Jealousy: The Salem Witch Trial

Can you imagine being accused of a crime that you did not commit? This is exactly what happened from June 10th to September 22nd. Twenty innocent women were put to death in a small town by the name of, Salem Boston. This was called the “ Salem Witch Trials.” The Salem Witch Trials were due to a variety of things. Jealousy , lying, and attention are 3 of most important factors.

Without a doubt, one cause of the witch trial hysteria was jealousy. One piece of evidence that supports this claim is that, on document E, you can see that west side of town, which was the poorer side of town, a majority of the population were accusers. Who were they accusing? The eastern side of town, which was the richer side of town. Now one can assume that when a group of people totally different from another group of people there might be some tension, and this is one part that caused the hysteria, the poorer group, wanted what the richer group had, wealth and what better way to

First let us go to document B, in this document it shows us that most girls who were accusing other girls were younger, (between the ages of 16-20). And the convicted were older, (between the ages of 40-60). Usually younger girls crave attention and do not have their life together. However older women usually do not care, and have everything that they need. Like in Document E. Groups that are totally different have tension and it is usually for wealth and attention when it involves younger girls. Another point of evidence is that in document B most of the accusers were women, I am not trying to label anyone, but usually women can be somewhat ‘sensitive’ especially when it comes to men and wealth, they crave attention, maybe that is my opinion but it seems pretty relevant, with the evidence given. In conclusion the evidence given gives you an understanding that a cause in the witch trial hysteria was