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Salem Witch Trials Essay

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Chaos broke out in 1692 among the Salem Village in the Massachusetts Colony. Several children began convulsing, shrieking, and having strange fits. The episodes were originally accredited to bewitchment from citizens in the colony. However, new studies were conducted and alternate explanations arose. Scientists discovered a fungus that can induce actions very similar to those described in the Salem Witch Trials. Contrary to popular belief, the Salem Witch Trials should not be solely attributed to demonic ‘possession’, but rather a harmful pathogen: Ergot of Rye. There are many questions as to what actually occurred in the Massachusetts colony during this time. History.com identifies one of the main problems by claiming that that girls were …show more content…

Even after being diagnosed with bewitchment, five other girls began having the same symptoms as the original two girls. The validity of the diagnosis is in question due to the fact that all seven girls, displaying the same behaviors, within days apart, would all be possessed, especially in such a religious culture. Secondly, the accused women were easy targets (Blumberg). Tituba, the governor’s family slave from the Caribbean, was accused after being in close proximities with one of the first victims. Slaves barely had any rights at this time, making Tituba an easy candidate. Sarah Good, homeless, and Sarah Osborne, a poor, elderly lady, were also accused and punished. The two of them, being at the bottom of the societal totem pole, were also convenient scapegoats. Martha Corey was an involved member in the church and in the community. Corey was an unlikely suspect, yet she was still charged. Not only is the validity of the suspects in question, but also the punishments. If one was accused of being used of Satan, they would be hanged on Gallow’s Hill (History.com). Hangings began in May 1692 and by that September, 19 people had been hanged. In …show more content…

Ergot is now filtered out of rye before using it to make bread. However, the colonists did not have this capability. As many farmers capitalized on rye crop, and rye was a common ingredient in the food of the 1600s, it is very possible that ergot of rye was being consumed. The Putnam family, having three affected girls in their household, were some of the largest land holders in Salem. This land was most likely used for farming, possibly rye, where ergot could have been found. Ergot thrives in damp, wet climates. Several swamps are in Salem, having both wet and damp conditions- the perfect conditions for galvanizing the growth of ergot. Lastly, several victims reported having tingling feelings and hallucinations, two of the main symptoms of Ergotism. The high likelihood of the presence of ergot in Massachusetts and the similarity in symptoms proves that the episodes should not be credited to possession, but rather the harmful bacteria:

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N) also brings up the possibility of a fungus called ergot triggering the hysteria of 1692. Ergot grows on cereal grains and can be poisonous which was a “common condition resulting from eating contaminated rye bread” back in the seventeen hundred´s. Ergot is believed to have affected the accusers by causing symptoms such as “crawling sensations, tingling in the fingers, vertigo and hallucinations”. To better understand how ergot played a role in the Salem witch hysteria, an additional document listing how much rye and other cereal grains were consumed during the year 1692 would help determine a

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1014 Words | 5 Pages

Ergot is a fungus and under some conditions infests rye and other cereal grains. When consumed it can cause ergot poisoning which causes symptoms such as crawling sensations in the skin, tinging in the fingers, vertigo, tinnitus aurium, headaches, disturbances in sensation and hallucinations. This could give meaning to the testimonies of Richard Coman and John Cooke and their illusions of the

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1017 Words | 5 Pages

Witches in the New World “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.” (Exodus, 20:18). In February of 1692 and lasting just over a year, more than 200 people were accused of witchcraft and 19 were executed, 14 of them women, in a small fishing village called Salem. Once branded with the deadly label of witch, one either confessed or named other witches in desperation to be ridden of the title.

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In January 1692, Samual Parris, a Puritan minister in Massachusetts Bay colony, faced a problem with the two girls in his household. According to “Specter of Salem: Remembering the Witch Trials in Nineteenth-Century America,” Elizabeth Parris,

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1362 Words | 6 Pages

A very famous episode in American history, the Salem witch trials of 1692 resulted in the execution by the hanging of at least 20 or more people that were accused of being witches. In addition, there was a man that was pressed to death by heavy weights for refusing to enter a plea; at least ten people died in prison, including one infant and a child; and more than two hundred and fifty individuals were in jail while awaiting trial. Due to the survival of many records, including notes, depositions, and official rulings, trials, arrests, the main facts of the accusations and executions are known. What has always been interesting to scholars is the search for the causes of the "witch hysteria. " The offered explanations for the witchcraft occurrence

