How Did The Salem Witch Trial Cause The Hysteria Of 1692

In summer of 1692, twenty individuals were prosecuted and killed in the city of Salem, Massachusetts for the alleged practice of witchery. The mass killings of people caused a major craze, known as hysteria, in the society, and actually wound up becoming one of the largest mass hysteria cases in history to date. The witchcraft accusations arose when two girls, known as Betty Parris and Abigail Williams, wanted to know their fortunes. To discover their fortunes, they suspended an egg white in a glass of water to look for a shape. One of the girls supposedly saw a coffin-like shape, and after such occurrence, the girls had been reported acting strangely. Thus, the concept of witchcraft became controversial and quickly developed, causing such

Although the exact cause of the Salem Witch Trial Hysteria of 1692 may continue to remain unknown to date, for the majority, such hysteria was caused by social jealousy, fear of the unknown, and the distribution of false information.

Jealousy played a major role in the cause of this case of hysteria. Spontaneously, members of society began accusing others of the practicing of witchcraft. People accused of the practice typically were the same (marital status and age-wise), as were accusers. Those who accused others of witchery were mainly single and 16-20 years old; those who were accused by others of witchcraft typically were 41-60 years old and for the most part, were married. Accusers - typically single and female - likely wanted to accuse the wives of married husbands. The mostly

Cotton Mather, in the previous quote mentioned, spoke of such “witchcraft” that was set to occur three years after he said it would. From the time he said the quote, to the actual trials of 1692, no evidence is directly given aside from Mather’s opinions. The quote very well could have been false information, but because he was so highly regarded (especially for holding a position of religion), it was taken earnestly. The minister later on switches opinions from his original beliefs, causing controversy to arise (was Mather telling the truth, or did he talk as a publicity stunt?). Charles W. Upham, a United States representative from Massachusetts, nearly 200 years after the Trials, wrote about how much of a publicity stunt that the witchery was. Upham states it was evident that the girls who were acting strangely, simply were faking being a witch for attention. Upham says that, “Once or twice they were caught in their own snare,” and that they were undoubtedly “great actors.” Upham writes about the children and how they were “afflicted.” He placed the word “afflicted” in quotes to emphasize that they weren’t genuinely stricken (Upham). This distribution of false information truly caused hysteria to develop, as it acted as a chain