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. This individual ideas or a combination could be explanations as to why these bloody trials started. What Started The Salem Witch Trials In the spring of 1694 arose a string of accusations from young Salem girls against their …show more content…
This built up a lot of guilt, and to direct attention elsewhere, the people would point fingers. The people also believed that the devil lurked in the forest in the dark. Since they lived near the forest, they feared demons and the devil emerging from it. The Girls Were Sick The girls could have very well been sick with some sickness that caused them to hallucinate, get cold flashes, and to pass out. Ergotism Also called “St. Anthony's fire” ergotism is caused by eating grain that has been infected with the fungus. This fungus, when ingested, causes vision problems, confusion, spasms, convulsions, unconsciousness, and death. As mentioned in the 2011 article Claviceps purpurea (Ergot), “Also, ergot was most common when a harsh winter followed a cool, wet spring because many people would exhaust their food supply and eat the ergot infected grain”. There had just recently been a “little ice age” (Saxon, 2015) that caused people to run low on food and supplies. Since the people of Salem were low on food due to the “ice age”, they would have baked and eaten the infected grain. The girls’ outbursts could easily be justified in that they merely were having visual issues from ergot. The children passing out would have also been a described symptom of ergot poisoning. Encephalitis