A few little girls’ want for attention caused 19 human deaths as well as two dogs and a cat. All of the convicted were burned at the stake or hung at the town square elm tree. These girls need for attention, their parents need for a reason or explanation for the outbursts, and finally, the religious leaders’ importance in the social as well as legislative hierarchy. The children making the accusations, under many accounts were, seeking attention. The children of Salem needed an excuse in order to receive much wanted attention. A local doctor diagnosed the girls with “bewitchment” after medical analysis resulted inconclusively. The kids’ acting out may have been subject to lack of importance in the colonial society. Colonial children were traditionally overlooked in those days and were allowed to do as they pleased after their daily chores were completed. This lack of …show more content…
It was “uncouth” for children to act out, especially in the late 1600’s. Bewitchment they said, well the only acts of bewitchment in those times were from pagans and neo-pagans, as well as certain tribes of native americans, none of which lived in Salem. Salem was the first of a mass outbreak of “possessions” in several colonies. However, if bewitchment is a satanic ritual where one is forced to give their physical being to satan, why did it all start in Salem? It is not clear why the girls suffered fits and accused many respectable members of society, some historians suggest a form of food poisoning. Moreover, this excerpt from Reverend Samuel Parris is proof of the violent fits, but not the cause or why or even when they started, “The girls all took on childish games and pointless rambles as if uneducated and barbaric.” Not only were the people of salem having to come up with explanations for behaviors never seen before, on top of that, the Bible was a huge influence in colonial life in