Were The Salem Witch Trials Spurred By Food Poisoning?

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In all of human history, people have written about inhuman beings, many of which include gods, demons, wizards, sorcerers, sorceresses, and witches. Nowadays mystical beings are seen everywhere in media. Most of society stopped believing in these creatures years ago, but for 17th-century Salem, witchcraft became a living nightmare (Fremon, 1999).
I have studied this topic for years, especially anything pertaining to the Salem Witch Trials. I have read several books and have sources from universities and medical writers. I have studied the Salem Witch Trials out of interest for some time, and once I discovered the suspicion that ergot poisoning might have been a factor, I did a great deal of research in that area.
This topic can be important because research shows two possible causes of the behavior that led to the Salem Witch Trials: the extreme changes ergot poisoning can create in people, or, possibly even the boredom of the children. While the girls may have been bored with the colonial lifestyle, ergot could have caused the girls to have hallucinations because this has occurred in other instances in the past. There were reports that the girls had hallucinations, stupor of behavior, and convulsions. Ergot had a supportive climate in that region, and it grows best in moist or damp grains, especially rye, which was a common food source in the 1600s.
Ergot is a fungal disease that contaminates grasses and cereal grains, including rye, wheat, and barley. Wind and insects carry it and spread the fungus. It can affect both animals and people because it causes the grains to become a poison. Though it has affected people for nearly a thousand years, the symptoms have been wrongly diagnosed as a curse from God. In 1039, France had an e...

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...50 people were accused. Many people visit the Salem Witch Museum and learn the horror of the years 1692-1693.

Works Cited

Bonnet, M., & Basson, P. W. (2004). the Toxicology of Claviceps purpurea: Ergot of Rye. American Journal of Homeopathic Medicine , 97 (3), 211-222.
Fremon, D. K. (1999). The Salem Witchcraft Trials in American History. Springfield, NJ: Enslow.
Kallen, S. A. (2005). Figures of the Salem Witch Trials. Detroit: Lucent.
Barraclough, J. (Producer), & Lewis, M. (Director). (2001). Secrets of the Dead: the Witches Curse [Motion Picture]. Educational Broadcasting Corporation in association with Mentorn-Barraclough-Carey Productions, Channel 4 (UK), and Thirteen / WNET New York.
May, P. (1998, December). Lysergic Acid Diethylamide - LSD. Retrieved Feburary 2014, from School of Chemistry University of Bristol: http://www.chm.bris.ac.uk/motm/lsd/lsd.htm

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