The Salem Witch Trials: Examples Of Mass Hysteria

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Mass hysteria a condition affecting a group of persons, characterized by excitement or anxiety, Irrational behavior or beliefs, or inexplicable symptoms of illness (Dictionary.com). An Example of Mass Hysteria is The Salem Witch Trials. The Salem Witch Trials happened in 1692 when girls called witchery on the town of Salem, Massachusetts. These girls thought to have seen the devil, but they really hadn't as they were trying to protect each other. The Trials ended up taking 20 lives of innocent villagers who were being accused of witchery. Later in 1693, the court finally ruled the accusing unlawful and those who have not been hung were released from jail. How do other instances of mass hysteria compare to the Salem Witch Trials? In history, …show more content…

This theory was started in Belgium at a college where one hundred students all of a sudden became ill after drinking Coca-Cola (The Cultural Politics of Food and Eating). The illness sent Europe into public and cost Coca-Cola two-hundred million dollars. The drink was banned in Europe for several days until Belgium Scientist proved the Coke was safe. Scientists say that the victims experienced a “mass psychogenic illness.” All of these incidents are similar to the Salem Witch Trials. All these events have mass hysteria involved in them, which basically explains how all of these events caused panic but then was later proven wrong. The Salem Witch Trials were just like these incidents in some type of way because they all proposed threats against society (Holy hysteria a new look at the Salem …show more content…

All of these events involved the idea of a sickness or death taking over the world which is basically how the Salem Witch Trials were. In conclusion, all of these events represent mass hysteria that can be compared the Salem Witch trials. The Indian Alien Scare was a threat to society because it sent everyone into panic thinking that there was a face scratcher who was killing people in the town. The Contaminated Coca-Cola Scare was basically the idea that coke was putting a chemical in the coke to get people sick. The kissing bug scare was the belief that a kissing bug was going around America and poisoning people on the lips. The Salem Witch Trials resembled the characteristics of all these different events which involved mass

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