A diverse array of historiographical arguments concerning the preliminary causes of the Salem Witch Trials have emerged subsequently to their occurrences, clashing along a vastly debatable spectrum of economic, social, and political influences (Brinkley, 2014, 74). Escalating accusations backed by miniscule evidence reaped terror among the Salem community. No one was truly immune to an accusation, and being accused had a high probability of ruining one's reputation for the remainder of their lives. Conversely to the linear notion of believing a singular cause was responsible for the atrocities among the Salem community, an intertwined network of various tensions set the anemic foundation for a monstrosity of inhumane punishment and hollow allegation
The Salem Witch Trials and the 1950’s Red Scare are easily relatable considering that the two events killed several innocent lives, when that individual did nothing wrong. The community around has always been a place where secrets and grudges are held against someone. During the Salem Witch Trials, according to Arthur Miller’s play “The Crucible” and the Red Scare, it focused on how much power a character could have, and that one character also can lead to convincing the community to be with them or against their personal thoughts. Furthermore, the power that is lead to one's head could destroy the thoughts of other about yourself as an individual.
Throughout the 1940s and 50s America was overwhelmed with concerns about the threat of communism growing in eastern Europe and China. Paranoia ensued. Salem was established as a religious community in the midst of evil. The people of Salem considered the forest the domain of the devil, and as you could guess, they were surrounded by it; Paranoia ensued
If the American court system only allowed the victims of the crime to testify in court, while neglecting all other evidence and hardly paying attention to the accused, how different would it be compared to trials today? For Salem, Massachusetts, this method of prosecution organization led to one of the most infamous events in pre-Colonial times: The Salem Witch Trials. This incident began in February 1692, and by the time it ended in May 1693, twenty citizens were sent to the gallows, and over one hundred others sat in prison, waiting to be tried for months at a time. What made these trials distinguishable was the judges’ decision to allow spectral evidence. Spectral evidence, by definition, is the testimony of a witness who claimed that the
The Salem Witch Trials were a series of trials against witches in Salem. As idiotic as that sounds that is as simple a definition as one can give it. Between February of Sixteen Ninety two and May of Sixteen Ninety three, twenty people were executed on the accusations of “Witchcraft.” The accused would be rushed through a trial and publicly executed before the public. After they were executed vigilantes would generally go after their families as well due to them being satanic for “housing witches”.
This event was later named “The Blacklisting of America”. After World War II, Americans were terrified because of high tensions with Russia. Russia, or the Soviet Union at the time, spread Communism to China, North Korea, and Vietnam. Because of this, Americans were cautious of communists in the United States. They started questioning many people during this time to see if they were communist or not.
The Salem Witch Trials were a series of events that occurred within the 1690's. The numerous allegations lead to hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts. The trials resulted in the executions of twenty people, most of them women. Additionally, the accusations lead to community wide hysteria and blood thirst for the death of nearly all the accused witches.
Hysteria, paranoia, and delusion was what drove the Salem Witch trials in 1692. Many people were executed by decision of the court because it believed in absurd false allegations. Justice in the court was perverted by fear and delusion (Johnson 9). In the 1940s and 1950s, many people in the United States were living in fear of communism; similar to those who feared “witches” in Salem. In the 1953, Arthur Miller came out with a play: The Crucible based on the Salem Witch Trials tackling McCarthyism; accusing others of being communists trying to overthrow democracy in the United States (9-10).
In 1692, A town in Massachusetts by the name of Salem Village found itself in one most documented cases of mass hysteria in history. This saga started with three girls: Abigail Williams, Elizabeth Parris, and Ann Putnam a neighborhood friend. Abigail Williams, the niece of the town’s minister, began to display weird and questionable behavior. The town’s physician,William Greggs, was called to determine the cause of this sporadic behavior. The town’s physician determined that the three girls were under “the Devil’s influence” and they had been bewitched.
In the Salem Witch first instance of witchery is Betty/Elizabeth Parris, along with Abigail Williams when they started to scream and giggle uncontrollably, along with delusions, vomiting, muscle spasms, screaming, and writhing. William Griggs, a physician, diagnosed witchcraftery to the women. Soon, fueled by resentment and paranoia, more and more women were accused of being witches, while the community and system of justice piled up. The Trials had lasted from 1692 to 1693. Some women acted peculiar because of a fungus called “Ergot” that grew on cereals and wheat.
The first four colonies of America were, New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay Colony, Rhode Island, following with Connecticut. John Winthrop, Thomas Hooker, Roger Williams, along with Anne Hutchinson, were few of the founders of the first colonies. Centered around religion, after escaping religious persecution, these colonies based the way they lived their lives around the Bible, Church, along with the New testament. The Puritans emphasized religious obligations and followed strict guidelines pertaining to the Bible. They broke away from the church of England and became their own religion following the teachings of the Bible as well as the Old Testament.
Review of Literature The religiously motivated Salem witch trials of 1692 left a permanent stain on Massachusetts’ history, but one overlooked factor could have sparked the tragic ordeal. The trials are best summarized as an inexplicable and unforeseen frenzy of accusations, aimed at the social pariahs of the community, that led to multiple deaths in a previously tranquil place. An intense type of food poisoning known as convulsive ergotism provides a seemingly simple, yet understandably deceptive to the ignorant, explanation. Due to optimum conditions for the disease, the correlation between the bewitched and the expected symptoms, and the religious fanaticism of the time, one can conclude ergotism was an influence on the Salem witch trials.
Not many people know much about what actually happened in the Salem Witch Trials. Maybe someone would think that it was just about witchcraft and crazy people being hanged, but it is a lot more than that. The Salem Witch Trials only occurred between 1692 and 1693, but a lot of damage had been done. The idea of the Salem Witch Trials came from Europe during the “witchcraft craze” from the 1300s-1600s. In Europe, many of the accused witches were executed by hanging.
The Salem witch trials was one of the most absurd and tragic events in history of pre-colonial America. A fine example of how believing in accusations and hearsay could affect a lot of people in a short span of time. the justice system is flawed and prejudice was allowed to reign over the people. I found this topic very interesting even though it is one of the most regretted in history. I’ve always been the type of person who likes reading all those weird and peculiar things on the internet.
REVIEW OF LITRATURE A.) SUMMARY SOURCE A Although the whole book had information on the Salem witch trials. The introduction, chapter 1 and 2 and the conclusion had information regarding the research needed • Introduction: states what the Salem witch trials where and who they accused.
