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Salem Witch Dbq

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he Salem Witch Trials of 1692 Witch or not? This was the main question in the town of Salem 331 years ago. During this period, 134 innocent people were accused of being witches for several reasons. The accused had their fate decided in court, known as the Salem Witch Trials. If one accused of witchcraft confessed, they were put in jail, then removed from the town after their sentence. If the accused witches did not confess, they were hanged or pressed to death. During these trials, only twenty-four people of those 134 were killed, four of whom died in jail. The Puritans, who accused the witches and believed strongly in the Bible, thought a witch was someone who was overtaken by the devil. Overall, the Salem Witch Trial Hysteria in 1692 …show more content…

Unlike the men, these women spent most of their time cooped up inside doing household tasks. This could have played part in the bias, because women were considered to have weaker souls, and the devil is interoperated to prey on the weak. According to the DBQ Document B, 110 of the 134 people accused were women. This represents the claim that the Salem Witch Trial Hysteria could have been caused by a bias against women. Secondly, the younger women could have been bored because they were spending everyday with the older women. This could have caused a bias towards older women. Also in the DBQ Document B, the records show that 73 out of 134 accused people were over the age of 40. Furthermore in DBQ Document B, the statistics show that 97 of 134 people were married or once married. This shows that being married or once married is an opportunity to use it against his or her spouse. For example, in DBQ Document C, the text says about Bridget Bishop, “[The people of Salem] say you bewitched your first husband to death.” This is an example of why there was a bias towards married people in the Salem Witch Trials. In conclusion, there could have been a bias towards gender, age, and marital status might have caused the Hysteria of the Salem Witch …show more content…

A theory has been brought up by Charles Upham that the victims, Betty Parris and Abagail Williams, were lying. For example, Upham writes in DBQ Document D, “It is dreadful to reflect upon the enormity of their wickedness... [T]here can be no doubt that they were great actors.” This illustrates the idea that the afflicted girls, or the “witchcraft victims” were just faking it, and their acting killed the 24 people. Furthermore, in DBQ Document C, the text states, “[Bridget Bishop] shook her head, and the afflicted were tortured.” This shows that Bishop supposedly used witchcraft on the two girls by shaking her head. To add on, the examination was recorded by the Governor Sammuel Parris. This could have caused a bias because his daughter was one of the afflicted girls, and Parris would have more easily believed his daughter than Bishop. To sum up, the Hysteria of the Salem Witch Trials might have been caused by the lying of the

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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.

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Accusations of witchcraft began to surface, and soon dozens of people were arrested and put on trial. The trials were deeply flawed, relying on spectral evidence and confessions obtained through torture. Many of the accused were women, and their alleged crimes were rooted in sexist stereotypes. By the time the hysteria subsided, twenty people had been executed and several more had died in jail. The witch trials demonstrated the dangers of mass hysteria and the danger of groupthink, as people were swept up in a frenzy of fear and suspicion.

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248 Words | 1 Pages

Throughout the trials, more than 200 people were accused of witchcraft and 20 were executed. The people of Salem lived in constant fear of witchcraft accusations being brought against them, which only enhanced the hysteria in the village. The females got really sick when they went back home that could cause illness or death. The main point is that a large group of

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While those accused of being communist sympathizers lost jobs, some accused witches lost their lives. This extreme punishment was carried out through hangings and in some cases, pressing by stones. “Five more people were hanged in July; five in August and eight more in September. In addition, seven other accused witches died in jail” (Salem Witch Trials) A total of 200 people were accused of witchcraft and 20 killed during the span of the Salem witch trials.

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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.

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In another source, it is shown that out of 88 accused, 55 were over 40 years old. It also shows that 28 out of the total 29 were single and 23 were under 20 years old (Demos, 1315). In the time period of the Salem Witch Trials, women were supposed to be obedient and listen to men. They were not allowed to own property, so the only way to gain any property is to marry into a social class above you. By accusing these married women and having them hanged or at least be perceived as witches, it is likely that the men will be free to marry so the women could either gain a higher social status or be with someone they wanted to be

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1512 Words | 7 Pages

It seemed that by casting her eye upon them, Bishop could strike them down into fits. The only thing that would stop these fits was the touch of her hand upon the girls.” Now, one could not know if these girls were lying, but Bridget Bishop was not the only woman in the town of Salem to fall under the young girl’s accusation. Bridget was put to death, and her case is what set the stage for all the trails that were held in Salem during this time. There was no actual evidence in this case, nor was there any evidence in most of the other cases tried in this town.

