In 1692, a mass hysteria spread throughout Salem, Massachusetts. The Salem Witch Trials were an important point in history because of historical reasons. During the trials, a total of nineteen people were hanged and one hundred and fifty men and women were accused of witchcraft. Seven died in prison and one man was even crushed to death by stones after refusing to enter a plea at his arraignment. Even two dogs were accused and killed! The famous trials began in the spring of 1692 after a group of young girls, who were residents of Salem, claimed to be possessed by the devil. The girls would cry out the names of the people who were apparently causing their pains.Evidence admitted in such trials was of five types. The first was like a test. Sometimes …show more content…
There were a number of religious factors that contributed to the Salem witch trials. Among these are the influence of the strict Puritan lifestyle, the believed presence of the devil in the community. On Salem Witchcraft Trials, an internet article, Linda Alchin states, “Puritans practised strictness, simplicity and austerity in their religion, lifestyle and conduct. Puritans were strongly opposed to sensual pleasures and were strong advocates of propriety, modesty and and decorum.” (Alchin). Puritan laws were extremely rigid and the members of society were expected to follow a strict code. Because of this, anything that was believed to go against this code was a sin and whoever did deserved to be punished. The Puritans also believed strongly in the wrath of God and did everything they could to prevent themselves from receiving it. This is why the witch scare was taken so seriously and the accused were punished harshly. They also believed the God would protect his servants and keep them out of harm’s way. So whenever problems began to occur in the colonies, they were easily blamed on the Devil. After the trials, Puritans began to decline in the new colonies. They began to separate into different Protestant groups. The Salem Witch Trials discouraged the connection between religion and government. This helped lead to the idea of separation of church and state that is included in the …show more content…
In Salem, young girls threw things, uttered strange sounds, vomited, contorted themselves into strange positions and began to have spasms. In the early 1970’s, a scientist named Linda Caporael had been studying the Salem witch trials. Studies of hers linked symptoms and strange behaviors of the afflicted girls to the hallucinogenic effects of drugs like lysergic acid diethylamide. LSD is a derivative of ergot. Ergot is a fungus that grew on the rye grain in Salem during the 1690’s. The ergot poisoned the rye grain, and then the bread was baked from the rye. The whole winter, the poisoned bread was consumed all over Salem. That winter was when the bewitchments started to happen. A similar outbreak happened in Pont-Saint-Esprit, France in 1951. In France, everyone who was experiencing the affects, ate bread from the same bakery. In Salem Witch Trials, an internet article, The Science Magazine says “the fungus ergot (found in rye, wheat and other cereals), which toxicologists say can cause symptoms such as delusions, vomiting and muscle spasms. (History). The Salem Witch Trials were important because of scientific reasons. It shows that something like this could happen again though because of the ergot
The church and the nature of Protestant culture present in both places played a vital role in fuelling accusations and fear. Salem village in the 1690s was a strictly Puritan, in which the monotony of theocracy could not be escaped. Central to the Puritan beliefs was the uncertainty of salvation, with even the most godly men still vulnerable to temptation by the devil. Vital to Puritan theology was the view that Satan was an instrument God used to punish the sinful, and that troubles during one’s lifetime were a manifestation of God’s judgement against sin. Witches were one means by which the devil might penetrate society, with a witch’s pact with the devil interpreted as the antithesis of Christian baptism.
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).
There is no straight forward answer to this. It is believed that there are many factors that led to the strange occurrences of the Salem Witch Trials. Some of them include a new and unstable government, Puritan religion, Puritan politics, Puritan societal expectations, mental health
The Massachusetts Bay Experiment, despite the fact that it began as a business endeavor, was profoundly grounded on religion. As John Winthrop said, they needed to make a "city upon a slope," or an ideal world where God's support could be accomplished. To accomplish this Promised Land, the Puritans dedicated themselves to their congregation life and God. Investing hours at administration consistently, the Puritans were a nearly weave group because of the force of the congregation. At whatever point any issue in the group developed, the Puritans looked to the congregation to give them an answer.
Most puritans believed in witchcraft (American Eras vol. 2) which caused a problem in Salem. In Salem some teenage girls in accused a west indian slave woman named Tituba. You couldnt be safe in Salem during this time from being accused of being of a witch. Puritans would accuse other people for doing something suspicious or if they had hate against them. Puritans would also accuse those who did not show up church on Sunday.
