Bridget Bishop Research Paper

Three deranged girls, from 1692 Salem; Massachusetts, precipitated the mass hangings of twenty innocent people accused of witchery for the reason that of their adept prowess at acting, their marital status and jealousy of the newfound eastern wealth.

There is a certain polarity that comes with the territory in witchcraft. In most witch trials, there was a sense of “he said, she said”, one side claiming one thing and the other disagreeing. This seemed to flow into the realm of historical thought on the matter. There is a dividing line of external and internal interpretations on the subject of the witch trials, especially including the trials in Salem. However, I argue that the line between the external and internal interpretations of the witch trials is blurred, the sides often bleeding into each

A baffling plague of Satan has arrived in our cursed town, and yet another girl has been convicted of witchery. Elizabeth Clarke, a young mistress, was recently accused of creating a pact with the Devil.

In his book, “A Modest Inquiry into the Nature of Witchcraft (1702),” clergyman John Hale comes forth to confront the recent events going on at the time. Initially, Hale alludes to the questionable actions and activities of the townspeople being accused of witchcrafts, and being imprisoned as punishment. In addition, he discloses how everyone suspicious will be accused, not even young children are safe from the hands of this fate. Hale’s purpose of publishing this book was to describe the incident of the Witch Trials, and to reveal his experience of the trials, since his own wife was accused. By employing a didactic tone, Hale relays the actions of the past that targeted the Puritans and those wrongly accused of witchcrafts, so this occurrence

Another reason for the salem witch trial hysteria was the lying,acting,and Jealousy.Bridget bishop acting like she was in pain so people can believe her.she also moved in a weird way.Bridget did those movements so it can make her story more believable.Bridget bishop was intoxicated by her success people believes her.Later that same month she was hanged on the tenth of July.

Bishop was widowed twice and on her third marriage during the witch trials. According to Rebecca Beatrice Brooks, in her article Bridget Bishop: Witch or Easy Target, states that Bishop’s second husband was Thomas Oliver, who had children from a previous marriage. Bishop was no stranger to the courts. According to Brooks, Bishop and her husband frequently argued and were even brought to court for fighting. A neighbor testified, that Bishop’s face had been bloodied and bruise on more than one occasion. She had

The events that took place leading up to the witch trials were Bacon’s Rebellion, The Little ice age, and the puritan control of the church and state. Bacon’s rebellion was a rebellion in Virginia against Governor William Berkeley for his failure to address the colonists safety. The Little ice age was a very religious time for the settlers, who thought they were being punished by God. Puritan control of the church and state led people to believe that men were superior and women were evil beings. The witch trials of 1692 were not only motivated by the stringent restrictions of the Puritan faith, but also by the misogynistic social structure that provoked mass hysteria among the sexes. Some of the accused puritans believed so heavily in their faith, they would rather die than be convicted as a witch.

What role did repressing women play in creating the Salem Witch Trials in Puritan society? Repression of women by the church in Puritan society lead to the women wanting power. The church was the powerhouse of the Puritan society, so if you were to get in trouble with the church you would be banished or hanged. Also, getting in trouble with the church could cost you your spot in heaven. Keeping women and young girls from the bulk of society and power made them seek power and rebellion.

"The story of witchcraft is primarily the story of women . . . ." Karlsen argues for the relevance and importance of women’s roles in the panic of witchcraft fear in 17th Century American society. She subtly contests that specific interests were at work in the shaping of witchcraft accusations; book elaborates that a specific type of woman risked accusation based on her demographic representation in society.

“Why, it is a lie, it is a lie; how may I damn myself? I cannot I cannot.” Rebecca Nurse, a character from The Crucible, is on the verge of being condemned to hand for witchcraft and is being pressured into admitting her identity. Rebecca is a married women to Francis Nurse. She is a kind, religious woman who has raised eleven wonderful children. She is accused of witchcraft for the murdering of Ann Putnam’s seven children. Rebecca Nurse is a very religious, reasonable, and caring women, who I can relate to based on my life.

“Controlled hysteria is what’s required. To exist constantly in a state of controlled hysteria. It’s agony. But everyone has agony. The difference is that I try to take my agony home and teach it to sing” (Arthur Miller, AZ Quotes). In the play, the Crucible, by Arthur Miller, Salem, Massachusetts was a place of constant hysteria in the 1600s because of what would come to be commonly known as the Salem Witch Trials. This was a full-blown witch hunt for people found to display signs of witchcraft. Abigail Williams was the main person to blame for this pursuit of witches in Salem because, first off, she was the one who caused hysteria about witchcraft just to cover up the fact that

There are many reasons that the people of Salem were convinced that there were witches among them. People have always believed in magic. Even today there are magicians and superstitious people. Some theories include mental illnesses, the church, and greed being at fault. The church is included simply because it was thought to not be holding the same control over the parishioners anymore. The greed being that people just wanted land and property owned by the ones they accused of being witches. It is also because of the girls that began behaving weirdly. They had had seizures, screamed extremely, and acted dazed.

Can the fear of people control the way certain things and events are looked at? In 1950 a nationwide historical campaign called McCarthyism took place. The campaign was against alleged communist in the U.S government and other institutions and accusations of subversion or treason without proper regard for evidence which was carried out by Joseph McCarthy. The primary targets were usually union activist, government employees, educators, and entertainment industry. Many people people lost their trust in others, causing a new outlook on life while relationships were destroyed. McCarthyism was caused by the fear of the people due to past events.

Mary Dyer was born in England in 1611. She married William Dyer and went to Massachusetts in 1635. She was a good friend with Anne Hutchinson and shared the same views; they were Quakers. She was the mother of 8 children, two died shortly after birth. Mary had a stillborn daughter that was deformed and they buried in secret, because it was believer that either if a women preached or listen to a woman preacher their child would be deformed or that the deformed child was consequences of the parents sins. The Massachusetts banished the Dyer’s and Hutchinson’s because they stated that they were Quakers, and the colony could do it because of their beliefs. So they went to Rhode Island and co-founded the town of Newport. There now was an act in Massachusetts the anti-Quaker that gave the townspeople the right to banish any Quaker or hang them. Mary Dyer resisted this and came back to Massachusetts, they gave her the choice to be banished but

5. Evidently from the documents, the most frequently recurring phenomena the accusers felt was the witch 's presence awakening them in their slumber and in some cases said to be sitting on their chests choking them. The bewitchment of animals and creatures being another apparent part of testimonies. For instance, John Louder states "And some tyme after that I being not very well stayed at whome on a Lords day and on the after noon of s 'd day the dores being shutt I did see a black pig in the Roome Comeing towards mee soe I went towards itt to kick it and it vanished away,"(Bridget Bishop,TSB-4,11). He also "...did see a black thing Jump into the window and came & stood Just before my face, upon the bar the body of itt looked like a Munky only the feete ware like a Cocks feete w 'th Claws and the face somewhat more like a mans than a Munkies," which threatened him as well. The accused were also known to cause the death and sickness of children during the epidemic outbreak of allegations. In particular, we make take the case of Samuel Gray who stated "the child that before was a very Likely thriveing Child #[before] did pine away and was never well, althow it Lived some moneths after, yet in a sad Condition and soe dye,"(Bridget Bishop,TSB-4,9)the reason being it was an aftermath of Bishop 's presence