Nineteen One Deaths From The Salem Witch Trials - 847 Words

Twenty-one deaths from The Salem Witch Trials (Callis) seems to be very minimal when compared to the 620,000 deaths that resulted from the Civil War, however, The Salem Witch Trials seem to stick out significantly in the minds of Americans. Why is this? Today, it is appalling to us that someone would be executed for what only appeared to be â€Å"witchcraft†. Even though there was no credible evidence of it, the majority believed that there was some sort of evil sorcery about them and then commended the accused to death. What caused such hysteria within the community? The culprit may have been the fungus that infected their bread called, Ergot. Ergot, the toxic fungus found on rye, is mostly found during the spring and summer months with humid climates (Clues and Evidence). When reproducing, the contaminated grain releases a yellow thick, sticky substance which contains the fungus that spreads the poison throughout the crop. Once the grain is infected, it’s seeds contai n lysergic acid which is what the hallucinogen LSD is created from (Clues and Evidence). Some side effects of ingesting Ergot are: â€Å"... strange mental aberrations, hallucinations, a feeling of burning skin or insects crawling under the skin. Women frequently miscarried, and fertility was generally reduced during outbreaks†¦ many victims lost hands and feet† (Schumann). Victims of the lethal infection also experienced convulsions, paralysis, tremors and acting disturbed or insane(Schumann). Because the virus wasShow MoreRelatedThe Salem Witch Trials : The Causes Of The Deadly Accusations912 Words   |  4 PagesPeriod 1 11 April 2015 The Salem Witch Trials: The Causes of the Deadly Accusations In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, he writes, â€Å"We are what we always were in Salem, but now the little crazy children are jangling the keys of the kingdom, and common vengeance writes the law!† (Miller 77). This partially fictionalized tale of the Salem Witch Trials points to one of the causes of the trials, vengeance, but the over dramatized tale s early stages were quiet. The Salem Witch Episode had humble beginningsRead MoreSalem Witch Trials Paranoia Essay1629 Words   |  7 PagesIn the 1680’s and 1690’s there was mass hysteria in New England over supposed witchcraft. The most famous outbreak was in Salem, Massachusetts, hence the name Salem Witch Trials. In Salem, there were young girls who started acting strangely, and they leveled accusations of witchcraft against some of the West Indian servants who were immersed in voodoo tradition. Most of the accusations were against women, and soon the accusations started to shift to the substantial and p rominent women. NeighborsRead MoreThe Salem Witch Trials Of 16921281 Words   |  6 PagesThe Salem Witch Trials were a sequence of hearings, prosecutions, and hangings of people who were thought to be involved in witchcraft in Massachusetts. These trials occurred between February 1692 and May 1693(The Salem Witch Trials, 1692. ). The Trials resulted in the execution of twenty people, in fact, most of them were women. The first of the trials began in several towns in the Province of Massachusetts Bay, such as Salem Village (currently known as Danvers), Salem Town, Ipswich, and Andover(SalemRead MoreThe Salem Witch Trials Era1004 Words   |  5 PagesThree centuries ago authorities in and around Salem, Massachusetts engaged in a witch- hunt. Authorities during the Salem Witch Trials era were called upon to arrest or execute â€Å"witches† due to false accusations made by communities that were in argumentative ties, women who were seen as threats, and religious disagreements. Capturing nearly one hundred fifty perpetrators, charging twenty-eight of them, and nineteen were lynched publically. Community tension brought false accusations that causedRead MoreThe Salem Witch Trials1274 Words   |  6 Pages During the seventeenth century Salem, Massachusetts is a seaport town populated mostly by Puritan colonists who came over from England in the seventeenth century. Beliefs of witchcraft came over with the settlers who, if caught practicing, was punishable by death. The Salem Witch Trials were a series of court cases in 1692 revolving around witchcraft where over hundred people were accused, nineteen were hanged, and one was pressed to death. England had accused people of witchcraft datingRead MoreThe Salem Witch Trials Essay1349 Words   |  6 PagesBefore 1692, the supernatural was a part of people’s everyday normal life. This is so as people strongly believed that Satan was present and active on earth. Men and women in Salem Village believed that all the misfortunes that befell them were the work of the devil. For example, when things like infant death, crop failures or friction among the congregation occurred, people were quick to blame the supernatural. This concept first emerged in Europe around the fifteenth century and then spread toRead MoreThe Judicial System of the Salem Witch Trials803 Words   |  4 Pagesduring the Salem Witch Trials, a series of hearings over a witchcraft scare that took place from June through September of 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts. The writer shall include a brief history of the events, explain the judicial system of the Trials, and give detail to what methods were used to determine fate of a victim. Additionally, the writer will explain how the Trials were based on false views that were not supported. The Trials began soon after a few young girls living in Salem began throwingRead MoreThe Salem Witch Trials and McCarthyism666 Words   |  3 Pagesthe Salem witch trials and red scare, are often overlooked. These events symbolize times of despair, weakness, and slander, to which the essence of the events is nearly identical. The Salem witch trials can be closely compared to McCarthyism and the red scare, based on the similarities of suspicion, accusation, and prosecution. Despite the difference of roughly two hundred and sixty years, the outcome of such uprisings has remained unchanged. The morals discovered during the Salem witch trials failedRead MoreThe Salem Witch Trials : A Dark Period1163 Words   |  5 PagesThe Salem Witch Trials was a very dark period in our history that occurred in the colony of Salem, Massachusetts. These trials began in February 1692 and ended in May of 1693. There were over two hundred individuals who were accused of practicing witchcraft. Of those two hundred accused, nearly twenty innocent souls were lost. This was one of the most severe cases of mass hysteria in recorded history. There was a great effort exhorted by the Massachusetts General Court to declare a guilty verdictRead MoreEssay on Salem Witch Trials Of 16921061 Words   |  5 PagesThe Salem Witch Trials of 1692 In colonial Massachusetts between February of 1692 and May of 1963 over one hundred and fifty people were arrested and imprisoned for the capital felony of witchcraft. Trials were held in Salem Village, Ipswich, Andover and Salem Town of Essex County of Massachusetts, but accusations of witchcraft occurred in surrounding counties as well. Nineteen of the accused, fourteen women and five men, were hanged at Gallows Hill near Salem Village. Hysteria had swept through