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However, ergot bacteria most likely affected the grains the children ate, explaining why they were acting strangely, not witchcraft. Puritans planted cereal grains as a food supply and ergot is a parasitic fungus which grows on a large surplus of the grains. The swampy, marshy conditions of Massachusetts also was an ideal place for bacteria like ergot to spread. Ergotism or ergot poisoning is a condition for eating the infected rye and is most apparent in children. According to Caporael, who wrote about ergotism in Salem stated, “Ergotism is characterized by a number of symptoms.

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Contrary to this thought process, the girls suffered immensely from psychological and physical illnesses causing hysteria for not only them

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280 Words | 2 Pages

No one really knew if they were innocent or not,they just assumed. People who were executed were mostly women, and their family. Even 2 dogs were given the death penalty for being accused of working with the “witches”. Some other animals were killed too. Did you know, that people thought that the witches were trying to kill their children, when their kids actually had smallpox.

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They could confess, and be redeemed or go to trial. With there being little to no evidence, besides sightings of spirits, and someone doing harm to another, that is all it would take to find that person guilty. As well there were no defense lawyers, for almost every trial the person accused would be found guilty and executed. Between June and september of 1962 19 women and men were found guilty of witchcraft, and seeing as they did not confess to their actions, they were there by hung on Gallows Hill, few miles outside of Salem. Due to these incidents many say that these trials were one of the most tragic series of events in the history of the United States, as well the history of the Christian

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1593 Words | 7 Pages

Some believed that they suffered from hysteria and mental illness while others believed that the girls were poisoned by Ergot. “They Say the girls pretended to be bewitched just to get attention and feel important.” (Fredin 37). Salem was not filled with witches, it was in fact filled with greedy men, paranoid women, and inquisitive children. The Pruitants let false ideas corrupt their society and this in turn brought on the downfall of Salem

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The Salem Witch Trials was an event caused by much more than a town full of “witches”. The small town in New England in 1962 faced one of the United States’ most disastrous mass genocides. A group of ten young girls accused roughly 200 people of making deals with the devil. Many of the accused were hanged at Proctor’s Ledge by Gallows Hill, while a few died in the jails waiting for their death sentence. The accusations were based almost entirely on spectral evidence, or evidence from the supernatural.

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Giles Corey, an innocent man, was crushed by large rocks and killed for refusing a trial and confession. Rebecca Nurse, a highly respected church member, was hung for not supplying a guilty plea. These two people are examples of the many guiltless folks who were hung during the salem witchcraft trials of 1692. This era of time is engraved in american history for its unreasonable assumptions, massive amounts of fear and insane trials based on invisible evidence. The salem witchcraft trials began swiftly and just kept running until people were accusing neighbors and even family members left and right.

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845 Words | 4 Pages

The Salem witch trial was a time about accusing your fellow neighbor or being accused yourself, this all began in 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts. During this time many people were being accused of being a witch, a majority of the time it was because either someone truly believed that you were a witch and were reeking havoc or they were trying to find someone to take the blame if they were to being accused. So this leads us to question, what began the Salem Witch Trials? There were at least three causes of the Salem witch trials hysteria. These were Betty Parris and Abigail Williams story, Ergotism, and the acknowledgment of hysteria.

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993 Words | 4 Pages

During this time, many Native American wars and raids were happening constantly. All That’s Interesting shows “Some of the ‘afflicted girls’ who accused women of ‘bewitching’ them had actually witnessed some earlier raids prior to making their claims.” (ATI, 9). This explains how PTSD could have come from the girls witnessing this. There is also evidence that some of them had witnessed a recent raid before the start of the witch trials.

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Their initial accusations gave way to trials, hysteria, and a frenzy that resulted in further accusations, often between the different factions. The punishment for being found guilty in the Salem witch trials was sentence to death if found guilty the second time but if it was a minor offense witches could receive up to just a year in prison (“Witchcraft Law Up To the Salem Witch Trials of 1692”). In Europe being found guilty as a witch meant being faced with capital punishment by being either burned at the stake,beheaded or hanging.

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