In 1741 a series of thirteen fires broke out in the streets of New York as part of a conspiracy plot for slaves to gain their freedom back. An investigation by the supreme court looked into the matter, what resulted in over one hundred slaves being captured and interrogated and in fear for their lives they used scapegoats to try and save themselves what only fuelled the fire of the witch hunt for those who were actually responsible. The Negro plot of 1741 was an example of a witch hunt because it caused mass hysteria within the white community and also because the slaves convicted of being a part of the conspiracy used scapegoats to try and save their own lives. One of the reasons The Negro Plot of 1741 is considered a witch hunt is because during the investigation of the fires, white people in the community were afraid that the slaves were trying to fight back in order to gain their freedom back, which caused a lot of negative emotions to stir within the community causing vigilantes to take the law into their own hands. Soon A discontented Spanish Negro came under strong suspicion on April 6, when four new fires broke out and the cry of “ Take up the Spanish Negros “( Linder ) echoed the streets of New York. Vigilante soon rounded up five Spanish negros and escorted them off to the courthouse to be interrogated by the …show more content…
After all of this was said and done, Burton said “Hughson was to be king, and Caesar governor”(Linder). Then in early June, six more black slaves were convicted and condemned to die in connection with the arsons. One of the condemned slaves named Jack, offered to tell the judges everything he knows about the conspiracy if they would only spare his life. Jake’s confession depicted a large meeting of Negroes in February at the home of his master, Gerardus
As the conspiracy trials of 1741 continued, it became evident that the promise of a pardon ultimately led to false testimonies. Residents who had been accused of arson or as participants in the conspiracy of 1741, would often utter lies as a means to save themselves from being publicly beaten or from being hanged. The fear that those of lower class and rank became evident as soon false testimonies became mundane during the proceedings of the New York conspiracy trails of 1741. This was depicted as a colored slave named Cambridge, confessed that his testimony against Cajoe, another slave, was false and begged for forgiveness as he was overpowered by fear to accuse (133). The fear that soon inhabited the hearts of both slaves and poor whites
The Conspiracy Trial of 1741 never existed; it was all nothing but fiction made up by a guilty conscience. The whites realized how badly they were treating others, and the fact that these “slaves” didn’t do anything
“Black Magic: Witchcraft, Race, and Resistance in Colonial New England” is an interesting work by Timothy J. McMillan published in September of 1994, it primarily focuses on the manner in which blacks were accused of witchcraft in colonial New England. I find this paper to be rather enjoyable to read as it conveys the information in an unbiased manner, it also refers to an intriguing subject matter focusing on race as it is not commonly used when witchcraft is brought up. The author appears to be trying to explain why blacks were more commonly accused of witchcraft and the reason is not as obvious as one would think. The article is about how blacks were more likely to be accused of witchcraft, however the reasons had less to do with race
Escaping Salem In the history of America, Salem witch hunt of 1692 was among the most famous events. The number of individuals accused of witchcraft as well as those executed for the same crime exceeded the total number of those in New England across the whole seventeenth-century. Individuals who struggled to live though the condition were later improved from the beginning of the colonies. Women in particular, had a hard time to fit in the society as they were seen to be inferior compared to men.
Alexia Mendez Ms. O’Brien AP Euro 1 November 2017 Witchcraft DBQ Starting in the fifthteenth century, a witchcraft craze occurred. People, left and right, mostly women, were being accused of being a witch. These people, innocent or not, once accused were put into prisons where they were questioned and tortured until they would confess being a witch.
One of these times, 21 white people were killed. When the militia came, all 43 slaves were killed or executed. The government even thought that maybe they should bribe the Native Americans to help. { Doc. 6}
The Salem Witch Trials were a series of witchcraft cases back in 1692. Innocent “witches” and familiars were assassinated without a firm cause. People do not think this could happen again because now, they have proven how it started. This trials were made out of fear, the fear of becoming possessed. If the trials would not have happened, they would probably be happening now because of modern day beliefs and cultures.
Salem witchcraft trials started in New England and caused a lot of deaths and hysteria for the people of Salem, Massachusetts. Innocent women and men were hung just for being accused by their fellow friends and neighbors. Witchcraft in the 17th century was a big taboo that people feared. It started when a couple of girls from Salem encountered an African woman slave who knew about sorcery and fortune. After a few days, people noticed that they seemed different.
Salem Witch Trials were a series of prosecutions and hearings of people being accused of witchcraft, at which it took place in 1692 and in 1693. Similar to that, was the Red Scare. The Red Scare, commonly known as McCarthyism, took place from 1959-1954 and was a campaign that endorsed the use of unfair allegations and or investigations. The horrible rumors and acts in both events really made people fear what was going on around them and pushed them to act on it, which lead to if you were with us or against us, which came with punishments and or hangings. Both the themes fear and with us or against us, play huge roles and are major factors in the upsurge of the Salem Witch Trials and the Red Scare.
The first four colonies of America were, New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay Colony, Rhode Island, following with Connecticut. John Winthrop, Thomas Hooker, Roger Williams, along with Anne Hutchinson, were few of the founders of the first colonies. Centered around religion, after escaping religious persecution, these colonies based the way they lived their lives around the Bible, Church, along with the New testament. The Puritans emphasized religious obligations and followed strict guidelines pertaining to the Bible. They broke away from the church of England and became their own religion following the teachings of the Bible as well as the Old Testament.
The Salem witch trial hysteria of 1692 may have been instigated by religious, social, geographic and even biological factors. During these trials, 134 people were condemned as witches and 19 were hanged. These statistics also include 5 more deaths that occurred prior to their execution date. It is interesting to look into the causes of this stain on American History, when as shown in document B, eight citizens were hanged in only one day.
The events that took place leading up to the witch trials were Bacon’s Rebellion, The Little ice age, and the puritan control of the church and state. Bacon’s rebellion was a rebellion in Virginia against Governor William Berkeley for his failure to address the colonists safety. The Little ice age was a very religious time for the settlers, who thought they were being punished by God. Puritan control of the church and state led people to believe that men were superior and women were evil beings. The witch trials of 1692 were not only motivated by the stringent restrictions of the Puritan faith, but also by the misogynistic social structure that provoked mass hysteria among the sexes.
During the Salem Witch Trials a lot of people were accused of using witchcraft. As a result many people died for other people’s lies, rumors, and selfishness. There is one person that really caused and is most to blame for all the chaos, her name is Abigail. Abigail is to blame for all that has happened in the Witch Trials, the reason for that is because of all the accusing and lying she has done. In addition, it all leads up to her for instance, she used a doll to accuse people of witchcraft.
The Salem witch trial was a time about accusing your fellow neighbor or being accused yourself, this all began in 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts. During this time many people were being accused of being a witch, a majority of the time it was because either someone truly believed that you were a witch and were reeking havoc or they were trying to find someone to take the blame if they were to being accused. So this leads us to question, what began the Salem Witch Trials? There were at least three causes of the Salem witch trials hysteria. These were Betty Parris and Abigail Williams story, Ergotism, and the acknowledgment of hysteria.
Not many people know much about what actually happened in the Salem Witch Trials. Maybe someone would think that it was just about witchcraft and crazy people being hanged, but it is a lot more than that. The Salem Witch Trials only occurred between 1692 and 1693, but a lot of damage had been done. The idea of the Salem Witch Trials came from Europe during the “witchcraft craze” from the 1300s-1600s. In Europe, many of the accused witches were executed by hanging.