Salem Possessed: The Social Origins of Witchcraft‚ Paul Boyer and Stephen Nissenbaum‚ Cambridge‚ MA‚ Harvard University Press copyright 1974. The purpose of this book was to examine the history and social life of Salem Village to try to figure out what was the cause of the events that occurred there. I believe that the authors achieved their objective at least they did to me. Boyer and Nissenbaum’s explanation for the outbreak of witchcraft accusations in Salem hinges on an understanding of
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Salem Possessed Salem Possessed is a novel that explores the social‚ economic‚ political‚ and geographical divisions within the Salem Village community. It is written as an attempt to understand the accusations of witchcraft in 1692. It is believed that the village of Salem is split into two factions: one interested in gaining more of a society based upon political independence and led by the Putnam family‚ and the other‚ interested in the mercantile and political life of the town being led by
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Salem Possessed redefined the standard for the possibilities social history offers to understand the events and people of early America. Through a painstaking look at local records such as legal records‚ the Salem Village record book‚ the minister’s book‚ and tax records Boyer and Nissenbaum discovered a long-standing pattern of contentious behavior of which the witchcraft accusations in 1692 was just one episode. Their analysis provides an invaluable insight into the social history of New England
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The Salem Witchcraft Trials “The Devil in Salem” by Peggy Robbins addresses the Salem witch trials that occurred in colonial Massachusetts in 1692. The Massachusetts Bay Colony was where it was more likely for people to believe in witchcraft in which it was known to be believed by the people that Satan would take use of human beings to carry on his war against heaven. It has been recorded that in Salem Village in the year of 1692‚ alone 170 witches were imprisoned and 20 were sentenced to death
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The Salem Witch Trials of 1692 were a dark time in American history. More than 200 people were accused of practicing witchcraft and 20 were killed during the hysteria. Ever since those dark days ended‚ the trials have become synonymous with mass hysteria and scapegoating. Causes Salem‚ Massachusetts was not alone in its witch hunt. A wave of witch trials swept Europe from the 1300s to the 1600s. These witch hunts happened for a variety of reasons and were greatly influenced by the fear
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1692‚ a town in Massachusetts held a series of trials regarding the conspiracy of witchcraft. Many fell victim in this case of religious extremism. How did this horrible event begin? What fueled the unfounded fear of witchcraft? What are specific cases of this affair? Is there earlier record of similar occurrences The Salem witch trials were a progression of hearings and arraignments of individuals blamed for witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts between February 1692 and May 1693. The trial brought
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Karla Estrada History 1301 Fall 2014 Extra Credit SWCT The Salem Witchcraft Trials began in the 1690’s in Salem‚ Massachusetts and then later spread to other parts of New England. These trials resulted in the execution of about 20 people‚ most of them women‚ and innocent people. Hundreds of other individuals including men‚ women‚ and children were accused; dozens were kept in prison without trials‚ and a couple even died in prison. A wave of hysteria spread all over Massachusetts‚ when
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for the Salem Witchcraft Trials. Mather wrote‚ “Accounts of the Salem Witchcraft Trials” in 1693. During one of the trials‚ Susanna (North) Martin was accused of witchcraft. Martin was born in Olney‚ Buckinghamshire‚ England on September 30‚ 1621‚ were she was baptized. Her family first moved to Salisbury‚ Massachusetts in 1639‚ where she married George Martin. On June 29‚ 1692 Martin had a trial at the Court of Oyer and Terminer‚ Held by Adjournment at Salem. The Accounts of the Salem Witchcraft
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The Witchcraft Trials in Salem: A Commentary‚ it is acknowledged that‚ “The cause of her symptoms may have been some combination of stress‚ asthma‚ guilt‚ boredom‚ child abuse‚ epilepsy‚ and delusional psychosis” (Linder). Many of the possible symptoms may have caused the outbreak‚ yet delusional psychosis is more sensible. The form of a mental disorder causing the symptoms is a probable cause. The people of Salem were completely oblivious to the additional causes of the accusations. Salem could
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Some of the causes of the Salem Witchcraft Trials are boredom‚ strong believe in occult‚ disputes/rivalries or personal differences‚ ergot poisoning‚ and a cold weather theory. After the girls were caught dancing in the woods and Parris saw everything that’s when everything started. Parris starts to question the girls and they come up with wild acquisitions‚ to avoid trouble. I feel like boredom took toll on the girls because is in the late 1600’s they didn’t have nothing better to do. So I feel
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