Analysis: The Salem Witch Trials

Symptoms such as “tingling hands/fingers, vertigo, hallucinations, vomiting, muscle contractions, mania, psychosis, delirium, and melancholia” appear in sufferers from the rye infesting fungus and correlate with those allegedly under the influence of “the devil or witchcraft” in 1692 (Chevers 5). Tituba, one of the many women accused, reported to her interrogator she saw creatures that possessed “wings and two legs and a head like a woman” which appears justifiable by supernatural forces, unless the witness suffered from ergot poisoning, in which case this account may be attributed to the hallucinations sustained by the disease (Chevers 4). Catherine Branch establishes another case supporting the mirroring symptoms of those enduring ergotism and those enduring bewitchment when she underwent “pinching and pricking sensations, hallucinations, and spells of laughing and crying” while claiming to be cursed before ultimately dying. Despite that some suggest the accused people of Salem invented their symptoms, but this does not offer an explanation for the animals’ behavior in the area; exemplified by a dog whose actions corresponded with the symptoms of bread poisoning after he ate “Tituba’s witch cake” (Mixon 181). The immense correlation between the disease and the accused continues throughout multiple cases of both people

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

In Arthur Miller 's play The Crucible, false accusations and fear are used to imprison and kill many people accused of being witches. In this way, The Crucible stands as an allegory for McCarthy 's communist hunt, during which many people were also killed and imprisoned due to accusations of communism. By comparing McCarthyism to the Salem Witch Trials, Miller is able to communicate that people should not conform to societal trends because these trends may be misleading and cause innocent people to get hurt. Many characters in The Crucible serve as allegories to McCarthy 's communist hunt, specifically Abigail Williams, Giles Corey, and Betty Parris.

During the Witch Trials, Parris’ teachings also revolved more around Satan and a person’s sinful ways. Lastly, the final effect of the Salem Witch Trials was that it affected many individuals personally. Reverend Parris’ reputation became so horrible, they voted him out of the church. Then, John Procter was convicted of witchcraft and hung. Meanwhile, Abigail was driven out of town and thought to have become a prostitute in Boston.

She predicted the Spanish Armada, the Great Plague, and some assume the internet: “around the world thoughts shall fly in the twinkling of an eye.” For her sake, Mother Shipton died a normal death and was said to be buried on unholy ground near the outer edges of York in 1561. The Salem Witch Trials started in the spring of 1692, after a group of young girls in Salem, a village in Massachusetts, were said to be possessed by the devil and a few women were accused of witchcraft. Hysteria spread through colonial Massachusetts to the extent a special court was opened to hear the cases. Bridget Bishop was the first witch hung.

Witch craft Witch craft is the practice of magic it was said that if you practiced witch craft you had made deal with the devil in return he gave you supernatural powers. Most things that went wrong in the Elizabethan times was blamed on the witches, for example if your crops did not grow or your cow took ill. It was beloved that witches would be accompanied by a demon advisor i.e. A toad or cat. Single, old and/or poor women were most likely to be accused. It was legal to kill suspected witches whether it be by fire or through there trials.

Such similarities include the false imprisonment of innocent people based off of prejudice beliefs and heavily biased justice systems. The Salem Witch Trials began in the year 1692 when several young girls in Salem, Massachusetts were acting so strange that they were believed to be under a witch’s spell (Schiff). When confronted, the girls began accusing others of practicing witchcraft (Schiff). Many people were soon accusing others or being accused of witchcraft; they were being accused for various reasons such as unexplained illnesses, failed crops, or a woman could even be accused if she could open something a man could not (Brandt, p. 38). As stated in Anthony Brandt’s article, An Unholy Mess, “Legally, spectral evidence was not grounds for convicting a witch.

The Salem Witch Trials, which happened in 1690’s in Massachusetts, was a moment in history where hundreds were accused of witchcraft and others were violently killed. People have argued that it was ergot poisoning or economic greed or jealousy. The salem witch trials hysteria was caused by ergot poisoning, revenge, and jealousy. Ergot poisoning started off the whole salem witch trials. In the video it states that ergot poisoning gave them twitching and most symptoms that those girls had.

This moment shows the Putnams large role in the blaming of witchcraft because after they ask about a name people respond with those exact names although the blaming wasn’t real. Another person who contributed to the witchcraft hysteria is Reverend Parris. Samuel Parris was quick to blame and quick to make bad remarks about people he didn’t like. Most of all Parris wants to keep up his reputation so if word got out that he niece was acting like a barbarian in the woods he would be shamed upon. In the play Parris says, “If you trafficked with spirits in the forest I must know it now, for surely my enemies will, and they will ruin me with it.”

A witch hunt is a campaign directed against a person or group holding unorthodox or unpopular views or a search for and persecution of a supposed “witch”. Throughout history the idea of “witches” has changed dramatically from the 1600s when the events in Salem, Massachusetts where people were accusing women and child of using spells to bewitch people, bring chaos to a town, and associated with the devil (satan). Today people associate “the witch hunt” with a trail or hunt without physical proof or a valid reason to pursue this cause. Hysteria is an exaggerated and/or an uncontrollable emotion and/or excitement, especially among a group of people. This is one factor that allows people the perfect opportunity to create chaos and use scapegoats

The Salem witch trials are trials in which took place in Salem, Massachusetts between 1692-1693. These witch trials have been described as court trials for those accused of witchcraft. The supposed practice of witchcraft caused fear and paranoia to spread throughout several different towns in massachusetts. The accusers, of those people who were thought to be practicing witchcraft, were under the impression that these “witches” were the reason for crops failing, drought, and people to become ill. These people were considered to posses the power of the devil.

Many innocent people died in the Salem Witch Trials in Massachusetts. If you were accused of being a witch or one with the devil, you would be sentenced to death or put in prison. The only one to blame for the deaths of the individuals is the Puritan Society. Without their absent minds, none of the deaths would have happened. The Puritan Society is very religious, therefore they believed strongly in going to church and most importantly in God.

There is a lot of connections for The Crucible to the 21st century. In the 1690’s it was when the salem witch trials started up. They was blaming people for being witches and people would get hanged for it. Some even took advantage of it, they would lie if they didn 't get what they wanted from the person so they would say that person is switch and they would be hung.

The 1692 events in Salem were not caused by a single person. Rather, the horrific miscarriage of injustice that was unfair persecutions under the guise of witchcraft could be blamed on natural phenomena. When young girls of the Massachusetts town developed strange symptoms, such as vivid hallucinations and strange bodily sensations, the local town doctor could not explain why they had suddenly taken ill. Confused, he diagnosed them with the one thing that made sense to the suspicious religious town: Witchcraft. Now, modern science concludes that a simple fungus was responsible for the girl’s symptoms.

The trials also had a major political aspect, as there was an attempt to incriminate Earl of Bothwell in the proceedings. In 1597, James published Daemonologie, his rebuttal of Reginald Scot’s skeptical work, The Discoveries of Witchcraft, which questioned the very existence of witches. Daemonologie was a pessimistic book, presenting the idea of a vast conspiracy of satanic witches threatening to undermine the