DISCUSSING THE UNSATISFACTORY WAYS AUTHORITY FIGURES MANAGED THE SALEM WITCH TRIALS

Elizabeth Rosa HIST2211: US History to 1876 November 15, 2024.

The Salem Witch Trials were a significant event in American History. The trials demonstrated how women were treated, how quickly citizens are to blame their neighbors, and the how fast delusion can spread in the right conditions. However, there are ideas individuals seldom think about. Who really was at fault in the beginning? Is there a better way to manage the accusations and rapidly snowballing hysteria? Why did the officials place so much trust in hearsay and unsupported claims? The first citizens to report witchcraft were prepubescent girls. The first allegations made by the young …show more content…
While she should be a reliable source, pathological liars aren’t often trustworthy enough to recite their experiences. Elizabeth Hubbard isn’t the only young girl who accused women, and Sarah Good is not the only person Elizabeth Hubbard accused. Hubbard also accused Tituba, the Native storyteller. Hubbard accuses Tituba of pricking and choking her. After Tituba’s examination, Hubbard reports no more abuse from her. Once again, Elizabeth presents information but does not reinforce her claims with evidence. It is her accusations against Tituba’s defense. A girl who was even younger than Elizabeth also accused a woman. Mary Walcott was sixteen years old and declared that Sarah Buckley hurt and tortured her in many ways. Mary reports being pinched, choked, having her neck twisted, being choked almost to death when she refused to sign Sarah’s book, being threatened with death, and being tormented. If what she said was true, she would more likely not have bruises, scratches, or any other evidence to support her accusations. She did not present any of the items. …show more content…
The stress within the community provided great conditions for the hysteria to spread like wildfire, eventually catching on to everyone. Accusations have become steadily more common with women between forty one and sixty years old. People also began accusing their neighbors and people they were close with over small disagreements. Officials in the community were forcing confessions from the accused. Individuals confessing to crimes they didn’t commit would make the hysteria worse. When the townsfolk hear about citizens admitting they were witches, they will continue to grow more paranoid and fearful. Forced confessions do not mean they are true, but a confession is a confession. The more people confess, the more anxious the townspeople will become and the more people will be accused. The authority figures should have stepped in when this happened. If they stopped the forced confessions, people would not have become as worried as they did. They needed to maintain control over the situation and not allow it to raise tensions between neighbors. The people in control of the town had many opportunities to lessen the amount of stress, paranoia, and delusion that raged through the community. They had the opportunity to