There were many major controversies throughout history. The Salem Witch Trials was one of those major catastrophes. The Trials caused panic and hysteria throughout Salem. Many innocent people died or went to jail for being accused a witch. People who were considered to be their friends or neighbors were turning on them accusing them of witchcraft. This event caused problems with trust and paranoia between many people. Turns out that the Salem Witch Trials were just a hoax after all. The mass hysteria of the Salem Witch Trials began in early 1692. The trials initiated with young girls behaviors being out of the ordinary. One of the many mysteries to this hysteria is what caused the girls to act the way that they did. Samuel Parris was the minister …show more content…
One of the accused was Samuel Parris’ Caribbean slave Tituba. Sarah Good was a homeless beggar who was also accused. The last person was a poor elderly woman, Sarah Osborn The three women were brought before Jonathan Corwin and John Hathorne who were judges of the court for questioning. The young girls who accused the women were present in the courtroom displaying spasms, contortions, screaming, harsh movements, and animal noises (Aronson). The reason behind the girls behaving like that was to show the courtroom and the judges what the effects were for being bewitched. Osborn and Good denied that they were witches. They were then thrown in jail until they were given a trial and an examination. Good was pregnant and the town didn’t want to kill an innocent human being so they waited until the baby was born to hang Good. The baby, however, ended up dying in the jail right before Good was hung. Osborn ended up dying in jail from a long term illness she was fighting. Tituba on the other hand confessed that she saw the devil, and claimed that she had accomplishes in helping the devil against the Puritans. Since she confessed all that happened to her was being put in jail for life. Others who were accused included Martha Corey and Rebecca Nurse who both were upstanding members of church and the community. Sarah Good’s four year old daughter was also accused. To say that a four year …show more content…
Many innocent people were brutally killed for being a “witch”. Families were broken and friendships ended. The fact that people accused friends and neighbors is horrible. It makes people rethink about who they can actually trust. Salem has been affected by these trials since 1692. The fact that anyone actually believed this hysteria is beyond belief. It’s surprising that it took a year to resolve the whole thing in the first place! Personally, the governor didn’t really give back to the families that were affected dramatically. Yes they did get some money in the process, but how does money take the place of your loved one that was killed all because of something that was made up? There’s honestly no way you can repay those families for what has happened and the sorrow that they are going through. Hopefully, nothing this extreme happens anytime soon or in the
One of the turning points of the war was in 1777, when the British surrendered at Saratoga with over 5,500 troops. After General Horatio Gates and General John Burgoyne came in conflict, but the latter understood that supplies were lackluster, they had to surrender. This battle would result in France entering the loop of the war and siding with the Americans, attacks from out of Canada would be secured and New England isolation would be all prevented because of this battle.
The Salem witch craft trials are the most learned about and notable of Europe's and North America's witch hunts. Its notoriety and fame comes from the horrendous amount of people that were not only involved, but killed in the witch hunt and that it took place in the late 1700's being one of the last of all witch hunts. The witch craft crises blew out of control for several reasons. Firstly, Salem town was facing hard economic times along with disease and famine making it plausible that the only explanation of the town's despoilment was because of witches and the devil. As well, with the stimulation of the idea of witch's from specific constituents of the town and adolescent boredom the idea of causing entertainment among the town was an ever intriguing way of passing time.
Accusations of witchcraft ran rampant in the 17th century colonial settlements in the United States. The individuals accused, mostly women, were put on trial and punished, if found guilty. The most well-known of such cases on public record are the Salem Witch Trials. Between February, 1692 and May, 1693, hearings and prosecutions were set up to deal with those accused of dabbling in the dark arts in the cities of Andover, Salem, and Ipswich, all in Massachusetts Bay. These trials came to commonly be referred to as the Salem Witch Trials because some of the most notorious cases were heard in the Oyer and Terminer courts in Salem. At the time, practicing witchcraft was considered a serious crime, and was often punished with serious consequences.
The Salem Witch trials were when hundreds of citizens of Salem, Massachusetts were put on trial for devil-worship or witchcraft and more than 20 were executed in 1692. This is an example of mass religion paranoia. The whole ordeal began in the home of Reverend Samuel Parris. People soon began to notice strange behavior from Parris’s slave, Tituba, and his daughters. Many claimed to have seen Parris’s daughters doing back magic dances in the woods, and fall to the floor screaming hysterically. Not so long after, this strange behavior began to spread across Salem.
The Salem Witch Trials were a series of prosecutions of men and women who were accused of practicing witchcraft or having associations with the devil. The first Salem witch trial began with two girls in 1692, Elizabeth Parris and Abigail Williams, who started to have “fits”, in which they would throw tantrums and have convulsions. The random outburst of the girls threw the town of Salem into a mass of hysteria. Although historians have not found a definite reason or cause for the witch trials, they have taken different approaches to explain the hysteria that took over Salem. Some historians approach a psychological theory by proposing the girls suffered from diseases that made them act out.
