One of the earliest known witch hunts that occurred took place in B.C.E. The Hebrew scriptures addressed witchcraft, including Exodus 22:18 and various verses in Leviticus and Deuteronomy.The first term for a witch hunt was searching out for persecution of persons accused of witchcraft. The modern day definition is a situation where accusations are made freely, especially against someone or something who was not popular with the majority. Both definitions of the term are very similar because the accusations are based on little to no evidence. Anyone could be accused no matter your position in power or your record of good deeds. The only thing that has changed is that people are not as gullible as they once were. Witch hunts still happen today …show more content…
and for the same reason, to get rid of someone in your way or to gain power. It really is one of the most disgusting and idiotic things done by humans. The Salem Witch Hunts took place in 1692 in Salem Village. The entire thing started because of a few mischievous children, Abigail Williams, Tituba, Mercy Lewis, Betty and Mary Warren. What started out as a children's game would soon lead to the deaths of many innocent people. These children believed in satan and witches and sought to ask satan for things such as the death of a enemy, by drinking animals blood. One day they were caught dancing around a fire at night by an adult named Samuel Parris, who was the uncle of Abigail. Immediately knowing the punishment of being caught doing such a thing, especially in a Puritan community would be brutal. So they made up a lie that they were just dancing and having fun like any normal kids. Of Course being as gullible as can be, he believed them without a second thought. Shortly after returning to the village one of the girls had become ill. Knowing this would raise suspicion they knew that they had to lie. They realised that they could use the concept of witches to get what they wanted because of how innocent they looked towards adults. They began acting as if they were being attacked by some demonic creature that was only visible to them.
Then began the name calling of everyone who they dislike or someone they envy. Names such as Rebecca Nurse who couldn't be more of a saint was being accused for having connections with the devil. The after effects of this madness led to every adult fearing these now all powerful children. An example of a modern day witch hunt would be racial profiling and police brutality against African American Men. In 1991 an African American, Rodney King was pulled over by police at a stop sign and was brutally beat because of his skin color. Blacks being discriminated has been going on since 1865. For some strange reason white/caucasian believe that they are far superior than black people, and that they can do no wrong. It has been embedded in the minds of people that if a black man walks into a store they are almost certain to steal, if he has on a hood he has a weapon, if a black man looks as if he is approaching your car lock your doors. People fail to comprehend that just because one black person does something wrong that doesn't mean all are the same. Police will do anything they can to find an excuse to either send a black man to jail or kill
him. It is ridiculous to say the least. Another example of a modern day witch hunt is the hatred against Muslims because of their religious beliefs and the actions of one Muslim named Osama Bin Laden who killed many innocent people by hijacking a plane and crashing it into the Twin Towers. After the incident all Muslims were seen as a danger to society and were treated as criminals. It didn't matter if you had nothing at all to do with the attack, you were considered a part of it because you and said person were of the same religion.
Escaping Salem: The Other Witch Hunt of 1692 by Richard Godbeer. This book was published in 2005 by Oxford University Press, Inc. Richard Godbeer examines the witch trials in the seventeenth century. When a young girl Katherine Branch of Stamford, Connecticut is stricken with unexplainable convulsions, her master and mistress begin to think it is caused by something supernatural. 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
Were the witch-hunts in pre-modern Europe misogynistic? Anne Llewellyn Barstow seems to think so in her article, “On Studying Witchcraft as Women’s History: A Historiography of the European Witch Persecutions”. On the contrary, Robin Briggs disagrees that witch-hunts were not solely based on hatred for women as stated in his article, “Women as Victims? Witches, Judges and the Community”. The witch craze that once rapidly swept through Europe may have been because of misconstrued circumstances. The evaluation of European witch-hunts serves as an opportunity to delve deeper into the issue of misogyny.
Analysis and Comparison of the Witch Trials In modern times, the most infamous witch trials are the one that occurred in Salem. These specific witch trials are known for the unjust killings of several accused women and men. The Salem witch trials of 1692, is a big portion of what people refer to, when they want to analyze how Puritan life was during the colonial period. According to ‘Salem Witch Trials’, “The witch trials are often taken as a lens to view the whole Puritan period in New England and to serve as an example of religious prejudice…”
By the reign of William III, there were becoming increasingly less cases of witch-hunting/trails and ultimate executions. The last recorded execution in England of an alleged witch is in 1682, though trials and accusations would still be brought alleged witches right up until the 1800’s both in England and on the continent in most cases /crown rule where witch-hunting/trials and executions took place, probably the most famous and certainly one of the most written about witching episodes is that of Witch Trials of Salem, Massachusetts.
