Causes Of Mass Hysteria

The 1692 Salem Witch Trials In 1692 Salem, Prisons had been filled with more than 150 men and women from towns surrounding Salem. Nineteen men and women convicted of witchcraft were carted to Gallow Hill for hanging. Their names had been “cried out” by tormented girls as the cause of their pain. “Stuck in jail with the damning testimony of the afflicted girls widely accepted, suspects began to see confession as a way to avoid the gallows” (Linder).

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.

The only reason the doctor could come up with was that the supernatural had to have been playing a part in the girls swift and abrupt change in behavior. Later on, the girls that were bewitched became known as the “afflicted girls.” Two men named Jonathan Corwin and John Hathorne began interrogating the girls about who or what had came to them. After being pressured by the men, the girls accused three women of afflicting them: the Parris’ Caribbean slave, Tituba; a homeless beggar, Sarah Good: and an elderly impoverished woman, Sarah Osborne. All three of the women accused were social outcasts, so people willingly believed that they could be involved in witchcraft.

Abigail’s Malfeasance Lucius Annaeus Seneca, a Roman philosopher and writer, once said. For example, in the play The Crucible by Arthur Miller, Abigail blames and accuses others; however, she was really the center of the problem. Consequently, Abigail is the one person to blame for the Salem Witch Trials getting so out of hand. She systematically accuses more and more people, all for her agenda of being with John Proctor, and continually ramps up the hysteria whenever the villagers had reason to doubt her. Therefore, Abigail should take the blame for the Salem Witch Trials, not the town as a whole.

In document C its shows the examination of Bridget Bishop recorded by Samuel Adams. The thing that makes this case significant is that Samuel Adams nine-year-old daughter Betty had accused someone of witchcraft. This meant that if Samuel Adams did not prove that Bridget was a witch, her daughter was lying and was going to be known as a liar for the rest of her life and it would have looked bad on Samuel Adams family. So he was determined to prove her guilty and get her killed for something she didn 't do just to save his family from embarrassment and judgment. In document D it also shows a paragraph written by a historian in the 19th century.

Imagine living life in fear of being hanged or burned to death on accusation of witchcraft. This was the reality for countless men and women alike, during the Witch Trials of the mid-1600s. One such person was a homeless woman named Sarah Good. Good was considered a burden to society, therefore accused of witchcraft and sentenced to be hanged. Although she was pardoned until the birth of her child, that same child perished in prison before her execution (Jobe).

She accused Elizabeth of being a witch hoping she would be hanged in order to have John come back to her. She also set up Mary Warren using the doll she helped her make by sticking a needle through it. All of this started out with false accusations by Abigail, and people believed her because they were

When a woman is accused of being a witch and her life is in danger in 1600’s Salem, MA what recourse does she have to protect herself? Women of the time had no authority; they were seen as property of the men they married or were born to. Arthur Miller’s The Crucible takes place during the famous Salem witch trials. It all starts when young Abigail Williams has an affair with John Proctor and practices witchcraft in an attempt to kill John Proctor’s wife, Elizabeth.

In Arthur Miller’s Play, The Crucible, Miller demonstrated that it was Abigale Williams’ flaws, flaws such as lust, Vengefulness, and Jealousy. The book the crucible is based off of a town called Salem in Massachusetts. The town is well known because of their witch hunts they had in the 17th century. The witch hunts were mostly based off of suspicion, or because someone blamed someone of being a witch because he or she disliked this person. If you were accused of being a witch then your public image was ruined or put to death.

The people of Salem were essentially engulfed by the fear of witches, causing them to behave in many irrational ways. Although mass hysteria affected these fictional characters, its effects are all too real in life today. Such effects include the aftermath that followed the September 11th terrorist attacks. One thing both The Crucible and post 9/11 have in common: they feared the unknown.

One of the main causes of the salem witch trials was the belief in the Occult. The puritans strongly believed in the existence of witches and warlocks or things from the underworld. All of these creatures were blamed for all of the bad things happening to their crops and lives. Due to this belief, they were inclined to make some of the most improbable explanations to the situations that were occurring. Multiple cases were filed after the 9-year old Elizabeth and 11-year old Abigail were diagnosed.

Mystery Mania: Research Essay The Salem Witch trials were known as the largest witch trial in history. At that time, supernatural beings and Satan were considered part of everyday life, so when an epidemic of fits of madness broke out within the nation, mostly targeting young girls, people began to panic and blamed all this on the practice of black magic. A total of about two-dozen people were trialed and executed. But was it really because of witchcraft that people were having fits, and what were the strange sightings around the town of Salem?

The society in this time period was disoriented and in complete hysteria. The society around this time would usually base their accusations on hearsay, the act of basing information on word of mouth. In general, people would take advantage of this accusation of “witchcraft” for resources such as ones land. Commonly, these witch trials would be a popular event among a town. Usually, when one thinks of a “witch” they picture most of the time an old wretched women brewing potions, spells, etc.

The idea of witches stemmed from religious folks believing that the Devil could give certain people, known as witches, the power to harm others in return for their loyalty (Smithsonian). Due to the popularity of religion and supernatural beliefs, many people believed that the source of evil was the Devil. This idea appeared in Europe as early as the 14th century and it was quite popular in New England colonies. Villagers often blamed unfortunate things upon the Devil and other spectral sources of evil due to their lack of knowledge.

In the year 1692 the famous Salem Witch Trials occurred in Salem Massachusetts. The scare of witchcraft began with a small group of teenage girls, who claimed to be possessed by the devil. They believed that people’s spirits would come after them, and try to torment them. Hysteria broke out among the people in the town of Salem, and other parts of Massachusetts. Trials occurred for months to scrutinize who was considered a “witch” in the eyes of the judges and teenage girls.