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Salem Witch Trials Research Paper

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The Salem Witch Trials were a period of murders of women, children, and even some men during the 16th century. These trials were pretty much a huge mass murder, these trials started because of a huge fear that the puritans has against the devil. These murders happened when someone (Mostly females) would start to act “satanic” some would stop coming to church, some would not read the bible and/or burn the bible causing the church to think that they were possessed by the devil. The puritans finally came to the conclusion to kill whoever started to act even slightly strange. Why would such a thing spring up? Well let's take this from where it all began. The First Trails The Salem Witch Trials began during the spring of 1692, A group of young girls in Salem Village Massachusetts, were claimed to be taken over by the devil then accused other women in the town of being possessed also. This whole epidemic spread through colonial Massachusetts. A court that was in Salem was chosen to hear about these cases, the first convicted witch was Bridget Bishop she was hung that June. Eighteen other females were hung after her in the time to come, They even had a special place where these hangings would commence called Salem's Gallows hill. There was 150 men …show more content…

This belief came about in Europe in the 14th century and then spread over to the 13 colonies. This also started during hard times for pruitains in the Salem village, These hardships included the after effects of the British war with France in the American colonies in 1689, then a smallpox epidemic, then fears of getting attacked by local native American tribes and so much more. Amid these tensions the Salem witch trials would be fueled by residents thoughts and suspicions and hatred for their neighbors as well as their fear of

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In 1692, as the puritans of Salem Massachusetts over-turn on each other, they started scapegoating many of their villagers with witchcraft. During this time many were murdered unfairly. The Salem Witch Trials was a reformation of the government. People believed that this was an era where the devil gave certain humans powers to harm others in joining them into their beliefs. It was certain to happen, because many had personal envy which caused many of the accusations,trials, and the implementations.

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Salem Witch Trials In the summer of 1692, 104 people were accused and put into trial for witchcraft. These trials were called The Salem Witch Trials, there has been a huge debate about why it happened for multiple years and no one has yet had a guaranteed reason why. So what actually caused the Salem Witch Trials? I believe the Salem Witch Trials was caused by a secret rivalry between two sides.

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Firstly, the Salem Witch Trials began in the 17th century in Salem, Massachusetts. Because of the strong religious beliefs that founded these colonies,

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The Salem Witch Trials started in February 1692. It all began with a young African American slave who was owned by Samuel Parris. Samuel Parris called a doctor on this day for his daughter and niece because they were having weird out buts and not acting like themselves. The doctor claimed that his kids where under the exemption of witchcraft. The girls later on accused Tituba and two other woman.

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However, the reasonings behind this terrible event are still mostly unknown, and historians today, still ask: What caused the Salem Witch Trial Hysteria of 1692? So, this event first started in 1692, The unfortunate Salem witch trials began during the spring of 1692, after a group of young girls in Salem Village, Massachusetts, claimed to be possessed by the devil and accused several local women of witchcraft. After this began to gain popularity, many other people began to accuse each other, until large, monthly executions were being held. The accused “witch” was brought before a priest or a judge, which usually wasn't fair, and was either sentenced as guilty or innocent.

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The Salem witch trials were the cause of 25 innocent women, men, and children. Salem was a town that settled in 1626 and was made up of puritans, which was a group of English protestants. The people were afraid of disease and starvation and the relationships of the people were non existent, in fact they did not like each other. In the winter of 1692 two cousins Betty Paris and Abigail Williams began to act strange so they were checked on and although he determined there was nothing physically wrong with them he determined that they were possessed and as news began to spread so did the “possession “. This eventually led to four of the girls accusing 4 women of tormenting them, these women were considered outsiders and they were swiftly arrested.

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The Salem Witch Trials of 1692 have become a prominent event in American culture. A series of the witch trials took place near Salem, part of the Massachusetts colony, in which more than 150 men and women were accused of witchcraft and dozens deteriorated in jail for months without trials. Those who were found guilty were hanged on nearby Gallows Hill. Only a combination of economic conditions, teenage boredom, and personal jealousies can account for the mass hysteria, spiraling accusations, trials, and execution that occurred in Salem Village, Massachusetts.

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In 1692, she was a beggar and a nuisance to the town, therefore a perfect target for witch accusations. Everyone in Salem wanted her out of the town so witchcraft was a perfect opportunity for them to do so. Her husband and children were to scared to speak up for her at her hearing so therefore she would hanged. But since she was expecting a baby she was allowed to wait until the baby was born. The infant died while she was imprisoned and she was hanged.

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The Salem Witch Trials were a terrible event in human history that occurred in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. The Trials started with a few people being accused of witchcraft and did not take long to transform into mass hysteria among the town. There are many theories for what caused the Witch Trials. Some people would argue that the girls led by Abigail Williams caused the Salem Witch Trials, or that the “ignorant” judge failed to see through their lies. However, the true reason why the Witch Trials took place is the society that people lived in and a parasitic fungus called Ergot.

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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.

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A special court was made in Massachusetts in order to hear the accusations. Many accusations were made and in June the first woman was hanged for use of "witchcraft". Belief in the devils practices came about Europe as early as the 14th century and spread throughout the colonies. Specifically Salem, being a Puritan community, had great fear of the accusations because of a recent smallpox epidemic and fears of attacks from Native Americans who neighbored them. People in Salem were very vulnerable and in turn very easy to frighten.

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She was pregnant at the time of her conviction. In result, the hanging was held off until she could give birth. In July of 1692, Good’s child died in prison and she was hung. Women were not the only people to be convicted of witchcraft though. Farmer, John Proctor, was sent to Boston and hung in August of 1692.

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In Salem, Massachusetts, Puritans were strong believers in the Bible. The Bible states, “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.” The Puritans beliefs led to them accusing 20 innocent people of being a witch, this resulted in their deaths in 1692. Even though the Puritans couldn’t see it at the time, their accusations were really based off jealousy, lies, and Salem being divided into two parts. One cause of the Salem witch trial hysteria was jealousy.

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So, the Puritans believed that any person (witch) who serves the devil is immediately known as a witch and tries to persecute them. Many people were found to be witches. So, they tried to blame other townspeople for witchcrafting to escape from the accusations. The blamings over people got spreaded all over the town which started the Salem witch trials. The Puritans brought religious rules which led witches to appear.

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The Salem witch trials were a big event in American history, but no one knows for sure why they started. The people at the time could have been very tense and paranoid because of the weather, indian attacks, and because of the war that had occurred prior. The girls that started the accusations could have been sick from a disease or infection that causes tremors, hallucinations, and paranoia. At the same time, the girls in that time period were very repressed. Children, especially, were treated strictly at this time.

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