The period of witch-hunting existed from around 1450 to 1750, with the height of the European movement between 1560 and 1630. Whilst many have tried to argue that witch-hunting was women-hunting this comment cannot be justified, women were the primary victims of the witch craze but not the only ones, as one in five witches were men. The high percentage of women was not because of a vendetta against the sex but rather the patriarchal understanding that women were more vulnerable to the wills of the devil and therefore more likely to become witches.
Scotland had a high number of casualties in their witch trials, with thousands of supposed witches tried, convicted, and executed. The number of accused is estimated to be 3,837. Sixty-seven percent of people accused were executed mainly by strangling followed by burning. Some were simply burned alive. A select few were beheaded or hanged. Those beheaded or hanged typically committed more crimes than just witchcraft. The percentage of executed is based on 305 cases where the outcome is known. “205 of these were to be executed, 52 were acquitted, 27 were banished, 11 were declared fugitive, 6 were excommunicated, 2 were put to the horn (outlawed), 1 person was to be kept in prison and 1 person was to be publicly humiliated” (“Survey of Scottish Witchcraft”). Therefore, it is not thought to be very accurate. 84% of the accused were women, 15% were men, and for the
The Salem Witch Trials were a time in history where people were wrongly accused of being witches. In the spring of 1692 the Salem witch trials began. During the trials women were wrongly accused of being witches. When accused of being a witch they were tortured, tested, put on trial, and most of the time executed if not put in jail. The townspeople tortured the accused witches in the most inhumane ways. This was a very dark and eerie time for the Puritans in Salem, Massachusetts (P., Shaunak).
There is not just one definition for a witch hunt. A witch hunt can be looking for and possibly punishing people who are accused of having unpopular opinions. It can also be when a group of people go after another group of people that either have opposing views or are outsiders. Just like in the isolation of HIV/AIDS patients in the 1980’s/1990’s, many people go along with the hysteria of a witch hunt out of fear about something that may or may not be true. These persecutions are often “justified” by those participating in the witch hunt. Whether they blame others to save themselves, or do it out of guilt and greed, they
“This theory is supported by historical records which indicate that the years preceding the Witch Trials were particularly cold. Also, the notorious witch hunt took place within the period of the so-called Great Witch Craze which in turn coincides with what is known as the Little Ice Age, a period of abnormally cold climate between the mid-14th and mid-19th century show that witch hunts occur more often in cold weather.”(History List) They often happened more in cold weather because farmer’s crops wouldn’t grow and they started to have droughts. They needed someone or something a “scapegoat” to blame the fail of crops on and the lack of water and agricultural goods. That “scapegoat” just happened to be a women or man who would be accused of being a witch. Even if you have done nothing of the sort, anyone higher authority over you or not, could blame you for taking part in
Concerning why the witch hunts occurred when they did the agreed upon opinion by all three author’s is the social unrest and uncertainty felt due to the Protestant Reformation and the schism it created amongst the populace, the effects of recovering from plague and war, and the enforced patriarchal structure of a society that was changing. It was during the Reformation that Christian...
Although witch trials were not uncommon in Puritanical New England, none had reached such epidemic proportions as Salem. In 1691 the mass hysteria began when several young girls dabbled in witchcraft and began acting strange. When villagers took notice the girls were seriously questioned and so they began naming people, mainly woman, who had supposedly bewitched them (Boyer, p66). Several other who had been accused were woman displayed ‘unfeminine’ behavior and those who
Evaluate the role of gender in early modern witch-hunting. During the early modern period Europe experienced a phase of vicious prosecution of the people accused of the crime of ‘Witchcraft.’ There has been an estimated death toll of up to 50,000 people during these Witch-hunt crazes, although the exact figures are unknown. What is known is that overall 75-80% of those accused were women, although this varies in different states.
The mass hysteria between today’s society and the Salem witch hunt can be compared through Freedom , Religion ,and the killing of innocent victims. Mass hysteria has caused a lot of destruction in society throughout the years. It has brought about a lot of chaos in both Salem as well as the present society. Mass hysteria has brought out a lot of fear in people in both Salem and present society.
Hans Baldung 'Grien', 1510. The Hammer and the Hunt Witchcraft persecution peaked in intensity between 1560 and 1630 however the large scale witch hysteria began in the 14th century, at the end of the Middle Ages and were most intense during the Renaissance and continued until the 18th century, an era often referred to as the Enlightenment or Age of Reason. Representation of witches, nay, representation in general is a political issue. Without the power ot define the female voice and participate in decisions