salem witchcraft trials cause and effect Essay - 572 Words

In 1692 the area of Salem town and Salem village became very vulnerable to conflict. Severe weather such as hurricanes had damaged land and crops, the effects of King Phillips War began to impact New England society, and colonists were being forced off of the frontiers by Native peoples. The Church and the government were in heavy conflict. And those residing in Salem began to grow suspicious of one another when some prospered and others hadn’t (Marcus, p13). Suddenly people seemed very paranoid and soon residents were placing blame on one another and accusing each other of witchcraft. In a fifteen month period between 1691 and 1692 nearly twelve dozen people were accused of witchcraft in or near Salem (Norton, p8).†¦show more content†¦Relationships between people and families seemed to crumble in the light of hysteria as children accused parents and friends pointed out friends (Boyer, p67). Some confessed to witchcraft and saved their own lives, others refused to tarnish their names and proclaimed innocence to their grave. The fact that these people did not have freedom of speech and were proven guilty without any tangible evidence caused even more hysteria throughout New England. People realized that at anytime anyone of them could be pointed out and so the society fell even more. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;One can see the Salem witch trials as being an excessive representation of the social and economic changes taking place in New England at this time (Boyer, p67). Differences between those who accepted change and those who feared it are what divided the colony. The hanging of witches can be seen as the murder of difference or of change. Perhaps if they had not been so insecure about their methods of governing the colony, the Puritans wouldn’t have felt threatened by the slightest change. It took nineteen innocent deaths for the leaders of Salem to even begin to see the wrong doing in their trials. The Salem witch trials of the 1690’s had an immense impact on American history. These dark times cast a shadow that would forever haunt this country’s past, knowing that our fore fathers were not theShow MoreRelatedEssay on Ergotism, Hysteria, and Disorders Detected in Salem889 Words   |  4 PagesMany people believe the Salem Witch Trials were caused by Ergotism, while others believe it to be just a form of hysteria, but what if I told you it could have been all of those combined together with another theory added in? In the story, The Crucible, mass hysteria broke out all through Salem being caused by the witch trials. The witch trials, however, may not have been the only thing causing the hysteria . Argot poisoning in the water along with puritan pressure causing the little girls to actRead MoreSalem Witches and Ergot of Rye Essay1055 Words   |  5 PagesSalem Witches and Ergot of Rye While researching texts written about the Salem Witch Trials, I found a few authors who published articles and books about the Salem Witch Trials. These authors often showed that the most likely cause of the fits coming from the victims was produced by ergot of rye. However, I could not find much discussion about another important source of the fits’ cause: witchcraft. My goal in this paper is to produce a convincing argument that the victims during the Salem WitchRead MoreThe Salem Witch Trials Of 16921281 Words   |  6 PagesThe Salem Witch Trials were a sequence of hearings, prosecutions, and hangings of people who were thought to be involved in witchcraft in Massachusetts. These trials occurred between February 1692 and May 1693(The Salem Witch Trials, 1692. ). 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The symptoms of this illness include behavior changes, tremors, neck rigidity and abnormal eye movements. Carlson goes on to say that a doctor had been called in to see the girls and was unable to find a physical cause of their symptoms, and so he concluded that they suffered from possession by witchcraft. This was a common diagnosisRead MoreSalem Witch Trials : The Witch Trial Hysteria920 Words   |  4 PagesSalem Witch Trial Hysteria In 1692 the actions of three girls quickly launched Salem onto the path of committing one of the largest witch hunts the New World has ever known. The witch hunt was fueled by a mass hysteria among the townspeople, this hysteria was the result of the strictness of their society and a number of internal and external stressors. The initial wave of panic when rumors of witchcraft arose gave way to compete hysteria when accusations began. Salem massachusetts was the perfectRead MoreTheocracy As The Cause Of The Salem Witch Trials1025 Words   |  5 PagesTheocracy as the Cause of the Salem Witch Trials The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a play that shows how the Salem witch trials unfold. As a Puritan society, Salem functions as a theocracy. Unlike today s United States government in which Church and State are entirely separate entities, a theocracy is essentially the Church acting as the government. Because of the theocratic nature of Salem s governing body, religion plays a principal role in the lives of every character and has a major effect on the progressionRead MoreThe Crucible By Arthur Miller1056 Words   |  5 Pagescrucible is a severe test as of patients or belief, a trial. The play The Crucible is a journey through the trials of many townspeople caused by the superstitious belief of witchcraft. In The Crucible, Arthur Miller progresses and evolves the outlooks and views of the townspeople of Salem and shows how events, people, and catastrophes cause the characters to change their views on whether the people prosecuted were guilty or innocent of witchcraft. Reverend John Hale changes his view, more and moreRead MoreThe Salem Witch Trials : The Causes Of The Deadly Accusations912 Words   |  4 PagesPeriod 1 11 April 2015 The Salem Witch Trials: The Causes of the Deadly Accusations In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, he writes, â€Å"We are what we always were in Salem, but now the little crazy children are jangling the keys of the kingdom, and common vengeance writes the law!† (Miller 77). This partially fictionalized tale of the Salem Witch Trials points to one of the causes of the trials, vengeance, but the over dramatized tale s early stages were quiet. The Salem Witch Episode had humble beginnings