Gabriela Cortez Lopez, Kjai Hamblin, and Phoenix Lehnick Mrs. Gann English Honors III 4 April 2023 The Last of Us (Witch Hunt Edition) The Salem Witch Trials were various trials that consisted of the accusations of people in Salem, Massachusetts during the time of the 1690s. People were coming down “with a mysterious and terrifying illness”(Caporael.) People were vomiting, screaming uncontrollably, claiming they see things that no one else can, and convulsing and contorting their bodies into impossible positions. Doctors soon called to examine the girls who were experiencing such things yet there was no medical reason for experiencing these things. At this point, the people turned to other types of forces that may be causing these symptoms. …show more content…
Because ergot tends to grow in these conditions it could have caused rye to become heavily infected. “Rye, which grows best in low, wet areas and is susceptible to ergot infection, was a staple crop in Salem” (Caporael.) Because the western section of Salem's farmland is swampy, it can also contribute to the growth and spread of ergot in Salem. Due to these swampy fields it can be inferred that the western part of Salem had more accused or afflicted than other areas, and as it so happens 30 of the 32 accused lived in the western side of Salem. The way that the accused felt and acted was very similar to the symptoms of ergot when and if consumed. Its variety of neurotoxins and halogens can cause vomiting, needle-like sensations under the skin, and even hallucinations. If these symptoms don’t sound familiar to you, they are similar if not the same symptoms that are seen in the accused during the …show more content…
Part of those reasons being, “the actions of the girls in the courtroom during examinations and trials when the girls fell into their fits based on the movements of the accused which caused them to cry out names” (Howlett.) As well as others turning to the work of Arthur Miller The Crucible for direction of what happened during the time of the Salem Witch Trials. They think as John Proctor states in the play “They‘re pretending!”(Mr.) Even though many theories say differently Ergot is one of the only reasonable explanations for the way that the accused had been acting. There was no other medical reason during that time and even when they were inspected by doctors they found nothing. The weather during the time of the trails was ideal for the growth of ergot and so was the swamp-like field in the Western part of Salem. As well as the symptoms that matched the same symptoms as the ones that the accused were
No one really knows how the Salem Witch Trials really started. There are many conspiracy theories out there but none can be proved as fact. But Linda Caporael seems to think the trials began because of ergot poisoning and explains her reasoning in “Witchcraft or Psychedelic Trip?”. Caporael describes ergot and why she believes it to be the main cause of the hysteria. She goes on to state that ergot is a fungus that grows best in wet conditions and on the main crops that were in Salem during the time period (Caporael).
Truth Untold: Unraveling the Salem Witch Hunts through Marc Aronson Marc Aronson uses this his book, Witch-HUNT: Mysteries of the Salem witch trials, to unravel and debunk myths surrounding the events of the Salem witch hunts and replace them with plausible theories based on evidence. Aronson relays that the modern ideas on the events of the witch trials and what may have happened are often wrong and the perpetrators of those pies used them to over stimulate the imaginations of those who were to believe these tales. The Salem Witch Hunts that are referred to by Aronson’s book are the hunts and trials that took place between February 1692 through May of 1693 in Salem Village, Massachusetts. In a time of lawlessness or anarchy in
Michelle Staskauskas Ms. Scott Honors US History-HIS 103 6 September 2016 What Really Happened in Salem? Thesis: There have been many stressors leading up to the Salem witch trials. There have been The little ice age, the smallpox epidemic and the Indian attacks on the border of Massachusetts at Billerica (Doc 1). For being religious as the puritans are they would often see these bad events as attributes of God’s wrath. In the 1690’s King’s Philips War led to the puritans believing in his being another punishment from God.
In Doc. E, recreated by Paul Boyer and Stephen Nissenbaum, it shows a map of Salem and locations of accusers, defenders and accused witches. In the west side of Salem it is shown that there are more accusers than in the east side. (Doc .E) The same as in the east side but there are more accused than accusers.
