During the late 1691 several young girls began to suffer fits and nightmares, attributed by their elders to witchcraft (Foner 106). Tituba who was a slave from Barbados that lived with two of the girls that were having fits as a servant. The girls invited several friends to share this delicious, forbidden diversion. Tituba’s audience listened intently as she talked of telling the future.Villagers sat spellbound as Tituba spoke of black dogs, red cats, yellow birds, and a white-haired man who bade her sign the devil’s book. Abigail Williams and Betty Parris were the first two girls in Salem Village to exhibit behaviors in mid-January of 1692 which were soon identified as being caused by witchcraft. Abigail and Betty accused Tituba of causing …show more content…
The pre-existing conditions included Puritans beliefs in witchcraft and their association of women particularly women with witchcraft. The outbreak at Salem would not have occurred without those beliefs (TAHPDX) I agree with the historians completely if there weren't any past accusations of witches those women and men would not have been killed. I also agree about the sort of complex and disturbing religious, cultural, psychological, social, economic, and political forces that shaped Salem Village in 1692 continue to affect us, often in ways that we are unaware of. The varied interpretations of the Salem witch trials suggest that well-intentioned people can be guilty of very harmful acts, particularly when trying to explain or come to terms with suffering that seems undeserved and inexplicable. Our reactions to such misfortunes are commonly motivated by impulses that are understood dimly or not at all, and those impulses commonly lead us, in the name of God, country, or community, to commit acts that seem right and fit at the time, cruel and illogical only in retrospect(TAHPDX). The Salem witch trials remains significant by the way society still reacts to crisis as