Reasons Behind The Salem Witch Trials - 1568 Words

Jaquelin Lopez History 1301- Dr.Frawley April 30, 1017 Reasons behind the Salem Witch Trials of 1692 The Salem Witch Trials were a series of trials in the 1690s which accused society members of practicing witchcraft, they took place in Salem, Massachusets. What caused this mass hysteria to occur? Some contributing factors could include some socio-economic reasons, an overbearing Puritan society and the influential sense that witchcraft was taking place all over the world. Massachusetts was settled by English puritans, faithful Anglican people who wanted to get away from Great Britain to purify their faith and religion, they didn’t agree with the liberalism that people lived with in England. When they came they brought their religious†¦show more content†¦Originally, rumors of violence blended into tales of witchcraft, war stories circulated in the town, and the girls in it were frightened by what they heard. Violent stories from the North along with their hyperactive imagination and their own imagined tales, they began to formulate a larger mythopoeic structure; a fantasy for themselves. These rumors grew inevitable to everyone in town the winter of 1692. This is the reason why witchcraft became such a scandal in all of Massachusetts not just Salem. Because these people had never gone through something like this before and that is also why they did not know how to deal with the problem. These rumors were supported by two girls in the family of Reverend Samuel Parris: his nine-year old daughter, Elizabeth and his eleven year old niece, Abigail Williams (Dickinson 20). Elizabeth became uncommonly ill, whispers that Elizabeth’s illness was not natural soon carried on all over Salem. This was ironic in the sense that the two girls who started this were related to the person guiding the Salem community in their religious faith. At the beginning the Salem Witch Trials did target the lower class. After being accused the girls began targeting other women in the village who were tormenting them; Sarah Good, Sarah Osborn, and Tituba (Dickinson 16). Part of the reason why these teenage girls were so involved in accusing other was their thirst for attention. Since Puritans wereShow MoreRelatedThe Salem Witch Trials Of 16921281 Words   |  6 PagesThe Salem Witch Trials were a sequence of hearings, prosecutions, and hangings of people who were thought to be involved in witchcraft in Massachusetts. These trials occurred between February 1692 and May 1693(The Salem Witch Trials, 1692. ). The Trials resulted in the execution of twenty people, in fact, most of them were women. The first of the trials began in several towns in the Province of Massachusetts Bay, such as Salem Village (currently known as Danvers), Salem Town, Ipswich, and Andover(SalemRead MoreThe Salem Witch Trials691 Words   |  3 Pageswere the Salem Witch Trials? The Trials happened in 1692 in Puritan Massachusetts, in a town called Salem. Nineteen men and women were hanged on grounds of practicing dark magic and making a pact with Satan (in other words, for being witches). Hundreds of people were imprisoned; several died there. Additionally, one man (of over seventy years!) was crushed to death with heavy stones and the lives of many were irrevocably changed. (Salem Witch Museum) IQ #2- How and why did the Salem WitchRead MoreWhy Did the Salem Witch Trials Happen1102 Words   |  4 PagesWhat was the reason behind the Salem Witch Trials in the Year 1692? This is a question that has been asked by historians everywhere for over three hundred years. 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The threeRead MoreMany Years Ago People Have Wonder About Witches And What1348 Words   |  6 Pagespeople have wonder about witches and what they do. Salem, Massachusetts held one of the biggest witch trials in history since 1692 but yet have never found the rea-son why it was started in the first place. Researchers have discovered some information about those witches throughout the years. Still they have not figured out what was the whole rea-son behind the trials in 1692 and after those trials a lot more trials were more secretiv e unlike the Salem witches tri-als in 1692. New England, home of theRead MoreSalem Witch Hunt : A Phenomenon Of Witch Trials1499 Words   |  6 Pages The Salem Witch Hunt was a phenomenon of witch trials in the Early Modern period. It occurred in 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts. It all started when a group of young girls, Betty Parris, 9 years old, and Abigail Williams, 11 years old, started to behave in a crazy manner, like screaming and barking like a dog, and it got to the point where they assumed they were â€Å"possessed†. Soon after that, Ann Putnam Jr. and other Salem girls began acting similarly. People started getting very scared and startedRead MoreSalem Witch Trials Case Review1377 Words   |  6 Pages The Salem Witch Trials was one of the most out of the box things back in 1692 Massachusetts, but it still seems to be quite unexplainable and at times shady. More than 200 people were accused of practicing the devil’s magic, but only about 20 were executed. Though people were killed, the colonists e ventually admitted that the Salem Witch Trials were actually a mistake for which they later compensated the families that were convicted. I picked the Salem Witch Trials to type about because I wouldRead MoreThe Crucible By Arthur Miller1276 Words   |  6 PagesIn The Crucible, Arthur Miller writes about a witch hysteria among the townspeople of Salem, Massachusetts. Secrets are rife within the town, and suspicion rises against isolated families. Nosiness and a want to discover and exploit the truth about people arises among the population. Invading one’s personal business, however, can likely do more harm than good. It is a personal right for one to keep to himself. It should not be a person’s concern to pry into any part of another’s life. In settingRead MoreA Delusion Of Sat The Story Of The Salem Witch Trials1372 Words   |  6 Pagesfrom your family throw you in a jail cell. You are a witch, this is what they tell you. Your tied up neck to heels the blood rushing to your head and eventually leaving your body. There is nothing you can do, nothing you can say. You have been condemned for a crime that you did not commit. In the book I have read, A Delusion Of Satan: The Full Story Of The Salem Witch Trials, Francis Hill discusses the events in which the women and men of Salem were accused of crimes committed to the townspeopleRead MoreThe Salem Witch Trials : Crisis1601 Words   |  7 PagesThe Salem Witch Trials: Crisis in Salem Village Many people know of the Salem witch trials that took place in Salem, Massachusetts in the year 1692 spilling over into the year 1693. But for those who do not know, the Salem witch trials were a series of trials against men, women, and children accused of being a witch and or practicing witchcraft. In â€Å"The Devils Snare: The Salem Witch Trials of 1692† by Mary Beth Norton, the author recollects the stories of real life accounts of those accusers and