...During the year of 1692 in Salem four girls became oddly sick. The children had deliriums, fevers, pain, and even spoke in tongues. Even doctors could not explain this strange illness and as a result, blame came. The people of Salem started to blame the strange occurrences as work of witches living in Salem. Paranoia spread the town and soon enough, people blamed their neighbors and at least twenty-four people suspected to have been witches were dead. Some believe the witch trials were caused by a struggling economy which caused paranoia or the children created the sickness in order to have some fun, or simply because that is what Satan chose to do but, the most plausible understanding of the occurrence is an almost undetectable sickness caused by fungi and more specifically, rye bred. Rye bred explained the episodes, flourished in the year of 1692 due to the...
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...The Salem Witch Trials arise in 1692-1693 in Salem, Massachusetts. The Trials kicked-off due to a cluster of young girls who had started to behave strangely. The girls were starting to contort their bodies into odd positions they also said they could feel something or someone biting and pinching them. The girls were instantly taken to the doctor for a diagnosis and were given the diagnoses of being bewitched seeing as nothing was physically wrong with them. Based on the knowledge that has been found today we can say that the girls might have had Ergot poisoning. Ergot poisoning is a fungus that grows on rye and other grains. The girls could have also been malingering, a malinger is a person who pretends to be sick in order to avoid their responsibility....
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...Can you imagine being accused of committing a crime that you did not commit? During,1692 in Salem, Massachusetts there was a very bizarre hysteria going around. What caused the Salem Witch Trial hysteria of 1692? There were three causes of the Salem Witch Trial hysteria. These were gender, age and marital status, town division wealth and power, and the lying girls. To begin with, there were three causes of the Salem Witch Trial Hysteria which were gender, age, and marital status. One piece of evidence that supports this cause, is the document B. Twenty-three accusers were single, as opposed to the six married women. Furthermore, another piece of supporting evidence, is the majority of the accusers were mainly single women from the ages of sixteen through twenty. This evidence helps to explain the hysteria and the hangings. According to the Document B, the majority of the girls were single and at the age between sixteen and twenty years old. In addition, the girls had to follow a very strict lifestyle, which maybe they wanted to get out of their situation and find a man to marry.Thus, because of the girl's odd behavior, one way we could assume why these girls would do this is because of the strict Puritan lifestyle.This...
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...It began in the 17th century around 1692 (History of Salem...). Witchcraft was mainly practiced by women. The events began when two young girls, Abigail and Elizabeth, claimed that they were being cursed by witches who made the devil posses them. The girls were “diagnosed” with bewitchment. Influence of the church was very important. People were obligated to follow all rules. There are several references to witchcraft in the Bible. In the Bible, people were punished by death. If a person could not recite the Lord’s Prayer without error, they were considered to be witch (Salem Witch Trials…). Witches were deemed as heretics, which is heresy. Heresy is, “the denial of the fundamental beliefs by the church, which all Christians should reject.” The Salem Witch Trials was in 1692. It was the biggest witchcraft event in that century. The Salem Witch Trials took place in Salem in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Historians believe the accused witches were victims of mob mass hysteria. The trials lasted less than a year and the first arrest was March 1st, 1692. People were convicted without any evidence; if one person assumed that their neighbor was a witch, then the person was immediately convicted. About 150 people, approximately 78% women, were accused of witchcraft in Salem. The ‘afflicted’ were the people who were possessed and tormented; and the accused were the people who cried out names (Facts About Salem…) . Many accusers were young girls; however, there were...
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...Tragic Times In Salem Salem Witch Trials The Salem Witch Trials was a horrific event that occurred in colonial Massachusetts between the years 1692 and 1693. More than 200 people were accused of practicing witchcraft and 20 ended up being executed. Some researchers believe that there may have been other current events that were affecting the trials during the same time period. Throughout this research paper I will explain the Salem Witch Trials and show the research I have done in terms of the events that may have a connection to the event, along with other factors that may have influenced the Salem Witch Trials. In the late 16 hundreds in colonial North America, the supernatural was highly considered to be a part of everyday life. Many people were strong believers that Satan was present and active on Earth. These beliefs were first formed in Europe during the fifteenth century and later spread throughout North America. Peasants were known for often using a particular kind of witchcraft to help enhance their crops, and to benefit farming and agriculture. Over time, the idea of witchcraft transformed into a very evil act. It started to became associated with demons and evil spirits. From 1560 to 1670, witchcraft persecutions became common as superstitions became associated with the devil. Through out the colonies, the most common cause for a witch hunt was caused by young girls having a mysterious screaming fit; they would often be diagnosed as having been bewitched...
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...only. “Jurat in Curia.” Signed: “Thomas Putnam.” Thomas Putnam, born in 1653, was a third generation member of Salem Village, Massachusetts Bay Colony. He was the eldest son to Ann Putnam and Thomas Putnam Sr., one of Salem’s wealthiest residents, in a family of eight children. After Ann died, Thomas Putnam Sr. had another child with who became Mary Putnam. This last child, Joseph, was born when Thomas...
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...The Salem Witch Trials was a crucial piece of American History. It was like inviting hell on earth and having a nightmare brought to life. It’s something that shouldn’t be repeated. There’s many unanswered questions to the real reasons the Salem Witch Trials began that experts discovered numerous theories. The lifestyle of the puritans, the disease that overcame, and the communities differences are all real reasons behind the Salem Witch Trials. In the late 17th century times were changing. It might have seemed for the better in some places, and in others not at all. America in 1692 was like freedom with ankle bracelets. Puritans came from Europe wanting to get away from the harsh ways of their homeland, and start a life with their own set of rules on the other side of the world. Yet, their rules were less crucial, but still strict. The young females thought and wanted their generation to be different. The puritans were austere on females especially on vanity. But since this was just the beginning of when people started coming Europe they had the same things in mind like freedom, new opportunities, and a new life just not the same ideas. The young ladies had gotten...
