Salem Witch Trial Research Paper

Although the beginning of witchcraft cannot be dated, it was believed to be a very real thing by many, even arguably all civilizations. Throughout history many horrendous trials have been focused on witches/wizards. Historically one of the most well know trails was the one that took place in Salem. The Salem Witch Trails occurred in 1692, this conflict caused death, the downfall of a community, and diminished the trust of 100’s of people. Many religious beliefs, mixed with fear of witchcraft, and a lack of knowledge resulted in 200 accused and 19 permanently suffering.

In the 1600's many Puritans were establishing life in America. These people sought to ’purify’ the religion and saw many modern day things as blasphemy. Such things from homosexuality,

However many people do not know what actually caused this hysteria. It was a result of the citizens being afraid of their community falling apart after an alleged witch named Tituba said she and many others were working for the devil. ”This induced panic and hysteria and quickly sparked a massive witch hunt. The fact is, although there were many other contributing factors, Tituba’s confession is the main reason why the Salem Witch Trials happened.” (The Salem Witch Trials: Facts & History.). Expanding on the causes themselves, Tituba’s comment was not the only reason, a much larger one was that a group of 8 young girls fell ill. They began showing what we now realizes were signs of a food related illness. Salem’s rye had caused the girls (which all lived near marshes) to gain these symptoms of what some saw as witchcraft. The rye can obtain a fungus called ergot which when ingested causes all the same symptoms the 8 girl’s had had. Mysteriously enough, the curses (symptoms) disappear in the summer when the crop began to dry out. But due to the lack of medical knowledge, the girls were pressured into incriminating women who were said to be witches (Salem Witch Trails). While there is no definitive cause for the trials, these are the most well backed, and accepted