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The new england colonies summary
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The new england colonies summary
Salem witch trials of 1692
The salem witch trials significance
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Recommended: The new england colonies summary
ESCAPING SALEM: The Other Witch Hunt of 1692 In Richard GodBeers novel “Escaping Salem: The Other Witch Hunt of 1692” he tells of a witch trial that took place in Stamford Connecticut in 1692. GodBeer starts readers off with the setting taking place in Daniel and Abigail Wescots household. He tells of a dilemma going on in the household pertaining to their servant; Katherine Branch. She was experiencing hallucinated fits that caused her to convulse and scream in pain.
Norton discusses the many witch-hunts that took place before 1692 and writes that "with very few exceptions, [early New Englanders] believed unhesitatingly in the existence of witchcraft. " Norton attempts to explain this tendency by pointing out that "In the world of 1692, many events lacked obvious explanations: Children suddenly sickened and died, farm animals suffered mysterious ailments, strange noises were heard and ghostly visions seen." After indicating the psychological vulnerability of 1692 Salem by proclaiming that "during the early 1690s, residents of [Massachusetts] were experiencing many setbacks that needed explanation," Norton highlights some of the unique aspects of the Trials. The staggering number of accusers and accused, exponentially greater than in any previous witchcraft case, "cry out for explanation. " The geographic reach of the case, she argues, is significant as well-—whereas prior cases were based on accusations coming from one or two different towns, the Salem Trials involved victims and "witches" from over 22 different locations.
In 1692, in the Essex County of Massachusetts, particularly in the community of Salem Village, a series of witchcraft afflictions, accusations, trials and executions began to take place. Afflicted with spells of black magic and sorcery, men, women and children were all rapidly involved in the activities of the witchcraft outbreak. As Salem's witchcraft outbreak began to spread throughout the community like a virus, more and more men, women and children were being arrested, tried, hung and executed. The very first incident of the Salem witch outbreak began when a group of young girls in the Salem Village met in their usual small, informal gatherings where they discussed their future.
Due to religion, lying, and health problems, it caused the Salem Witch Trial Hysteria of 1692 to occur. Religion was important to the Puritans in their daily life. They would take every word from God and turn them into action. Without religion in their life, then the Puritans would not have come to New England. Religion was an extensive impact on the repercussion of the Salem Witch Trial.
The Salem Witch Trials of 1692-1693 was the most infamous witchcraft episode in United State's history. Set in a Puritan New England settlement, Salem Village, the original ten females became afflicted between January 1682 and the madness would not end until May 1693. Salem Village, Massachusetts became engulfed in hysteria. During this time, one hundred and fifty-six people accused of witchcraft, fifty-four people confessed, fourteen women and five men were hanged, a man was pressed to death, three women and a man died in jail. In addition, an infant, who was born in the jail died as welled.
The mean girls did many things to damage their village. Salem, 1692, was very hard. Many people were being accused of being witches. What happened in Salem during 1692? The Salem witchcraft trial were caused by poor, young who acted possessed.
In 1692, the townspeople would start to face allegations of being witches and/or performing witchcraft. These allegations would come from three Puritan youth (Betty Parris, Abigail Williams, and Ann Putnam) and cause one of the most infamous series of trials in the United States, The Salem Witch Trials. The Salem Witch Trials began in 1692 and ended in 1693. On February 29th, 1692 the three girls accused their first victim, a slave named Tituba. Tituba did admit to being a witch as stated by the article, “The woman, a slave named Tituba, said that a man came to her and told her to sign his book, a story that local authorities took to mean that the Devil himself had told Tituba to follow his orders”.
Paranoia can make a deep impact on tightly knit communities. During 1692, in the small colony of Salem, a witch panic spread rapidly. While many readers prefer not to read non-fiction, The Witches, Salem 1692 by Stacy Schiff will grab their attention with her critically acclaimed retelling that is not only educational and informative, but also enriches and points out the deep background and cultural impact of the Salem witch trials In colonial America, women are not to be considered powerful or influential. So when “women play the villains in fairy tales - what are you saying when you place the very emblem of domestic duty between your legs and ride off, defying the bounds of community and laws of gravity” (Schiff 8).
The Climax of Witchcraft in the Western Europe The Salem Witch Trials, one of the darkest events in U.S. History, has been described as mad and sorrowful. Although the event killed 20 innocent people, still, it could not compare with an insanity the Europeans did with their response to claims of witchcraft in the 16th and 17th centuries. If the Salem Witch Trials were horrific enough, the Witch-hunts in Western Europe were worse.
Gender roles played a heavy role in colonial society, and the women who did not conform to these roles were easy targets for witchcraft accusations. Women who were post-menopausal, widowed, unmarried were not fulling their “duty” to society of bearing children and thus could come under fire (Lecture.) Those who were aggressive, out spoken, or did not do as another wished could also bring cries of “witch!” (Lecture.) This is highlighted in Cotton Mather’s Accounts of the Salem Witchcraft Trials, one of these accused women Susana Martin stands trial with many of the testifiers being men who had been wronged by Martin in some way or another.
Men and women also had different takes on sin. Women were more likely to read their sins as a pact with the devil no matter how severe the sin was whereas men paid close attention to the sin as an individual moment of weakness in which they would be able to return to their relationship with God. Believing that they could turn to the devil themselves, women were more likely to then accept that other women could be equally demonized.
In 1692, people were accused of casting spells, which meant they were siding with the devil in Salem, New England. Many people who lived in the countryside of Salem believed that the Holy Bible were God’s direct words and should be followed precisely. Women were more likely to be accused of casting spells because they were expected to be at home, listen to their husband, and weren’t aloud to be ministers so there were more likely to preach the devil. People believe that women aren’t good enough and men are superior to women, even now in this century. There is still a pay in inequality between the average men and women.
Despite the fact that the chase began in Salem, it spread to the neighboring towns, and the quantity of individuals charged and captured was drastically expanding. Since the correctional facilites progressed toward becoming packed, the blamed witches were kept in different prisons in Salem, Boston and Ipswich. The witches were believed to be extremely hazardous, so they were binded to the dividers in the cell. The trials were held in the Salem courthouse which was arranged in the focal point of the Washington Street. The principal individual conveyed to the trial was Bridget Bishop.
In the book, The Witches: Salem 1692, the author Stacy Schiff attempts to condense a large volume of research into a cohesive narrative that tries to avoid to much speculation. There is some contention that the book does speculate into the motives of primary accusers that some reviewers have intimated are bordering on fiction. However, the author defends her arguments logically, and her inferences do seem to bridge the gaps effectively. One of the items that causes some confusion, to both the historically curious, and to the researcher is that the author has created a list of dramatis personae in which the historical figures are labeled as a cast of characters which might make the book seem fictional.
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.