantage. Once the trials were marked by paranoia and hysteria, I made the accusation, it would be difficult to prove their innocence. The proof was on the accused, and the evidence consisted of more rumors and hearsay. The trials highly switched the atmosphere, and the witnesses and accusers often gave their emotional testimony. The reactions of the trials were far-reaching from what some can say. The trials ended up exposing the flaws and weaknesses in the legal system of colonial Massachusetts. Ended up leading to a bigger emphasis on the presumption of the innocent. Also, the trials ended up having a lasting effect on the reputation of the Puritans and the decline of Puritanism in America. Finally, there is evidence that suggests that economics played somewhat of a part in the

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