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Salem witch trials research paper
Analysis of the salem witch trials
Salem witch trials historical analysis
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A baffling plague of Satan has arrived in our cursed town, and yet another girl has been convicted of witchery. Elizabeth Clarke, a young mistress, was recently accused of creating a pact with the Devil. A trial commenced last Tuesday at the Salem Town Hall with Persecutor Matthew Hopkins examining Clarke 's allegations. First accusations of her treason began with Clarke 's late lover, Reuben Taylor, whose mother was supposedly cursed by Clarke for not allowing her to be with Taylor as he lay dying.
Three deranged girls, from 1692 Salem; Massachusetts, precipitated the mass hangings of twenty innocent people accused of witchery for the reason that of their adept prowess at acting, their marital status and jealousy of the newfound eastern wealth. As a result of their skills in deception, the accusers were able to dupe the jury to convict people of witchcraft. For example, Document C describes the three girls’ reactions once their target entered the vicinity. “As soon as she [Bishop] came near, all(afflicted girls) fell into fits.”
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.
There is a certain polarity that comes with the territory in witchcraft. In most witch trials, there was a sense of “he said, she said”, one side claiming one thing and the other disagreeing. This seemed to flow into the realm of historical thought on the matter. There is a dividing line of external and internal interpretations on the subject of the witch trials, especially including the trials in Salem. However, I argue that the line between the external and internal interpretations of the witch trials is blurred, the sides often bleeding into each
One accusation spiraled into a countless number of people being accused. Those accused of witchcraft, were sentenced to death because of the claims of another. Your entire life can be put on the stake because of the actions of one person. It only takes one person to alter the entire course of your life. When Abiligal Williams accused Elizabeth proctor of witchcraft, she was
In Salem, Massachusetts, Puritans were strong believers in the Bible. The Bible states, “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.” The Puritans beliefs led to them accusing 20 innocent people of being a witch, this resulted in their deaths in 1692. Even though the Puritans couldn’t see it at the time, their accusations were really based off jealousy, lies, and Salem being divided into two parts. One cause of the Salem witch trial hysteria was jealousy.
Having converted from a pagan to a catholic I have been ridiculed by peers and called a devil worshipper. I find it funny that when people hear the words witch or magic they automatically think there is an association with the devil. At a certain point I started to feel like it was 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts the only things missing were a noose and giant cross. What’s funny is that my interest in the Salem Witch Trials is what began my obsession with all things Wiccan. Unbeknownst to my family I started practicing and I started to become addicted.
Social: 1600s During the 1600s, there were plenty of witch trials and wars regarding religion. In the 1600s, there was a new thing going on. In Europe, people were hunting witches, whether they were men or women. Usually, the ones that were victims, falsely accused were women, for doing witchcraft.
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.
"In an ordinary crime, how does one defend the accused? One calls up witnesses to prove his innocence. But witchcraft is, ipso facto, on its face and by its nature, an invisible crime, is it not? Therefore, who may possibly be a witness to it? The witch and the victim.
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.
They say I am a witch. I say that I am witch and that I worked with the devil while under the parris household. I never thought I was with the devil. When I used to flap my arms and mumble under my breath I was merely just talking to myself and doing good deeds. I was not a witch, but I was.
He states that you coldly prompted your daughter to cry witchery upon George Jacobs that is now in jail.” (Danforth 182). This shows that someone thinks that the girls did perform witch craft and now that there is an accusation against them, the whole village will know what someone saw. The girl’s reputation is going to be ruined by the accusation made against them, and now they have to do anything to prove that they are innocent. Anyone will do anything to protect their reputation.
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.