Women In The Salem Witch Trials

There are various allegations that may have played a role in many of history's mysterious events. Some speculations are that girls suffered from sickness and questionable actions due to fungus on rye. Even though there are many theories as to why the girls of the Salem witch trials made accusations, the two most believable are that there was fungus growing on the rye and the girls suffered from an outbreak of encephalitis because the girls showed signs of sickness and questionable actions. In February 1692, the people of Salem were all caught up in a case of mass hysteria: (Saxon). Eight girls ruled the town by accusing their neighbors of witchcraft (Saxon). It all began with two young girls who had become so called victims of,”fits or natural disease, including screams, strange contortions, and throwing objects” (Bellows, Rye and Witches). The girls questionable sicknesses were caused by an outbreak of ergotism. Other young girls in Salem eventually started to show these same symptoms of the first two. Once there was a whole group of girls falling into these fits, people began to cry witch (Bellows, Rye and
Witches). When the trials finally came to a halting end, it left with,”fourteen women, five men, and two dogs executed for their supposed witchcraft” (Saxon). The girls of Salem were afraid of being left out, so they fell into the peer pressure of Abigail Williams. Abigail is the so called leader of the group of young girls. She is relentless, mischievous, ruthless, and she plays tricks on everyone’s mind. Act II of The Crucible shows the girls fear of Abigail because Mary Warren claims Abigail will kill her if she tells the court the truth, that Abigail did stick the needle in the poppet and set up Elizabeth Proctor (Miller II. 976). In May 1693, the mass hysteria had destroyed the town of Salem and families had sadly been torn apart. The town of Salem was full of fear, vengeance, arguments over land, and sexual restraint. The placement of ergotism in Salem was simply the ignition of the fire ready to burn. Before the cause of ergotism, or “St. Anthonys fire” (Bellows, Rye and Witches), was discovered in the late seventeenth century, “epidemics of ergotism were often seen as a punishment from God” (Bellows, Rye and Witches). During the time period of the witch trials, rye was the most prevalent grown crop. Rye was grown in moist climates and stored for a long period of time. Because of the long storage, Salem's most popular crop was being infected with a fungus called claviceps purpurea which contaminates the part of the plant people eat. When ingested,”a cocktail of interesting alkaloids are present” (Bellows, Rye and Witches). Problems in the brain with circulation and neurotransmission lead to madness. This proves the cause of the girls sickness and questionable actions may very well have been from ergot poisoning. The severity of ergotism comes in a wide variety. Every case of this disease is different. Meaning, the beginning effects of ergotism are mainly nausea, diarrhea, and vomiting (Bellows, Rye and Witches). The disease,”produces hallucinatory, LSD-like effects in the afflicted” (Saxon). Without treatment, the side effects only increase from this point. In more serious cases,”the body tissues experience physical effects” (Bellows, Rye and Witches). The disease has now reached the nervous system showing signs of headaches, hot sensations on the skin, spasms, convulsions, unconsciousness, hallucinations, psychosis, and occasionally death (Bellows, Rye and Witches). The symptoms of ergot poisoning have a large array of harshness. An additional theory declares the girls were impaired from the outbreak of encephalitis (Saxon). Which is, an inflammation of the brain spread by insects and birds (Saxon). Symptoms of this disease are,”fever, headache, lethargy, double vision, abnormal eye movements, neck rigidity, behavioral changes and tremors” (Saxon). Along with ergotism, the theory of encephalitis causing the girls madness is also common. The symptoms of encephalitis easily explain the girls questionable actions and illnesses. Two additional theories as to why the trials occurred are an “ice age” or socioeconomic issues in Salem (Saxon). “Emily Oster posits that the “little ice age” cause economic deterioration and food shortages” (Saxon). This could have simply resulted in an anti-witch fervor. The economic deprivation and cease of population increase may have provoked the killing of these witches (Saxon). Usually, when there are problems like these in common day life, the people do not handle it well at all. People will lose themselves and typically, they will go crazy. So, in the time period of the witch trials, killing others would not be uncommon at all. On the other hand, another reasonable theory is social issues in the small town. Social differences caused the town to split into two groups. One group is the poorer people living on the western side away from the center of the town. The other group is the,”commercially minded neighbors” (Saxon) who live more towards the center of town. This separation of the town most likely caused tension in the town leading to the want for revenge which also leads to the Salem witch trials. The two most believable reasons for accusations made by the girls of the Salem witch trials were fungus growing on the rye and girls suffering from an outbreak of encephalitis.
Mass hysteria consumed the people of Salem in 1692 due to eight mischievous girls accusing neighbors of witchcraft. Fear, vengeance, arguments over land, sexual restraint, and the placement of ergotism were the ignition of the fire in Salem. Consequently, there is a wide variety of symptoms in ergotism therefore leading to many different cases of the disease. Ultimately, the girls were impaired due to the outbreak of encephalitis, which was an inflammation of the brain. Even today, there are very few people that believe those hanged actually practiced witchcraft. All in all, this shows that a reason behind calling someone a witch was for personal gain or
revenge.