Witch Craze Dbq

960 Words4 Pages

The Witch Craze is best described as a product of the political and social tension taking place between about 1480 to 1700. This tension was mostly due to the clashing Protestant and Catholic Reformations. What the people once thought of as true, was now being contested, and therefore, the Witch Craze ensued, causing the deaths of about 100,000 innocent people. Due to the uneasiness and confusion the current events at the time caused, people were not sure what to believe, and therefore, these events took place. However, those thousands weren 't slaughtered haphazardly. Most victims were for particular reasons. Most of the demographics targeted in the witch craze were vulnerable women, people of old age, and people who 's execution would …show more content…

Another blatantly targeted demographic in the witch craze was people of old age. This is visible in document 17, where the number of suspected witches of old age is increasingly higher than suspected witches that were even remotely young. This fact shows that people were discriminated because of their old age, and with their old age, came sickliness and weakness. This information also supports the fact that people that were weak and vulnerable were targeted during the witch craze. This is a recurring theme that is constantly visible whilst looking deeper into the groups and demographics that were convicted throughout the span of the witch craze. The claim in which people of old age were targeted during the witch craze is also supported in document 14. In the document, it is stated that, "... witches are usually old women of melancholic nature and small brains, there is no doubt that the devil easily affects and deceives their …show more content…

Overall, the witch craze was one of the darkest times in history. A period in which man was strenuously tugged in ways that he hadn 't been before. His faith, his god, all of it was being contested by various events that were happening in the time. Because of this, the witch craze occurred, a result of the inner turmoil within man that was a result of something he had held on to so dearly being tugged and gnawed at. The witch craze resulted in the discrimination and intense focus on the conviction and execution of vulnerable women, people of old age, and people who 's execution would result in economic or