As one can see, the chaotic Salem Witchcraft Trials of 1692 were caused by superstition, the strict puritan lifestyle, religious beliefs, and hysteria. Puritan Lifestyle was one reason that might have caused the witchcraft hysteria in Salem.... ... middle of paper ... ... He believed strongly in having the witches of Salem executed for their wrong doing (Fradin 26-27).
First, the Puritan values and expectations were strict, and those who had defied their teachings would have been at a much higher chance of being accused as a witch. Second, economic struggles within Salem Town and Village had further divided the two, by crop failure and livestock death. Ultimately causing economic damages. Third, personal opinions and disputes had contributed to the trials and accusations. The law system was unfair during the trials, so when or if someone was accused the court would side with the accuser, unless of course, they were a witch themselves. In conclusion, the people who died and who were accused of witchcraft were not really witches, Salem and it’s inhabitants were under the influence of mass hysteria, personal beliefs and grudges that eventually became the chaos of the Salem witch hunts of
Witchcraft has been present in many other religions, not only the Puritan religion. Witchcraft was also found in Catholic and Protestant parts of Europe. The Salem Witch Trials were smaller in comparison to those in Scotland, France, or Germany (Hall 3). Though the trials in Salem were smaller, people recognize the Salem Witch Trials as one of the worst times in American history (“Witch Madness” 4). The Puritans believed that the Devil was alive in their community (“Witch Madness” 2). The accusations started in February 1692 in Salem Village, Massachusetts when young Puritan girls were found using magic. The Salem Witch Trials began when Betty Paris, Abigail Williams, and some of their friends began to act strange with odd fits (Hall 1). Because many mental and emotional disorders were not understood, the people of Salem believed it was the work of witchcraft. When sickness or even misfortune came, the most
In the modern day it’s hard to believe there’s even still ‘’witch hunts’’ as you can say where a group of people are stereotyped as something without them doing the actual stereotypical thing. We live in a world where blacks are getting shot for no reason when they were just walking down the street unarmed and not harming anyone. Blacks and Latinos are always looked down upon in any shape or form. They could be driving a nice car they get pulled over for suspicion of a stolen car, they can get pulled over in an old broken car and they will get pulled over for suspicion of ‘’criminal activity’’. But if it’s a white person the cops will NOT bat a single eye at them despite being in the same situations as the black. And you know what the problem
The Salem Witchcraft Trials of 1692 were the largest outbreak of witch hunting in colonial New England up to that time. Although it was the largest outbreak, it was not something that was new. Witch-hunting had been a part of colonial New England since the formation of the colonies. Between the years 1648 to 1663, approximately 15 witches were executed. During the winter of 1692 to February of 1693, approximately 150 citizens were accused of being witches and about 25 of those died, either by hanging or while in custody. There is no one clear-cut answer to explain why this plague of accusations happened but rather several that must be examined and tied together. First, at the same time the trials took place, King William's War was raging in present day Maine between the colonists and the Wabanaki Indians with the help of the French. Within this war, many brutal massacres took place on both sides, leaving orphaned children due to the war that had endured very traumatic experiences. Second, many of the witch accusations were based on spectral evidence, most of which were encounters of the accused appearing before the victim and "hurting" them. There were rampant "visions" among the colonies' citizens, which can only be explained as hallucinations due to psychological or medical conditions by virtue of disease, or poisoning.
Trials regarding the witchcraft began at the dawn of 1692, after a group of young girls in Salem Village, Massachusetts, were said to be bewitched. Salem, a village that homes nearly 2,000 people, was surrounded by paranoia. Inhabitants were confined to their home during the winter
In the end, the Salem Witch Trials didn’t have a very good effect on anyone in Salem. These trials also left a major imprint on Salem.
The examinations begin with the people who were charged with witchcraft are brought to face the Salem Justices and are asked why they are hurting the afflicted girls, and during these examinations, the afflicted young girls gave descriptions of being attacked and tormented by the apparitions of Tituba, Good, and Osborn; the girls then exhibited forms of contortions when the accused were near them. Some of the townspeople even came forth with accounts of their dairy products spoiling and their animals being born with malformations after one of the accused came into their homes. Linder wrote:
During the early winter of 1692 two young girls became inexplicably ill and started having fits of convulsion, screaming, and hallucinations. Unable to find any medical reason for their condition the village doctor declared that there must be supernatural forces of witchcraft at work. This began an outbreak of hysteria that would result in the arrest of over one hundred-fifty people and execution of twenty women and men. The madness continued for over four months.
There are some events in history that put the human race to shame; however, these occasions can change our future forever. Society cannot deny that social injustices occur almost every day, maybe even more than once. One large blemish in our history, the Salem Witch Trials, alienated a certain group in our society. These trials were an unfortunate combination of economic conditions, a flock’s strife, teenage boredom, and personal jealousies.