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... History 202 Dr. Dawn Dyer October 17, 2013 Word Count: 1527 The Puritans and Quakers both are viewed historically as religiously significant people who aspired to make religion the forefront of their lives. Both had high standards to live by, with the one main goal being to establish their own religious principles based on the way they sought fit to honor God. It seems clear that both the Puritans and the Quakers desired a society of discipline in both religious practice and principle. Less clear, however, are the difficulties both had to maintain the discipline to live up to their high standards. Evidence suggests that important beliefs, attitudes, and behavior of the colonists conflicted with both societies’ religious ideals: many of which are presented in John Winthrop’s A Model of Christian Charity. The beliefs of the Puritans initially were toward the carrying out of God’s responsibilities, but eventually faced a conflict. The Puritans did not break with the Church of England, but instead sought to reform it. Aboard the Arbella, John Winthrop had written a sermon that pointed out their Christian duties and obligations. If they fulfilled their duties and obligations, they would be blessed; if not, they would be punished. Winthrop stated that the Lord expected a strict performance of the articles of the covenant.1 If they neglected the articles, the Lord would break out in wrath.2 The Puritans faced an enormous amount of pressure in order to be able to please the Lord...
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...Philip English and the Salem Witch Trials Philip English came to Salem in 1670. He married Mary Hollingsworth and had two daughters. Between the times he arrived and when the accusations of witchcraft began in 1692 he had become fairly wealthy and was an active member of the town. It can be said that the Salem witch trials were a result of differences between town members in regards to wealth, religious beliefs, politics, and plain jealousy. Two prominent families, the Putnam’s and the Porters, were at odds over the control of Salem. The eldest daughter of the Putnam family, Ann Putnam Jr. had accused sixty two people of afflicting her. It would seem that most accusers were in some way linked to the Putnam family. Philip English and his...
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...Paul Boyer and Stephen Nissenbaum’s work on Salem Possessed was a very accurate and portrayed chronological events with a set of two families to represent and be a figure for what it was like in Salem during the witch trials. Each family brought various elements and styles for the time period and are viewed to provide opposing views and an understanding of a dispute that happened before the witch trials and during it. This is also provides an understanding of the economic and political controversies of the time. With the chronology of events that happened before, during and a few after the witch trials provides an understanding of the situation and allows the audience to grasp how and why certain events and reasons took place. Yet, overall the book, produced by Boyer and Nissenbaum, provides an excellent explanation of two factions that came about...
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...differences. On one hand, religion as the major motivation, and on the other hand a financial venture sponsored by the queen. Massachusetts was given its name from a man named John Smith, an English explorer and was named after the native Massachusetts tribe that resided in the area. Other native tribes in the area were the Nauset, a fishing tribe located on Cape Cod; the Wampanoag in the southeast; the Massachusetts in the northeast; the Nipmuc, centrally; and the Pocumtuc, westward. Without their knowledge, Permanent English settlement would soon drastically impact the lives of the native peoples2. In 1630, Massachusetts Bay Colony was developed and occupied about 1,000 citizens. John Winthrop, the chief figure of the New England Puritans, gave a sermon called “A Model of Christian Charity,” suggesting ideas that the people should find a sense of community with God and one and other, and divinely build a city on a hill as their next course of action. Many people saw Winthrop as a father figure in New England as well as a social reformist and visionary, as he was elected 12 times to be governor3. Church and religion were a major part of the settlers’ everyday lives. Predestination and morality are what was actively preached. They believed if...
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...However, there is also another definition that gathers this essence: American Literature is the one that represents the Americanism, the singularity of the USA philosophy and culture. This way, instead of focusing on who the author is, it is focused on the content of the writing. In that which concerns Fiction, the following documents are the ones considered as narrative: Speeches Letters Short Stories Essays Political Documents Sermons Novels Diaries 1 FIRST LITERARY EXPRESSIONS The first documents in which the idea of Americanism is very present are the Sermons. They respond to the strict Protestantism settled in the New Continent after the arrival of the Pilgrim Fathers and Puritans in the Mayflower (1620) and the Arabella (1630). They established a theocratic community whose main and only point of reference was the Bible. That is why the idea of the ‘city upon a hill’ is still very present in American mentality. As we all know, their community was also governed by the concept of Predestination. This belief was based in the idea that we are saved or condemned since the very moment we are born or even, since the very moment when the Universe was created. Therefore, the way they confronted Good and Evil was that of effect-cause: if you are one of those who were going to be saved you certainly behaved as they were...
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...Bloodlines of Illuminati by: Fritz Springmeier, 1995 Introduction: I am pleased & honored to present this book to those in the world who love the truth. This is a book for lovers of the Truth. This is a book for those who are already familiar with my past writings. An Illuminati Grand Master once said that the world is a stage and we are all actors. Of course this was not an original thought, but it certainly is a way of describing the Illuminati view of how the world works. The people of the world are an audience to which the Illuminati entertain with propaganda. Just one of the thousands of recent examples of this type of acting done for the public was President Bill Clinton’s 1995 State of the Union address. The speech was designed to push all of the warm fuzzy buttons of his listening audience that he could. All the green lights for acceptance were systematically pushed by the President’s speech with the help of a controlled congressional audience. The truth on the other hand doesn’t always tickle the ear and warm the ego of its listeners. The light of truth in this book will be too bright for some people who will want to return to the safe comfort of their darkness. I am not a conspiracy theorist. I deal with real facts, not theory. Some of the people I write about, I have met. Some of the people I expose are alive and very dangerous. The darkness has never liked the light. Yet, many of the secrets of the Illuminati are locked up tightly simply because secrecy is a way...
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