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Tragedy of salem witch trials
Salem witch trials and historical analysis
Salem witch trials and historical analysis
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The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692 has been a major topic in history. Witchcraft has been interpreted in many different forms. Mary Beth Norton novel “In the Devils Snare, the Witchcraft Crisis of 1962” gives a different point of view arguing there is another explanation for witchcraft. The novel integrates the war and witchcraft crisis by flashbacking back and forth from the trials to King Williams War. Norton organized it by going in chronological order to help back up the events. To elaborate, the Witchcraft Crisis of 1962 is which many town people were accused of using witchcraft and being possessed by the devil. During this time, puritans had no way of explaining the strange activities. Witchcraft was the only answer to all the strange whether behavior, or diseases. …show more content…
In this research she finds that almost all of the accused had ties to the Indian war (King Williams War). Many of the people who were accused were participants or family members of those in the war. The loss of their richness was God's punishment, which lead the town to be filled with fear and finding a way to escape. The community indication of panic, uncertainty and delusion is what made the author questions if these conflicts are what lead the events in Salem to develop. In developing her argument, Norton starts off by focusing on a household slave named Tituba. February 25, 1692, Sarah Good, Sarah Osborne, and a slave Tituba were accused of being witches. Out of these three women, Norton argues that the charges against Tituba are the most significant because of her racial identity. "Tituba Indian" was what villagers referred her as and it is what Norton connected to be hatred towards New England Native Americans. Tituba represented the people who were then 'tormenting' New England and caused villagers to start accusations of Native Americans as being 'devilish' Indians.
Godbeer follows the incident without any bias and looks into how the accusations and trials are handled by the townspeople and the people in charge of handling the trails. Godbeer’s purpose of writing this book is to prove that Salem was not the norm. Godbeer’s approach of only one using one case, slightly weakens his effectiveness that Salem was not the norm.
Escaping Salem, the Other Witch Hunt of 1692 was written by Richard GodBeer. Many know about the Salem Witch Trails of 1692, however not many knew about the Witch Trials that happened in Stamford, Connecticut that same year. Richard GodBeer takes it upon himself to explain in depth the story of Kate Branch. GodBeer begins the book by describing the setting of the book, it was June in 1692 and the narrative would take place in a small town off the northern shore of Long Island. (Godbeer, 1) After the introduction of few characters one being Ebenezer Bishop, the first incident of a Witch encounter happens. As Bishop is walking, he hears a scream of immense pain and fright. This is when the main characters of the book are introduced. The young
The thoroughness is one of its key strengths, allowing for people of varying knowledge about Salem to gain an understanding of the events and background of the witch trials. The author includes multiple sources to show the exceptionally varying ideals and their effects on Salem. “the peace that came under Joseph Green's conciliatory leaders... the important role religious strife played in the events of 1692”(Latner, 2006, 118). Joseph Green completely paralleled his predecessors, he was responsible for restoring order to Salem. This is significant because it shows the impact that ministers had, they had the power to change the town completely, Green was one of the first to not cause strife. Compared to Christine Leigh Heyrman’s “Witchcraft in Salem Village: Intersections of Religion and Society” Latner’s article correlates with the central idea that religious leaders and religion itself started the witch
While Salem Village remained an agricultural community, Salem Town transformed into a mercantile town. These factions created strained relations and high levels of anxiety among the residents which led to accusations of witchcraft. Tensions exacerbated as Salem “experienced two different economic systems, two different ways of life, at unavoidably close range” (437). Within Salem Village, witchcraft accusations steadily increased as “the first twelve witches were either residents of the Village or persons who lived just beyond its borders” (435). However, witchcraft was not confined to a specific, geographic location as it spread beyond Salem Village and into other geographic boundaries. In fact, the majority of the people accused of witchcraft came from the surrounding villages. The outgrowth of conflicts and bitter disputes between the people of the rising mercantile class and the people of the land-based economy continuously led to witchcraft accusations. The accusations were not limited to farming communities, but also extended to political representatives and people higher up on the social ladder. For example, Boyer and Nissenbaum mention the accusation of Daniel Andrew and Phillip English who were two elected Salem Town selectman. As more
While most people are familiar with the notorious Salem Witch Trials in 1692, many people are unaware that similar events were taking place in other parts of New England in the very same year. The book, Escaping Salem: The Other Witch Hunt of 1692, takes readers through an intriguing narrative of a young girl with claims of being bewitched. Although I was concerned at first about the book being in a narrative style, the author was very concise and used actual evidence from the trial to tell an accurate and interesting story.
The author of this book has proposed an intriguing hypothesis regarding the seventeenth-century witchcraft trials in Salem, Massachusetts. Laurie Winn Carlson argues that accusations of witchcraft were linked to an epidemic of encephalitis and that it was a specific form of this disease, encephalitis lethargica, that accounts for the symptoms suffered by the afflicted, those who accused their neighbors of bewitching them. Though this interpretation of the Salem episode is fascinating, the book itself is extremely problematic, fraught with historical errors, inconsistencies, contradictions, conjecture, and a very selective use of the evidence.
