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Mass Hysteri The European And Salem Witch Trials

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“Hysteria is only possible with an audience” (Palahniuk). Without an audience, hysteria is not possible. A fear or rumor is struck into people through a phenomenon, making people feel threatened. With mass hysteria, people pour out information due to the threatening feelings going around. Mass hysteria is like pouring gasoline on a fire, it makes it burn hotter and get out of control. Witch trials throughout Europe and Salem flourished due to false accusations. In modern times, people are not immune to mass hysteria, people are only creating and spreading it. The European and Salem Witch Trials both started in similar fashion. The Salem Witch Trials started with a young child’s accusation of someone using witchcraft. The young group …show more content…

The European Witch Trials mostly took place in France, Germany, Northern Italy, Switzerland, Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands. The trials took place from the fifteenth century to the eighteenth century. People mostly ignored the thought of witchcraft until it was necessary to take action. Europeans were in the process of a religious reformation. The Reformation heightened the awareness of evil within the culture. With the works of Jakob Sprenger and Heinrich Kramer people could identify witches. Sprenger and Kramer wrote “Malleus Maleficarum”, which translates to The Hammer of Witches. The book contained legal arguments against witchcraft, and provided how to identify and eliminate witches. Similar to the trials in Salem, most of the people accused were women. Most of the women accused were widows, the widows had nobody to defend their accountability. In similar fashion, most of the deaths in the European trials were hangings. Another way of execution was tying the persons hands and feet together and putting them in water, if the person sank, deemed innocent. If the person floated, considered to be witches and executed on the spot. Other tortures included thumbscrews, leg vices, scalding lime baths, whipping stocks, and the strappado. The strappado hoisted up a person and pulled apart. Although the two accounts of Salem and Europe were apart in history, both started with mass

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How does The Salem Witch Trials relate to The Japanese Internment? Did both events happen out of fear or was this meant to be? The Salem Witch Trials and The Japanese Internment were both out of fear, and they are very similar by the events that occurred. The Salem Witch Trials took place in 1692.

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Throughout history there have been many instances where people were put in jail and even killed for no reason. Two examples of this would be The Salem Witch Trials and The Holocaust. These two events have their similarities and differences, but is ultimately the same situation. The Salem Witch Trials started in 1692 in the town of Salem,Massachusetts (Miller,1124). It all started with a group of young girls(Miller,1124).

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Was The Crucible historically accurate? It was loosely accurate. A lot of the stories were definitely over dramatized. There were outrageous accusations on almost everyone. Here is how it all started.

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Yelitza Andrade Pyles English 11 Honors 12 October 2015 Witch-hunts Justification In Salem, Massachusetts 1692 the Salem witch trials began when a group of girls lied and said that they were possessed by the devil and the accusations of several innocent people being involved with witchcraft took place. Trials later took place after the accusations for the hearings of each person and to hear their story. Many people who had hearings lied to the court and said that they were possessed to not get executed and to save their lives but many did not want to lie because it was wrong and an injustice. The event led to 19 executions of all innocent people and 100 other innocent women, men, and children were put in prison because of the false accusations.

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From 1692 to 1693, the Salem witch trials had Massachusettes in shambles because of the rising hysteria and madness. This madness was caused by many factors, including a corrupted justice system, personal grudges against one another, and one's willingness to lie for pride. The Salem government was considered a theocracy, in which the government was ruled in the name of God and the hands of the priest. Judge Danforth exemplifies unprofessionalism when he decides he cannot pardon anyone because they have already hung many others, which would be admitting his wrongdoing. “You misunderstand, sir; I cannot pardon these when twelve are already hanged for the same crime.

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Salem was a small settlement, every settler knew one another (Miller, Arthur). And when there were whispers of witchcraft, the whispers became loud and public

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The Causes of the Salem Witch Trials Much of modern America’s fear and infamous interest in witches has been derived most likely from the profound Salem Witch Trials. “The infamous Salem witch trials began during the spring of 1692, after a group of young girls in Salem Village, Massachusetts, claimed to be possessed by the devil and accused several local women of witchcraft,” stated History.com authors. However, many historians still deliberate how such events occurred in the first place. Based on several presented documents, some conclusions suggest that there was a prominent cause to the beginning of the Salem Witch Trials. All in all, the cause of the Salem Witch Trials was the attempt of Salem citizens to either defend or create family

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The definition of hysteria is ¨exaggerated or uncontrollable emotion or excitement, especially among a group of people.¨ When members of society become hysterical it becomes difficult to function as a community. They develop a fear so great, they will try to do everything in their power, to prevent this from occurring. Even if the means of prevention involves innocent people dying and the government becoming corrupt, the society will act upon their fear of evil. They become frightened, aggressive and unwilling to trust people they’ve known their whole lives. Throughout history there have been numerous examples of mass hysteria.

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The text recounts, "Her trial record is a poignant and chronicle of her trial and torment: “Feeling herself strapped down, she says she is not a witch, while struggling to cry,” This depiction highlights the extreme measures undertaken by accusers to safeguard themselves from perceived witchcraft threats; demonstrating societal damage caused by the witch hunt. On an individual level, the afflicted, similar to Suzanne Gandrys’ case, were forced to confront the agonizing choice between self-preservation and false confession, illuminating the emotional torment and psychological trauma endured by those on an individual level ensnared in the Wurzburg witch

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Bridget Bishop, a resident of Salem, was the first person to be tried as a witch. Surprisingly, Bishop was accused of witch craft by the highest number of witneses. After Bishop, more than two hundred people were tried of practicing witchcraft and twenty were executed. Many of these accusations arose from jealous, lower class members of society, especially towards women who had come into a great deal of land or wealth. Three young children by the names of Elizabeth, Abigail, and Ann were the first three people to be “harmed” by the witches.

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Mass Hysteria is a well known occurrence that involves a group of people that go through an event that may or may not be real that creates paranoia and fear.1 It is sometimes referred to as a physical illness that contributes to hallucinations and having weird symptoms because of a certain witnessing of actions that are questionable. This concept has existed for hundreds of years, and still occurs today in society. Examples of mass hysteria includes 9/11, the holocaust, school shootings, witchcraft, and the ebola outburst. A mass hysteria that was popular in the 1960’s-1970’s was the Zodiac Killer, a horrific murder that shocked society and changed their lives to be surrounded by fear and anxiety.

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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.

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Many practicing Christians, at the time, believed that the Devil could persuade people to use the powers that he gave them to harm others. The Salem Witch Trials occurred because of resource struggles, many women were accused and tortured, and in the end the Governor realized that it was a big mistake. (“Salem Witch Trials”, 1). In 1689, English rulers William and Mary started a war with France in the American colonies which sent many refugees into the Essex County and Salem Village.

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The book malleus maleficarum was a notable warning concerning situations when intolerance took over a societal setting. The Malleus was used as a judicial case book used to detect, persecute people that are suspected to be possessed with witchcrafts, it specifies rules of evidence and the laws that are connected with or allowed by the Christian Church by which suspected witches were being tortured and put to death. According to the words of Innocent VIII, the bishop emphasized that it is possible for anyone accused of being

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REVIEW OF LITRATURE A.) SUMMARY SOURCE A Although the whole book had information on the Salem witch trials. The introduction, chapter 1 and 2 and the conclusion had information regarding the research needed • Introduction: states what the Salem witch trials where and who they accused.

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