The Salem Witch Trials, occurring between the years of 1692 and 1693, consisted of persecutions, arrests, and hysteria through the village of Salem, Massachusetts. In determining the source of the mass hysteria during these trials, it is necessary to look from a societal point of view. Religiously, tensions began to form and alter the village in ways that were for and against their beliefs. Changing morals of the village brought forth ideologies that were based with selfish intentions. Social structures altered to weaken and divide the town and its people.
This evidence helps explain the jealousy and boredom the young girls experienced during this period of time, Another possible cause for the Salem witch trials was that the girls were great liars and
Mass hysteria is a condition, which affects an entire group of people, which is influenced by excitement and/or anxiety. It bring about irrational behavior and beliefs. When many people at once are hysterical, or even one person that can convince the others, it can cause the group to have hallucinations. Once they start believing something and seeing things that aren’t actually there it is pretty easy to toy with their minds.
Salem was a town divided into two sides, the west side being poor, and the east side being where wealthy people stayed. Document E shows that the accusers were mainly on the west side, and the accused witches were mostly on the east side, this showing that the poor were the ones mainly accusing the rich and wealthy. Document E’s evidence is backing up the theory that another cause of the Salem witch `trial hysteria was Salem being divided, with one side accusing the other. “Although” statement where you agree there might be other contributing causes. It is true that other causes may help explain the hysteria.
Expanding on the causes themselves, Tituba’s comment was not the only reason, a much larger one was that a group of 8 young girls fell ill. They began showing what we now realizes were signs of a food related illness. Salem’s rye had caused the girls (which all lived near marshes) to gain these symptoms of what some saw as witchcraft. The rye can obtain a fungus called ergot which when ingested causes all the same symptoms the 8 girl’s had had. Mysteriously enough, the curses (symptoms) disappear in the summer when the crop began to dry out.
One of the lead causes of the Salem Witch Trials was disease also know at the time as Ergotism. Rye was a grain that could become troubled by the fungus ergot. Ergot can be compared to the modern drug LSD, “...most common symptoms include seizures, convulsions,
A similar pattern throughout the crisis was seen. All those accused where not born in Salem even if they had lived there all their life or were Indians (linking them to the American Indian war in 1622-1624) or those who were previously accused of witchcraft. Also mentions the afflicted girls and fortune telling how they all got scared when a coffin appeared in one of their
The ergot leads to poisoning or a trip. An early ergot trip leads to nausea, vomiting, muscle pain and weakness, numbness, itching, and rapid or slow heartbeat. Ergot poisoning can progress to gangrene, vision problems, confusion, spasms, convulsions, unconsciousness, and death. These symptoms can be found in the accusing girls, BUT because this fungus is a hallucinogen that means that when the girls claim to see others
Ergot is a fungus that commonly grows on many grains, but more often than not it is found on rye. Ergot was commonly found in America and European rye during the 19th century. The effects of ergot poisoning include; fits of convulsions, hallucinations, under the skin prickling sensations, and vomiting. An extract of ergot was used to make the hallucinogenic drug LSD. The town of Salem stored their grain to consume during the winter, and ergot being a fungus grows in dark and damp areas.
The Salem Witch Trials; Madness or Logic In Stacey Schiff’s, List of 5 Possible Causes of the Salem Witch Trials and Shah Faiza’s, THE WITCHES OF SALEM; Diabolical doings in a Puritan village, discuss in their articles what has been debated by so many historians for years, the causes of the Salem Witch trials. Schiff and the Faiza, purpose is to argue the possible religious, scientific, communal, and sociological reasons on why the trials occurred. All while making word by word in the writer’s testimony as if they were there through emotion and just stating simply the facts and theories. They adopt the hectic tone in order to convey to the readers the significance, tragedy, logic, loss, and possible madness behind these life changing events,
The Salem witch trial hysteria of 1692 may have been instigated by religious, social, geographic and even biological factors. During these trials, 134 people were condemned as witches and 19 were hanged. These statistics also include 5 more deaths that occurred prior to their execution date. It is interesting to look into the causes of this stain on American History, when as shown in document B, eight citizens were hanged in only one day.