Salem Witch Trials
The Salem Witch Trials
Introduction
During the summer of 1692 marked a major event in history in the town of Salem, Massachusetts. The Salem Witchcraft Trials leaves this country with so many questions as to what happened in that small town. Accusations were made from a group of young girls that various town folk, including a black slave, were in cahoots with the Devil. During this time, Salem seemed to have lacked leadership which led the town’s people to be easily influenced. The Salem Witch Trials finally came to an end because it was getting way out of control and just about everyone was accusing of everyone else. The leaders of the English society in North America are portrayed as indecisive and based their judgment from what the town’s people were saying instead of having scientific evidence.
The Accusers
A group of young girls in Salem Village, Massachusetts, claimed to be possessed by the devil and accused several local women of witchcraft. There was a wave of hysteria that spread throughout colonial Massachusetts. During this time, there happened to be a lot of unfortunate circumstances going on such as the frontier war, bad economic conditions, congregational strife, teenage boredom, and personal jealousies which had then fallen into a war of accusations, trials, and executions. One particular event that occurred which had led to the witchcraft trials was that these young girls in town had gotten strangely ill. The author Linden stated, “Young Betty Parris had become ill and some of her strange behavior included dashing about, diving under furniture, contorted in pain, and complained of fever” (Linder, 2009). During this time, Cotton Mather’s had recently published a popular book about witchcraft called “Memorable Providences”. It just so happen that Betty’s symptoms and behavior was practically mirrored to those who were afflicted. It was easy to believe anything for the town of Salem who could not make sense of what was going on at the time.
Introduction
During the summer of 1692 marked a major event in history in the town of Salem, Massachusetts. The Salem Witchcraft Trials leaves this country with so many questions as to what happened in that small town. Accusations were made from a group of young girls that various town folk, including a black slave, were in cahoots with the Devil. During this time, Salem seemed to have lacked leadership which led the town’s people to be easily influenced. The Salem Witch Trials finally came to an end because it was getting way out of control and just about everyone was accusing of everyone else. The leaders of the English society in North America are portrayed as indecisive and based their judgment from what the town’s people were saying instead of having scientific evidence.
The Accusers
A group of young girls in Salem Village, Massachusetts, claimed to be possessed by the devil and accused several local women of witchcraft. There was a wave of hysteria that spread throughout colonial Massachusetts. During this time, there happened to be a lot of unfortunate circumstances going on such as the frontier war, bad economic conditions, congregational strife, teenage boredom, and personal jealousies which had then fallen into a war of accusations, trials, and executions. One particular event that occurred which had led to the witchcraft trials was that these young girls in town had gotten strangely ill. The author Linden stated, “Young Betty Parris had become ill and some of her strange behavior included dashing about, diving under furniture, contorted in pain, and complained of fever” (Linder, 2009). During this time, Cotton Mather’s had recently published a popular book about witchcraft called “Memorable Providences”. It just so happen that Betty’s symptoms and behavior was practically mirrored to those who were afflicted. It was easy to believe anything for the town of Salem who could not make sense of what was going on at the time.