Research Paper On The Salem Witch Trials

The first ones to be affected by witchcraft were Betty, who was 9, and Abigail, who was 11: both showed symptoms of ergot poisoning, and both fit in the age group (Pruitt). It is the same for the other girls; they all have symptoms related to ergot poisoning, and they are all in the same age group. Their guardian Parris was the minister of the town and they took the word of God seriously(Weller 1:05) so they had no reason to fake it because that would go against God, making them sin which was a really bad thing to them. Why would they do something that they knew would go against their faith by choice making it worse, unless it was

According to the video people believed that the symptoms were caused by the witches power ( Document video). Although ergot poisoning may have started the trials, there were other reasons why it continued for example girls started getting attention so, people

Oh my God! You won’t believe what happened in Salem, MA in 1692. Yeah I know it’s so many years back, but I bet you didn’t know what happened in Salem, MA. in 1692 and 1693, more than 200 people were accused of practicing witchcraft- the Devil’s magic- and 20 were executed.

The community on the other hand wasn’t so tolerant. If the girls did have witchcraft it was not medical thing but a legal one. The girls were victims of a crime that could be punishable by death. When the girl’s situation didn’t improve they were to ask to reveal who their tormentors were. Three warrants went out for the witches.

There had before been accusations of witchcraft before, but none

At first, the accusations began when a small child, in 1692, named Betty Parris got a sudden sickness that could not be properly diagnosed by a doctor. It was reported that she had spasms of pain, fever, contorted herself into different weird positions, and had several fits. At the time, there wasn’t any proper way to investigate and find a cure. So the doctor claimed that her illness could have been the result of a supernatural means, or witchcraft. Soon after, Betty’s friends, Abigail Williams, Ann Putnam Jr., Mary Walcott, and Elizabeth Hubbard, and many other young girls all began showing the same symptoms as Betty.

Have you ever been accused of being a witch? Well if you have you’re not alone because in the small town of Salem over 200 Salemites were accused of being a witch by most of the townspeople in 1692. The girls of Salem said that they were bewitched in the woods by Tituba but I believe that they lied because Betty Parris acted like she was sick for several days, Abigail tried to say that John Proctors wife was bewitching her, and Abigail said that John Proctors wife stabbed her with a needle in the stomach. In act 1 Betty Parris acted as if she was sick and wouldn’t “wake up” from her coma. I believe that Betty acted sick because she was in the woods with Tituba and all the girls and her dad saw her so Betty acted sick so she would not get in trouble.

The Salem Witch Trials I. From June to September of the 1692 in the small farming village of Salem, Massachusetts, nineteen people were hanged on Gallows Hill for the crime of witchcraft. But as many as thirty-seven (sources conflict as to the exact number) may have died when one factors in the men and women who were hanged, those who died in prison, and the one man (Giles Corey) who was pressed to death. I am writing about this incident because I believe it to be significant to history for two major reasons. Firstly, this incident did not occur in the time or place where one would have expected it.

Would you believe in witchcraft if what happened in Salem to your hometown? 1688, Samuel Parris a successful planter and merchant of Barbados moved to the city of Salem with his wife named Elizabeth, his only daughter betty, niece Abigail Williams and his slave from Barbados named Tituba. Samuel moved to preach at the village church

The trials started when a group of girls claimed they were possessed by the "devil." Later, two more girls, Betty Paris and Abigail, were also diagnosed with witchcraft. After the identification of witchcraft, many of the town girls suddenly became "sick" with witchcraft.

In January 1692 in the city of Salem, Massachusetts a mass hysteria broke out. Eight girls began showing signs of a strange and unknown illness, with symptoms of delirium, impaired speech, convulsions, and screaming. The villagers wanted an explanation, so the doctor diagnosed the girls with bewitchment. Soon, accusations were being thrown out left and right. This lead to over 150 citizens accused of witchcraft, then sent to jail.

Some believed that the first women who were accused of witchcraft weren’t really witches at all. They believed, that they suffered from some sort of mental illness, such as epilepsy, or even a disease brought on by eating rye infected with fungus, which can elicit vomiting, choking, fits, hallucinations, and the sense of something crawling on one’s skin. But when doctors examined them, they found nothing wrong and said that they must be bewitched. People could be convicted of witchcraft without any solid evidence. Most of the evidence used against those accused of witchcraft amounted to “witness testimony” that the accused person 's spirit or spectral shape appeared to the witness in a dream at the time the accused person 's physical body was at another location.

In Salem, Massachusetts summer of 1692, a group of teenage girls were said to have been “under evil hands”. When the girls were asked, who had done this to them, they accused local middle aged men and women. According to Castillo, “the first three women they accused were Sarah Good, Sarah Osborne, and Tituba, the slave” (1692, Castillo). Tituba claimed to not be a witch however, her mother was. These three women were the first witches to go on trial, all three were found guilty.

The Hysteria Behind the Salem Witch Trials The Salem witch trials, dating back to February 1692, was a series of hearings against a group of young girls and those claimed to be witches. The girls had professed that their bodies had been dominated by the devil and blamed innocent citizens of using the “witchcraft” behind it. Anyone who seemed slightly out of the ordinary were accused by the girls to have dealt with “the devil’s magic.” The court put these accusations to the test by performing various executions and distinguishing whether the supposed witches could escape or not.

Because religion had a major impact on this society, it made people go crazy when the word witchcraft got brought up within the Salem village. In The Crucible the girls started dancing around a fire and being rowdy and this behavior was unusual so it was just assumed that they were practicing witchcraft because Betty lie unconscious