The Salem Witch Trials began during the year of 1692, in the small town of Salem, Massachusetts. The event that sparked the trials occurred when a group of girls claimed to be enthralled by the devil and accused numerous other women of experimenting with witchcraft. As an upsurge of frenzy trickled throughout the town of Salem, a special group assembled in Salem to put their input in the cases. Based on statistics from an article it states, ”the first convicted witch was hanged. Eighteen others followed, while some 150 more men, women and children were accused over the next several months By September 1692, the hysteria had begun to abate and public opinion turned against the trials.”
he Salem Witch Trials could be seen as one of the steps towards America’s democratic emergence. However, instead of blaming the cause of the witch trials on deranged colonists it can be seen as the collapse of religious expression into affairs of state and government. At the time, overly religious and scared villagers made it seem as if the whole trials were the cause of a Devil and spirits. Also the sources today, on the Salem Witch Trials avoid the truth about what really caused the Salem Witch Trials. It can clearly be seen that without the separation of church and government, the religious fears of the colonists found itself into the government.
In Salem, Massachusetts, Puritans were strong believers in the Bible. The Bible states, “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.” The Puritans beliefs led to them accusing 20 innocent people of being a witch, this resulted in their deaths in 1692. Even though the Puritans couldn’t see it at the time, their accusations were really based off jealousy, lies, and Salem being divided into two parts. One cause of the Salem witch trial hysteria was jealousy.
Through analysis of the event and its causes, one can conclude that the citizens of Salem had significant evidence to back their belief in witchcraft. What is arguably the most prominent factor in the Salem Witch Trials is religion. The entirety of the Puritan society was based on
Puritans were a group of reformed protestants that hoped to remove the Roman Catholic beliefs from the Church of England. These individuals believed in living strictly by the scriptures and upholding the strongest moral content. In keeping with living strictly by the scriptures in the Bible, and upholding what was stated in those scriptures, was a leading cause for the trials. Being that Puritans sought to uphold God there was no room for occult practices in Salem. These religious beliefs caused, like so many today, mass hysteria and radicalistic approaches in the hopes of eradicating the issues of witches.
Even though the Salem Witch Trials began in Massachusetts in the 1600s, the fear of witches and witchcraft existed long before then. There was a witchcraft craze in Europe, lasting approximately from the 1300s to the end of the 1600s and resulting in the deaths of thousands (Blumberg, 2007). The Salem Witch Trials began in January 1692 when Reverend Samuel Parris’ daughter, Elizabeth, and niece, Abigail, began exhibiting strange behavior. Another girl by the name of Ann Putnam Jr. started exhibiting similar behaviors around the same time. The girls would scream, throw things, utter strange noises, and contort themselves into unnatural positions, and the local doctor blamed the girls’ behavior on the supernatural.
Due to this the town often forbade many acts, especially for women. So whenever someone would act differently they would be looked down upon and feared by some. This is what was ultimately the reason for the Salem witch trials which took place in real life and The Crucible by Arthur Miller. Salem's Puritan beliefs influenced the hysteria of the witch trials because the town feared what the devil would do to the town. They feared what god would do to them if they let
N) also brings up the possibility of a fungus called ergot triggering the hysteria of 1692. Ergot grows on cereal grains and can be poisonous which was a “common condition resulting from eating contaminated rye bread” back in the seventeen hundred´s. Ergot is believed to have affected the accusers by causing symptoms such as “crawling sensations, tingling in the fingers, vertigo and hallucinations”. To better understand how ergot played a role in the Salem witch hysteria, an additional document listing how much rye and other cereal grains were consumed during the year 1692 would help determine a
The Salem Witch Trials accusing others of a feared crime showed definite evidence that mass hysteria was to blame. Salem was a religious settlement, following Puritan beliefs (Miller, 6). A large fear for everyone in Salem was the touch of the Devil (Miller, Arthur). According to Puritan beliefs, if a man or woman was touched by the Devil he would convince them to do witchcraft. Once word was mentioned the Devil had possibly touched Salem, the fear spread.
Many practicing Christians, at the time, believed that the Devil could persuade people to use the powers that he gave them to harm others. The Salem Witch Trials occurred because of resource struggles, many women were accused and tortured, and in the end the Governor realized that it was a big mistake. (“Salem Witch Trials”, 1). In 1689, English rulers William and Mary started a war with France in the American colonies which sent many refugees into the Essex County and Salem Village.