Salem Witch Trials: Bridget Bishop's Trial

Salem Witch Trials Twenty-five people were killed in the Salem Witch Trials including the nineteen who were hanged, one which was stoned and then those who died in prison awaiting trial. Even though these people weren’t witches, the villagers killed them on the accusations of some teens and a few adults. People just needed a scapegoat to explain away the negative impacts that were occurring in Salem Village in 1692. The victims of Salems prejudice were people as well. These people were accused for reasons other than being a witch. One victim by the name of Bridget Bishop was accused by four men. The men claim that they awoke in the middle of the night next to their wives to find Bridget on top of them. The say that she inserted something

Around the time of theses trials there was something called The Little Ice Age going on. This ice age started in 1300 AD and ended in the 1800’s. The ice age had two phases, the first began around 1290 and ended in the late 1400’s. After the first phase there was a warm period that was in the 1500’s, but then the second phase started in the 1600’s and ended in the 1800’s. The reason the people needed someone to blame was because the coldest period was between 1645-1715, right around the time of the trials(eh-resources.org,1). They also blamed people because the villagers of Salem were depressed, dying, and just random bad things were

There are many believed reasons as to why the girls did what they did, one of which is that they had a mental breakdown(Magoon,82). Throughout history teenagers have been victims of stress and back then was no different. It is reasonable to think that the girls accused people of being witches because they were under so much stress that they cracked. Also in Salem the teenagers were told to be quiet, exclude their emotions, and behave well(Magoon,82). The parents wanted them to act like grown ups before they needed to and this caused the teens to crash and burn you could say. Another assumption as to why the girls did what they did is because it was all just a prank gone bad(Magoon,79). The girls could have been playing a prank, but when they realized it wasn’t funny like they thought and that they could get in trouble they put the blame elsewhere. The teenage girls also could have pulled this prank, not cause it was funny, but because they wanted the attention. When people realized the attention they were getting they wanted to join in(Magoon,79). The girls and everyone else's need for attention went to