Causes Of The Salem Witch Trials

The Salem Witch Trials:
Many mysteries have occurred over the years such as the Lost Colony of Roanoke, BigFoot, or the infamous Skinwalker Ranch, but among these the most known mystery would be The Witch Trials of Salem. The event itself is not a mystery but the underlying forces behind the witch trials are. Over the years many theories have been proposed. The most prominent theory is the Ergot Theory, that puts forth the idea that a fungus caused the panic, but we believe that a more sinister cause is behind the panic. We believe that the hysteria was because the town was almost at a boiling point before the witch trials because of the land disputes and along with the puritans religious beliefs this induced the trials. Then suddenly it

Salem Massachusetts was a puritan town and their religion was a main part of their daily life(King and Mixon, “Religiosity and the Political Economy of the Salem Witch Trials”). Which is why the Salem witch trials were such a huge problem during this time. Three girls by the names of Abigail, Betty, and Ann were the family of Parris and Putnam and they were huge factors in the Salem witch trials. There are often theories that the girls were faking their strange behavior such as twisting their bodies into strange shapes and saying words that made no sense (“The Salem Witch Trials''). The girls accused three women that didn’t have a dominant role in the town of Massachusetts. Tituba (a Native American slave), Sarah Good, and Sarah Osbourne. In the play it stated that confessing to witchery was a way to potentially save yourself from being hanged. Another way to get out of being accused was by acussing your neighbor. The accused would be humiliated publicly and if someone questioned the guilt of the defendant they would have been tried as well(''Salem Witch

The Ergot fungus is a hallucinogenic fungus that grows on cereal grains such as rye which was the grain of choice for the town of Salem. The theory proposes that the girls who were accusing others to be witches were under the influence of the hallucinogens but this could only happen if the afflicted individual has a deficiency of the vitamin A. Vitamin A is a crucial vitamin in the human body because it supports the immune system, reproductive system, bodily growth, and vital for proper function of vital organs (Office of Dietary Supplements - Vitamin a and Carotenoids). Vitamin A is found in a wide range of foods such as dairy products, leafy greens, eggs, liver, and fish such as salmon and herring all of which were present in the daily diet of the inhabitants of the town of Salem. The girls could not have completely avoided the intake of the vitamin because the town of Salem is fertile ground for agriculture and it is a major port. Both of which would exceed the need for most vitamins. The ergot leads to poisoning or a trip. An early ergot trip leads to nausea, vomiting, muscle pain and weakness, numbness, itching, and rapid or slow heartbeat. Ergot poisoning can progress to gangrene, vision problems, confusion, spasms, convulsions, unconsciousness, and death. These symptoms can be found in the accusing girls, BUT because this fungus is a hallucinogen that means that when the girls claim to see others