...Through the respect of minister Cotton Mather had warned of the dubious value of speculations, “It would be better than ten suspected witches mayescape that one innocent person be condemned.”The Salem witch trials began during the spring of 1692, when a group of young girls in Salem Village, Massachusetts, claimed to be possessed by the devil. It was found that there was fungus ergot (found in rye, wheat and other cereals) which toxicologist say can cause symptoms such as delusions, vomiting and muscle spasms. This may have been the cause of why in January 1692, 9 year old Elizabeth Parris and 11 year old Abigail Williams began having fits and violent uncontrollable screaming. Dr. William Griggs, diagnosed bewitchment. In late February, arrest...
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...The Salem Witch Trials serve as a grim reminder of the dangers of mass hysteria. Though the accusations of witchcraft may seem absurd now, during the late seventeenth century, they were seen as entirely plausible by the New England Puritans. At that time, belief in witchcraft and satanic influence was widespread, and the Puritans lived in a constant state of anxiety due to war and frequent Native American attacks. This environment of fear and suspicion likely played a significant role in the readiness to believe and prosecute those accused of witchcraft. Examining primary sources such as Salem Judge Samuel Sewall’s Diary and the case file of Giles Corey’s trial reveals that the reactions of New England Puritans to accusations of witchcraft in the...
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...Samuel Parris had an eleven year old daughter named Elizabeth Parris, and a nine year old niece named named Abigail Williams. In January of 1692, both girls started displaying odd behavior. They would throw objects, scream randomly, made odd sounds, and contoured their body into unusual positions. Other girls including Ann Putnam (11), Mercy Lewis, Elizabeth Hubbard, Mary Walcott, and Mary Warren all had similar “episodes”. When visited by the doctor William Griggs, they were diagnosed with the supernatural; bewitchment. Later on February 29, Tituba (Samuel Parris’s Caribbean slave), Sarah Osborne, (an elderly poor woman), and Sarah Good (a beggar) were all interrogated by Johnathan Hathorne and Jonathan Corwin under the allegation of witchcraft....
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...The Salem Witch Trails were a time in which people believed in the supernatural. This belief began in Europe during the 14th century. It would eventually spread throughout colonial New England; due to increase fears of outsiders and resentment of fellow townspeople which were fueled by the smallpox epidemic and fears of Native American attacks, as well as a rival with the community of Salem Town. In January of 1692, two girls by the name of Betty Williams and Abigail Williams began to have fits. These fits consisted of violent contortions and uncontrollable outbursts of screaming and yelling. William Griggs, a local doctor, diagnosed the girls with bewitchment. As time passed other girls- Ann Putnam Mercy Lewis, Elizabeth Hubbard, Mary Walcott,...
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...America’s past: The Salem Witch Trials and the “Red Scare,” or Joseph McCarthy and the House of Un-American Activities Committee. These two periods of American history are remarkably similar in numerous ways. The Salem Witch Trials in 1692 and the Hunt for Communists during the 1950’s-60’s shows something man, for some reason, continues to not realize about history: it repeats itself. The Salem Witch Trials began in the spring of 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts. There were many factors that made Salem Colony fertile-soil in which terror and hysteria could arise and thrive. King William’s war recently took place in New France (Canada) and the people feared they would strike Salem Colony next. The people were also horrified that the Native Americans would attack at any time. There had been a recent smallpox epidemic. There was a sense of rivalry towards nearby Salem Town, a community in which there was more money. These prominent factors made life stressful for the puritans and certainly tension was high among the people. It is no surprise that when the word spread of the “diagnosis” of the first witch, Betty Parris (which was the daughter of Samuel Parris), dread and suspicion enveloped the town and spread like an illness from person to person. Once the accusations began, a distinct court, the “Court of Oyer and Terminer,” was erected in Salem for the sole purpose of listening to and deciding whether or not to convict those accused of witchcraft. When the trials ended a total of...
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...During the Salem witch trials, many people were convicted and tried as witches, regardless of age, gender, and many other things. Even in some cases, dogs were tried and killed on the accusation of witchcraft. The Salem Witch Trials were a frontier in American History because they inspired many changes in the US. For example, it resulted in social and religious tensions, many social changes, and increased gender bias against women. The Salem witch trials were a frontier in US history because they exposed unfair legal practices and laid the foundation for the creation of more legal and fair court practices. Before the first accusation of witchcraft in Salem, the town was split into two groups, some lived in Salem village while others lived in...
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...Salem, Massachusetts in 1692 during the Witchcraft Trials must have been a mysterious but, scary place to live. Over the year historians have attempted to uncover the reason behind the witchcraft hysteria, some blamed it on political motives, childhood boredom, and biological reasons. The entire witchcraft hysteria started over unexplained affliction doctors couldn’t explain. Allegations were made against mothers, wives and daughters, rich widows, sea captains, army officers and ministers in the upper society no one was safe. The most surprising allegations of witchcraft took place among educated people in the mist of the scientific revolution. I will attempt to discuss several reasons for the hysteria then you can decide for yourself or at least have something to think about. When Betty Parris, age 9 the daughter of a fanatical minister, Samuel Parris accused her first witch, was it her imagination or something else. Betty would secretly play fortune telling games with her fathers salve Tituba from Barbados. Perhaps, she became guilty and the anxiety caused her to become ill, after all her father viewed everything as either good or totally evil, and the punishment for playing such games would be severe. So when she started complaining of knifelike pain throughout her body, temporary loss of speech, sight and hearing. Dr. Griggs was called in to examiner her and finding no logical explanation he blamed her illness on witchcraft. Samuel Parris, being a minister was...
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...The Crucible By Arthur Miller ACT I SETTING: A bedroom in Reverend Samuel Parris’ house, Salem, Massachusetts, in the Spring of the year, 1692. As the curtain rises we see Parris on his knees, beside a bed. His daughter Betty, aged 10, is asleep in it. Abigail Williams, 17, ENTERS. ABIGAIL: Uncle? Susanna Wallcott’s here from Dr. Griggs. PARRIS: Oh? The Doctor. (Rising.) Let her come, let her come. ABIGAIL: Come in Susanna. (Susanna Walcott, a little younger than Abigail, enters.) PARRIS: What does the doctor say, child? SUSANNA: Dr. Griggs he bid me come and tell you, Reverend sir, that he cannot discover no medicine for it in his books. PARRIS: Then he must search on. SUSANNA: Aye, sir, he have been searchin’ his books since he left you, sir, but he bid me tell you, that you might look to unnatural things for the cause of it. PARRIS: No-no. There be no unnatural causes here. Tell him I have sent for Reverend Hale of Beverly, and Mister Hale will surely confirm that. Let him look to medicine, and put out all thought of unnatural causes here. There be none. SUSANNA: Aye, sir. He bid me tell you. PARRIS: Go directly home and speak nothin’ of unnatural causes. SUSANNA: Aye, sir, I pray for her. (Goes out.) ABIGAIL: Uncle, the rumor of witchcraft is all about; I think you’d best go down and deny it yourself. The parlor’s packed with people, sir.--I’ll sit with her. PARRIS: And what shall I say to them? That my daughter and my niece I discovered dancing ...
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