Witch Hunts: The Salem Witch Trials
The Salem Witch Trials started in 1692 in Salem Village, Massachusetts, and are believed to have been created by many different theories. No one actually knows why or how the witchcraft started in the early colony. The witches were girls of all ages who were caught having strange behavior. Many people started believing they were actual witches because of the way people claimed to have been hurt or affected by a witch. Some Puritans would act out to make it seem like a witch was harming them or causing them to do things just to receive attention. The girls were often killed or forced to admit to being a witch. 200 of the girls were accused of taking place in witchcraft and 19 were sentenced to death by hanging.
One of the reasons of the creation
of witchcraft in Massachusetts was because of boredom. The girls did not have anything to do. The Puritans forbade entertainment for adults and children. The restrictions were worse for girls than for boys. The girls read books and told each other their fortunes. They also entertained themselves by using witchcraft. One of the group of witches were some young girls with the last name Parris. They lived day to day doing nothing but chores, housework, and bible study. Their father would not let them play games, because he thought games were of the devil. To take up time they read books on fortune telling and divination. The Parris’ servant, Tituba, told her own stories of when she lived in the West Indies about the devil and demons.
Another reason for the creation of witchcraft was because of the strong belief in witchcraft by the Puritans. They believed that the devil and the witch had an alliance that made people do crazy things. They were blamed for more things than effecting the behavior of people. They were blamed for illnesses, bad crops, and thunderstorms. Since the villagers strongly believed in the witchcraft, they believed in the strangest situations. If anyone showed the even the slightest trait of a witch they put them on trial and sentenced them to death.
The girls also got accused of witchcraft because of their past fights or disagreements with other Puritans. The villagers randomly accused girls of witchcraft just because of the family’s status or prior arguments. The families being attacked would try to persuade the villagers to be against the trials. Their plan failed, and all 19 villagers who were against the trials were also accused of witchcraft.
Another reason was thought to be Ergot poisoning. Ergot was a fungus that the villagers sometimes consumed. Ergot was found in cereal grains that villagers ate. Ergot caused visions and hallucinations. Ergot poisoning was most common in women and children. This explained why the women and children were always the ones accused of witchcraft. The witchcraft could have easily just been another hallucination. According to a study, Ergot poisoning was very high during the same time as the witch trials. However, villagers would take any excuse to accuse someone of witchcraft.
To this day no one really knows why the Salem Witch Trials began. None of these theories have valid evidence as to how the trials got started. These theories are just made up by different people with different opinions. The Puritans were against witchcraft and looked for opportunities to accuse villagers.
One of the reasons of the creation
of witchcraft in Massachusetts was because of boredom. The girls did not have anything to do. The Puritans forbade entertainment for adults and children. The restrictions were worse for girls than for boys. The girls read books and told each other their fortunes. They also entertained themselves by using witchcraft. One of the group of witches were some young girls with the last name Parris. They lived day to day doing nothing but chores, housework, and bible study. Their father would not let them play games, because he thought games were of the devil. To take up time they read books on fortune telling and divination. The Parris’ servant, Tituba, told her own stories of when she lived in the West Indies about the devil and demons.
Another reason for the creation of witchcraft was because of the strong belief in witchcraft by the Puritans. They believed that the devil and the witch had an alliance that made people do crazy things. They were blamed for more things than effecting the behavior of people. They were blamed for illnesses, bad crops, and thunderstorms. Since the villagers strongly believed in the witchcraft, they believed in the strangest situations. If anyone showed the even the slightest trait of a witch they put them on trial and sentenced them to death.
The girls also got accused of witchcraft because of their past fights or disagreements with other Puritans. The villagers randomly accused girls of witchcraft just because of the family’s status or prior arguments. The families being attacked would try to persuade the villagers to be against the trials. Their plan failed, and all 19 villagers who were against the trials were also accused of witchcraft.
Another reason was thought to be Ergot poisoning. Ergot was a fungus that the villagers sometimes consumed. Ergot was found in cereal grains that villagers ate. Ergot caused visions and hallucinations. Ergot poisoning was most common in women and children. This explained why the women and children were always the ones accused of witchcraft. The witchcraft could have easily just been another hallucination. According to a study, Ergot poisoning was very high during the same time as the witch trials. However, villagers would take any excuse to accuse someone of witchcraft.
To this day no one really knows why the Salem Witch Trials began. None of these theories have valid evidence as to how the trials got started. These theories are just made up by different people with different opinions. The Puritans were against witchcraft and looked for opportunities to accuse villagers.