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Possible causes of the salem witch hysteria
What caused the salem witch trial hysteria of 1692
What caused the salem witch trial hysteria of 1692
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Another purpose as to the root cause of the Salem Witch Hysteria is because economic dislocation. Documents 5, 4, and 3 are charts representing the location of thing that occurred and were there placed. The charts are socially stratified. They were separated economically, also if you look closely the people who are like leaders of the village are actually more richer. Document 9 is a photograph of Matthew Hopkins the witchfinder.
ESCAPING SALEM: The Other Witch Hunt of 1692 In Richard GodBeers novel “Escaping Salem: The Other Witch Hunt of 1692” he tells of a witch trial that took place in Stamford Connecticut in 1692. GodBeer starts readers off with the setting taking place in Daniel and Abigail Wescots household. He tells of a dilemma going on in the household pertaining to their servant; Katherine Branch. She was experiencing hallucinated fits that caused her to convulse and scream in pain.
Although there were many possible causes for the Salem witch trial hysteria of 1692, social division and drama were the most significant. Interestingly, historians have found out about the differences that were present between the accused and the accusers of the witches that fueled the witch hunt. Accordingly, the eastern side of Salem was more powerful and wealthier than the western side of town, which consisted of most accusers who charged people on the east (Doc E). As it is possible to see, there was a division, or crack, in the community, and the western half became jealous or disliked the others in the other half.
Richard Godbeer introduced “the salem witch hunt” in which he addresses various tragic dialogues occurring in Salem during the early modern period. During the course of Puritans, many followed strictly through the concept of catholic religious beliefs leading to apprehension in contact of compulsive behaviour influencing supernatural assumptions. Commonly the society detected this manifestation as witchcraft, overbearing that most poor, widowed and oddly conducted women were generally associated with demonic figures. During the trails mentioned in the authors book, we can sense a shift of emotion overbearing the figure being held in front of the jury and also to the people witnessing this horrific perturbation since most of women at the time,
The witch hunt of Salem 1692 was perpetuated by Tituba. She is the sole reason the trial was spiraled into such an epidemic hysteria. Based on extremely, creatively, woven tales Tituba expressed to the court, in extreme detail the evidence needed to create the trials. To save her own life, and resist against her oppressive master, Tituba spun the town of Salem upside down with a single confession.
To begin, one cause of the Salem Witch Trial hysteria was envious, young, single women. One piece of textual evidence that
So what provoked this tragedy? Evidence shows that the Salem Witch Trial Hysteria of 1692 was caused by boredom, personal, and religious bias. One of the most important things to consider is the biases the accusers might have had. When looking at a map of Salem one may observe that more than ninety percent of the accusers lived on the west side of town, and more than eighty percent of the Accused witches
February 1692- Eleven year old, Abigail Williams, and nine year old, Elizabeth Parris, experienced hysterical fits of violence and odd behavior. The two young girls were taken to a doctor who diagnosed the use of witchcraft. What people didn’t know is that the girls had been having their own secret conferences involving the forbidden play. “On 29 February 1692, warrants went out for their arrest.” (Lindenauer, Leslie J. "Salem Witch Trials."
This jealousy was created from other’s female gender, age and marital status. Based on document B provided, the accusers were around the age of 16-20, female, and accused mostly women (41-60), that were married of being a witch. Drawing to a conclusion, the accusers, younger and single girls, were jealous of old, married women who had their future set for them
Is it OK to kill people based solely on accusations? Kill innocent children? Burn women at the stake? Believe it or not, all of these atrocities and many more occurred in the town of Salem, Massachusetts in the late 1600’s, and it was all done in the name of religion. Over 150 men and women were accused of witchcraft and sentenced to the death penalty based on accusations with no legitimate evidence proving them guilty.
As the witch hunts got worse is when they started to execute them. In the middle 1400s to the mid-1600s, witchcraft trials became popular, sending death rates up. From 50,000 to 80,000 people were executed throughout Europe. From the 80,000 people roughly “80% were women” (Grace Z. 2007). This shows how mostly women were the ones that were giving up their life to the devil in order for them to have power and be able to proceed rituals.
In Document B, Demos presents that most of the accusers of witches were single females in their younger years of age. In the late 1600s, women were extremely dependent upon men for their financial stability, overall safety, and mental/emotional well being. In an interpretation of this document, it can be assumed that these younger female women were seeking family ties and protection in a harsher time period. On the same hand, Document C, a most likely extremely biased account, recounts the “bewitched actions” of Bridget Bishop, a witch, upon the afflicted. Samuel Parris, the examiner of Bishop, seems to shed a negative light on Bishop.
Nearly anyone from the New England has heard of the famous Salem Witch Trials. A year of persecution, leading to the accusation of nearly 200 citizens of all ages. No one was safe; men, women, children, even pets stood trial and 20 were hung for the supposed crime of witchcraft (Blumberg). 1692 was a year of witch hunting. Most today blame the trials on hysteria, or perhaps a bad case of paranoia.
I think it is wrong to live with a lie, than die with the truth. The Salem witch trials of 1692 were filled with lies and truths. Because no one wanted to die they lied so they could live and not have a good name, than the ones telling the truth and dying for that truth. I agree with Increase Mather when he said “It would better that ten suspected witches may escape than one innocent person be condemned.” John Proctor said “Because it is my name!
An archetype where life moves from one stage to another is considered a journey. This archetype can be separated into two different categories, western and eastern. Western journeys have a set destination they must reach and the series of events that are in order. Eastern journeys have no destination. They are series of happenings in no particular order, whatever happens is accepted for what it is.
