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How Did The Cause Of 1692 Salem Witch Trials

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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 started as a silly game between children slowly brought Salem Village to the edge of insanity? This insanity led to the killing of 25 innocent people due their “crimes of witchcraft”. …show more content…

The standard contract for minister during this time period included: a small amount of firewood, a generous salary, and the use of a house in the village. The new minster was Samuel Parris and he received all these benefits and more. Samuel Parris not only received a nice salary, but he also received deeds to land in the surrounding area. This added perk in the minister’s contract made many of the resident angry because they felt Samuel Parris did not deserve deeds to land since he had just come to town. This act especially angered the residents who wanted to stay a part of Salem Town. Despite the disagreement over his contract, Samuel Parris’ first two years started out smoothly in Salem. As time went by, the dissatisfaction towards Samuel Paris became evident and the townspeople began to loathe him. Many of the citizens saw traits in Samuel Parris they did not like. Samuel Parris upheld the strict Puritan ideals that Salem Town was slowly moving away from. Samuel held strict church membership and attendance policies for the townspeople of Salem. Samuel Parris significance to the start of the Salem Witch Trials is that he represents the danger of truly upholding the puritan standards. Also the blame for the Salem Witch Trials can be placed on Samuel Parris because the first accusation of witchcraft came from his household. Samuel Parris fueled the trials with harsh sermons. An example of this can be seen when is delivering a sermon to the church and he says “After ye condemnation of 6. Witches at a Court at Salem, one of the Witches viz. Martha Kory in full communion with our Church.”Samuel Parris harsh messages to the citizens of Salem contributed to the mass hysteria because his speeches created much fear. This fear was due to Samuel Parris’ speeches instilling the mindset that they were betraying God if they did not turn the people in

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