What caused the events in Salem? In 1692 some shocking events took place in Salem, Massachusetts. A bizarre outbreak of people accusing others of being witches began. These accused “witches” were slaughtered in a variety of ways. This occurrence was described in the book entitled The Crucible by Arthur Miller. This book describes the witch trials by following a handful of characters such as John Procter, His wife Elizabeth Procter, Abigail Williams, and Reverend Hale. The book starts off with Tituba, a slave woman, “dancing” in the woods with Abigail and a few others. After they were caught Tituba admits to conjuring the devil while Abigail and a young girl named Betty claim they have seen various townsfolk with the devil. The story continues …show more content…
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. Some sources believe this is what was happening in Salem. Once a few people began to cry witch the others joined in. With all this hysteria people began to see things that weren’t actually there. Before these trials started the girls were perfectly healthy while during the trials they suffered from things such as bite marks and burns from throwing themselves in fire. These are classic symptoms of hysteria. The people of Salem suffered from clinical hysteria. They did not become hysterical because of witchcraft, but because of the fear of …show more content…
A few illnesses and disorders could have taken their hold at the time. One of these possible diseases are Lyme disease. The afflicted in Salem had red marks and rashes and also showed arthritic and neurological symptoms. Lyme disease is caused by certain kinds of ticks. These ticks are present in Massachusetts, where this took place. Another disorder would be PTSD, or post-traumatic stress disorder. At the time of these events it was about 20 years after a war had taken place, the King Philip’s War. The witnesses of this horrific event could have been left with PTSD. The survivors/witnesses of this war could become hysterical in a time of stress. Any one of these illnesses could have played into what happened in
Throughout the 1940s and 50s America was overwhelmed with concerns about the threat of communism growing in eastern Europe and China. Paranoia ensued. Salem was established as a religious community in the midst of evil. The people of Salem considered the forest the domain of the devil, and as you could guess, they were surrounded by it; Paranoia ensued
In 1692, A town in Massachusetts by the name of Salem Village became known for one most documented cases of mass hysteria in history. This saga started with three girls: Abigail Williams, Elizabeth Parris, and Ann Putnam a neighborhood friend. Abigail Williams, the niece of the town’s minister, began to display weird and questionable behavior. The town’s physician,William Greggs, was called to determine the cause of this sporadic behavior. The town’s physician determined that the three girls were under “the Devil’s influence” and they had been bewitched.
What Caused the Salem Witch Trial Hysteria of 1692? The Salem Witch Trials of 1692 were a large source of chaos for the small town that ruined the lives for people and their families. During this time many innocent people were accused of witchcraft and were thrown in jail while some were even hanged. It was a terrible event in history that was caused by jealousy, town division, and young girls.
What caused the Salem Witch Trial Hysteria of 1692? The Salem Witch Trial Hysteria of 1692 was a series of persecutions of people accused of witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts from 1692 to the 1700s. This terrible event ended up with 20 dead people who were accused and executed. Eventually, this catastrophe ended, when the governor's wife was being accused.
The principal cause of the Salem Witchcraft Hysteria was the fear and hatred of women fueled by the radical beliefs of Puritan society. The religion of the Puritan society was radical and hyper. The community of Salem itself was extremely close-knit.
The pre-existing conditions included Puritans beliefs in witchcraft and their association of women particularly women with witchcraft. The outbreak at Salem would not have occurred without those beliefs (TAHPDX) I agree with the historians completely if there weren't any past accusations of witches those women and men would not have been killed. I also agree about the sort of complex and disturbing religious, cultural, psychological, social, economic, and political forces that shaped Salem Village in 1692 continue to affect us, often in ways that we are unaware of. The varied interpretations of the Salem witch trials suggest that well-intentioned people can be guilty of very harmful acts, particularly when trying to explain or come to terms with suffering that seems undeserved and inexplicable.
Some chain of events that happened was that the people of Salem started to panic about the news of them being witches. They began to fear because back then they did believe that witches were real. Tituba had mentioned that there were other witches around the neighborhood. So many people were being blamed that they were witches and they had to go on trial. Some people were becoming scared because they had no proof that those people they accused were witches.
The Salem Witch Trials were caused by townspeople accusing people with different social classes of witchcraft and mass hysteria. The only reason why the witch trials started was because of townspeople pointing out the outcasts. In the video “Salem Witch Trials, The World Behind the Hysteria,” states,”The first women accused of witchcraft were seen as different unwanted people.” This shows that the townspeople were afraid of different people and decided to confront them of witchcraft to kill them off.
Although many events contributed to the infamous Salem witch trials, irrefutable evidence supports that the Indian War caused the trials. Their time in Indian captivity affected many of the accusers and the accused psychologically. The politics which accompanied the war landed some highly ranked men in trial. Native Americans exhibited a far greater threat than any other earthly or supernatural force the Puritans knew.
In May of 1693 more than 200 innocent lives were accused of witchcraft. Hysteria isn’t just a thing of the past it also happens a lot currently in the world. During historic tragedies, people sometimes become hysterical causing them to have
In the bible the Devil was talked about, saying that the devil is real. The devil was known to be smart and to enter a person's body and turn them into a witch. This is what those people believed, that is part of their religion. There has been many theories on the Salem Witch Trial, the ones I think most likely cause is Salem Witch Trial Hysteria is Religion, Lying, and the Power of Suggestion.
Salem, Massachusetts, USA and occurred between February 1692 and May 1693. Over 150 people were arrested and imprisoned and even more accused; but not pursued by the authorities. 29 were convicted of witchcraft but only 19 were hanged. The best known trials were in the Court of Oyer and Terminer.
This illness was like no other. It made the girls scream and try to climb under chairs, tables, and even up walls. The girls would hallucinate and feel weird sensations of tingling and things crawling under their skin. After they both were examined witchcraft was determined to be the cause. This was because the doctors in the 1600-1800s were extremely uneducated and when symptoms didn't make sense they would blame it on witchcraft.
Mental Illness in Salem Witch Trials Introduction Witchcraft is the practice of magic and the use of spells and the invocation of spirits. According to Salem Witch Trials, 2015, the Salem witch trials began during the spring of 1692, after a group of young girls in Salem, Massachusetts claimed to have been bewitched by several adults in the town. More than 150 people were accused and hung, including men, women, and children (Salem Witch Trials, 2015). There were three girls in particular that sparked the trials: Abigail Williams, Betty Parris, and Ann Putnam. Also stated in Salem Witch Trials, their behaviors changed drastically; they began to hallucinate, shout in church, have fits, not eat, not wake up, attempt to fly, and feel as if they
The Salem witch trial was a time about accusing your fellow neighbor or being accused yourself, this all began in 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts. During this time many people were being accused of being a witch, a majority of the time it was because either someone truly believed that you were a witch and were reeking havoc or they were trying to find someone to take the blame if they were to being accused. So this leads us to question, what began the Salem Witch Trials? There were at least three causes of the Salem witch trials hysteria. These were Betty Parris and Abigail Williams story, Ergotism, and the acknowledgment of hysteria.