A review of A Fever in Salem: A New Interpretation of the New England Witch Trials‚ by Laurie Winn Carlson‚ Ivan R. Dee‚ Chicago‚ 2000; 224 pp. $14.95 Paperback. ISBN: 1-566633095 A FEVER IN SALEM POSITS A biological cause for the early modem witchcraft epidemic‚ which resulted in the hanging of 19 people in Salem‚ MA‚ in 1692. Witchcraft persecution‚ Laurie Carlson writes‚ arose because of the strange behavior of the supposedly bewitched accusers. She concludes that the cause was a disease unrecognizable
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When one usually thinks about the Salem Witch Trials‚ they tend to imagine the colonial rabble‚ often male‚ accusing and indiscriminately burning women who they saw as witches at the stake. This idea is proven false when we look at the records and realize that the vast majority of women accused of being witches were being accused by other women. Woman is Salem were more likely than men to be both the accused and the accusers due to the culture that revolved around women in which they were very often
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From the Salem Witch Trials to today‚ the mystery of mass hysteria has baffled psychologist and researchers worldwide. Mass hysteria has posed a threat since young girls in Salem claimed that they were being witched‚ as told in the popular story‚ The Crucible. Over 300 years later researchers have came up with a definition for this peculiar outbreak and even have spilt the topic into two main categories. Causes of mass hysteria outbreaks are still unknown to researchers but they are using the recent
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the Salem Witch Trials stemmed from sheer ignorance from the Puritan people. The first factor in the ignorance displayed by the people of Salem was a result of their religion. The Puritans held a firm belief in the Bible and had a strict interpretation of the meaning of what was in the Bible. So they took the Bible passage that reads‚ "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live‚" seriously. I think that this is the very root of the problem: ignorance as a result of religion. Had the people of Salem not
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The Salem Witch Trials "When the lines between reality and delusion become so blurred‚ you can no longer know what’s real and what is not." This is a quote by A.B. Shepherd. This can be a direct example of those women accused of being witches in the Salem witch trials. For these women‚ most of their lives during the year of the trials could have felt a little like this. You are standing in a room when suddenly‚ an unexplainable feeling over takes you. Every bit of sanity that you have is lost as
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McCarthyism Vs. Salem Witch Trials What would your reaction be if you were accused of something and were innocent? This is what happened to many people in the Salem Witch Trials and in McCarthyism. Innocent people were being punished for crimes that they did not commit. Even though there was little evidence‚ they were being hurt simply because somebody didn’t like their personal beliefs. The Salem Witch Trials and McCarthyism are alike in many ways including their accusations‚ trials and were different
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The notorious witch trials of Salem‚ Massachusetts occurred from June through September. It is a brief‚ but turbulent period in history and the causes of the trials have long been a source of discussion among historians. Many try to explain or rationalize the bizarre happenings of the witch hunts and the causes that contributed to them. To understand the trials and how they came to be‚ we must first examine the ideals and views of the people surrounding the events. Salem Village had a very
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What Caused The Salem Witch Trial Hysteria of 1692? The Salem Witch Trials‚ a hectic and hysteric time of 1600s when 20 innocent people were executed. The Salem Witch Trials began with the Puritans‚ a large group of English Protestant Christians who came to New England in hopes of changing their religion. The Puritans used the Bible as the guide to their life‚ basing decisions on it and taking the Bible literally. The trials in Salem began when Betty Parris and Abigail Williams asked Tituba
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1692 in Salem‚ Massachusetts was a time of fear‚ allegation‚ and deceit. It was the time of the Salem witch trials. Family feuds‚ eccentric personalities‚ and even keeping dolls in your home were reasons for accusations. Fueled by religious fanatics and young girls screaming for attention‚ literally‚ no one was safe from the insanity of the witch-hunt. This paper is intended to discuss the causes of this hysteria‚ some of the trials that took place during the year 1692‚ and what finally stopped the
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The Salem Witch Trials In Cotton Mather’s account of the trial of Martha Carrier‚ the witnesses use confessions of other witches incriminating the accused‚ physical evidence‚ anger resulting in mischief done to the person‚ and spectral evidence. Increase Mather would not have convicted Martha Carrier‚ he would have judged the presented evidence as unreliable because the majority of it was based heavily on witnesses’ testimonies‚ which Increase Mather did not consider as a valid source‚ as well
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