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Alana Alvarado Professor Krammer March 7, 2023 Salem Witch Trials Throughout this class, we have learned what witches are throughout history and how they have had an impact on our history, and some of the misfortunes that took place. Learning about the history of witches and witchcraft helped us understand the build-up to the witch trials in Salem Massachusetts, which began in 1692 and lasted until 1693. During these witch trials in Salem about 150 people were accused of being a witch, and about 25 people died as a result of these trials. Many things had an impact on the unfortunate event in history from warfare, gender, and economic issues, but I will be focusing on how Religion and Gender played a big part in the Salem witch trials.

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783 Words | 4 Pages

Firstly, the judges of the Salem Witch Trials attempted to conceal their mistakes. This can be seen in how they try to convince John Proctor to admit to witchcraft in order to prove that the convictions have not been false. The townspeople are becoming leery of the fact that such upstanding members of their society have been accused. Reverend Parris even states, "Rebecca Nurse is no Bridget that lived three year with Bishop before she married him.

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1702 Words | 7 Pages

In general, women in the Puritan society of Salem had little autonomy and agency, which made them easy to blame. In the Journal Dissenting Voices, Maggie Rosen states that “the reinforcement of the strict gender roles (i.e., women as mothers, caretakers, and homemakers) made it easy to target the women who stepped outside of their assigned role. Powerful women and/or women who transgressed the boundaries of the gender binary were seen as an evil.” The expectations of women in Salem in 1692 were incredibly limiting. Hence, any kind of step outside the boundary is incredibly noticeable and even labeled as “evil.”

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695 Words | 3 Pages

Many people in the town had their issues with others. Therefore they would accuse eachother of witchcraft to get rid of their problems. The author states,“More than 200 people were accused of practicing witchcraft—the devil’s magic—and 20 were executed” (Blumberg). This quote tells that Salem had many false accusations, making it more challenging for the court to find the real witches. Similarly, people in the village that were known for their good reputations, were being accused which confused the court even more.

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1029 Words | 5 Pages

It was not until May of 1692 that the first individual was executed. Bridget Bishop, an older woman known for being promiscuous and stirring up gossip, was found guilty of witchcraft and hanged on Gallows Hill (Blumberg, 2007). The Salem Witch Trials finally came to an end in October of that year when William Phips, the governor of Salem, released those accused from jail and prohibited further arrests in response to accusations against his wife. By the end, 20 people had been executed, either by pressing or hanging, and over 200 had been accused. Despite the fact that the Salem Witch Trials occurred over 300 years ago, the same accusatory attitudes and behaviors that fueled those atrocities still persist in the US

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618 Words | 3 Pages

Twenty people was executed because of this. But eventually the colony admitted that the trials was an mistake. Many practicing Christians and other religions had a strong belief that the Devil could give certain the witches powers to harm others in return for their loyalty. The witchcraft rippled through Europe from 1300s to 1600s, it was mostly women who was executed. This event took place during a difficult and confusing period for Salem Village.

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596 Words | 3 Pages

It hadn’t really taken much to persuade the villagers of Salem that there was evil among them since they were faithful and strongly religious. Mainly women were among the 200 people accused. 14 women had been prosecuted. There was an estimate of 75% of the witchcraft accusations being put on women. Since in other people's eyes women were more likely to be witches and use witchcraft they were the “main” cause.

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902 Words | 4 Pages

Others in the town began to join in on the accusations and the town was terrified. Once the town calmed down it was too late, sixteen victims had been hung, one pressed, and one, four year old Dorcas Good, had went insane. No one knows exactly why this happened, but Rosalyn Schanzer’s book Witches! The

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