The evidence of witchcraft and related works has been around for many centuries. Gradually, though, a mixture a religious, economical, and political reasons instigated different periods of fear and uncertainty among society. Witchcraft was thought of as a connection to the devil that made the victim do evil and strange deeds. (Sutter par. 1) In the sixteenth, seventeenth, and twentieth century, the hysteria over certain causes resulted in prosecution in the Salem Witch Trials, European Witchcraft Craze, and the McCarthy hearings. These three events all used uncertain and unjustly accusations to attack the accused.
What really happened in Salem that ignited the spark of the Witchcraft Trials? Was it out of boredom? Did the girls come down with a case of Schizophrenia, encephalitis, or Huntington’s chorea? (Vogel 1). These are all possibilities, but there is still one theory that could reveal the truth behind the Salem Witch Trials. According to the research by psychologist Linda Caporael, of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute of Troy, New York, the poisoning of ergot originally created the hysteria. (Vogel 1 and Clark 2). Ergot is a form of fungus that spreads best in cold, damp weather. (Vogel 1). This fungus mostly grows on different types of grain, wheat, and especially rye. (Vogel 1). In the year of 1692, Salem, Massachusetts suffered a cold, wet winter. (Vogel 1). The growth of rye was substantial, making rye the main grain for the citizens of Salem. (Vogel 1).
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.
Greed is running through Salem and the history of Salem’s greed is bringing new quarrels into the town amongst families(Miller I. 154). The land greed in Salem leads to more hatred and anger in the city. This greed greatly affect who is accused in the witch trials. Land is a huge problem in Salem’s witch hunt because if someone is arrested their land can be bought , this is a huge reason why so many were accused(Miller,”The Crucible”). The land is so extravagant in size due to how important agriculture was in America. This problem was constant in Salem’s witch trials. Land distribution is a major problem in Salem’s community because it starts feuds and
The Salem Witchcraft Hysteria was a product of women’s search for power. This claim is supported by Lyle Koehler, from A Search for Power: The “weaker sex” in seventeenth-century New England (University of Illinois, 1980), explained and argues why this is true. Koehler mentions that the women were in search for more power and respect and power equality. She mentioned that the men were afraid of witches because they felt they were superior to them which brought in the question of who really was the superior gender. But really, the women accused others as being witches so as to gain more power from men. Basically, this showed that the women were not afraid of controlling or taking the power from men. In the seventeenth century, the men had power; so therefore, women did anything and would do anything to gain more power than the men. In puritan society, the only women with any significant power were mothers. They had powers not only in their homes but also in the public as long as they accused people of being witches. They also implicated others to achieve this power. An example that Koehler gave would be sociologist Dodd Bogart’s conclusion that “demon or witch charges are attempt to restore “self-worth, social recognition, social acceptance, social status and other related social rewards” is pertinent to the Salem village situation.
The term witchcraft is defines as the practice of magic intended to influence nature. It is believed that only people associated with the devil can perform such acts. The Salem Witch Trials was much more than just America’s history, it’s also part of the history of women. The story of witchcraft is first and foremost the story of women. Especially in its western life, Karlsen (1989) noted that “witchcraft challenges us with ideas about women, with fears about women, with the place of women in society and with women themselves”. Witchcraft also confronts us too with violence against women. Even through some men were executed as witches during the witch hunts, the numbers were far less then women. Witches were generally thought to be women and most of those who were accused and executed for being witches were women. Why were women there so many women accused of witchcraft compared to men? Were woman accused of witchcraft because men thought it was a way to control these women? It all happened in 1692, in an era where women were expected to behave a certain way, and women were punished if they threatened what was considered the right way of life. The emphasis of this paper is the explanation of Salem proceedings in view of the role and the position of women in Colonial America.
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
Puritans believed in the devil and his role as strong as they believed in God and his role. For many centuries, Puritans had the idea that the weakest individuals in society often committed diabolical acts and sins. Furthermore, Satan selected the most vulnerable individuals to do his bidding, among these individuals, women were often held responsible for many sins, including witchcraft. (Godbeer 12). According to Richard Godbeer, in his book, The Salem Witch Hunt, “it was Eve who first gave away to Satan and seduced Adam.” (Godbeer 12). In 1692, witchcraft became a panic among Puritan society. Even though both men and women were accused of witchcraft, women were seventy-six percent more likely to be accused in Salem than men. (Godbeer 12). Puritan society was a male dominate society and men looked down upon women. There were two particular reasons to why women were often accused of being witches. The first reason, was in due to the Puritan belief that women were the source of evil. The second reason was because of certain events that associated with accusations. These events were being of relatively low social status and income, being rich or financially independent and being a midwife or nurse.
Several of the controversial predicaments dealt within Salem's society in 1692 remain prevalent in the 21st century, unfortunately. "This historical novel refuses to be confined within the ideological limits of the era during which it unfolds." (Angela Davis) Truthfully, it's unnerving to come to the conclusion that there haven't been solid resolutions 324 years afterward. Tituba may not have formally taken on the title of a feminist, but her actions demonstrate otherwise. Tituba failed to comprehend that embracing one's sexuality doesn't cancel out the core of feminism: to seek equality and end women's oppression.