Witchcraft Hysteria Of Salem, Massachusetts - 891 Words

When one thinks of the word ‘witch’ today, one pictures a withered old crone from fairytales or a Halloween costume. In short, people associate a witch immediately with fiction. However, in Europe, witches were a very real threat. Between 1400 and 1800, historians estimate that upwards of 50,000 people were killed after being convicted as witches in Europe (Give Me Liberty, p. 109). As colonists settled in North America, they not only brought new customs, plants, animals, and diseases, they brought their superstitions. Witch executions were relatively rare in America, that is, until the 150 convictions and 19 executions of witches that took place in Salem, Massachusetts beginning in 1691 (Orr, September 30, 2015). Though the causes of the mania are still hotly debated even today, the primary cause of the witchcraft hysteria that captivated Salem, Massachusetts in the 1690’s was socioeconomic tensions within the community. The town of Salem was actually split up in to two distinctly separate settlements. The village of Salem was characterized by farmers who depended heavily, if not exclusively, on agriculture for their livelihoods. The town of Salem, as it was situated on the water, was comprised primarily of well-off merchants. The two technically made up the same town, but it was as if there was a boundary line separating them. This divide was not just one of housing; the incomes of the village and the town were vastly different. The town inhabitants made much more moneyShow MoreRelatedWitchcraft Hysteria By Laurie Winn Carlson1307 Words   |  6 Pagesto see real witchcraft, you watch people protecting their comfort, their beliefs.† This quote is saying if you want to truly understand someone, learn about what they believe in. It all began in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. The accusations toward people who were thought to be witches was on the rise. These would not be the kind of witches a person would think about in today s world, bu t women and men who were put on trial for witchcraft hysteria, which in turn caused mass hysteria. Based on theRead MoreThe Hysteria of Salem Witchcraft Essay910 Words   |  4 PagesThe Hysteria of Salem Witchcraft Although there has been a long history of witchcraft, the main concentration is from the periods of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. In the British North American colonies alone there were over 100 witchcraft trials alone, were 40 percent of the accused were executed. Now two professors, Carol F. Karlsen of history and Kai T. Erikson of sociology, examine the Salem Witchcraft Hysteria to see if it was caused by a fear of women and give two entirelyRead 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 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 throughRead MoreTerror Of A Mass Hysteria Hoax1082 Words   |  5 Pagesmass hysteria hoax. During the sixteenth century, witch trials caused the deaths of thousands as chaos spread throughout Europe. Many European villages in history have witnessed witch executions and the imprisonment of suspected witches. The Crucible, along with the Salem Witch Trials and the European witch trials, have many similarities and differences that make them both memorable and important. The Salem Witch Trials lasted from, roughly, February 1692 to May of 1963. The trials in Salem wereRead MoreEssay on Witchcraft in the Small Village of Salem1585 Words   |  7 PagesWitchcraft was as a capital crime in seventeenth-century New England. Madness over witchcraft was caused by a group of girls (Kent 95). Witchcraft was considered a terrible crime throughout Europe; its punishment was death by hanging or burning (Dolan 8). Everyone in the village of Salem believed in witchcraft, and only a few had tried to use it (Kent 18). In 1692, Salem Village panic was a major event in United States history which will never be forgotten. The people of Salem were caught up in aRead MoreReasons Behind The Salem Witch Trials1568 Words   |  7 PagesFrawley April 30, 1017 Reasons behind the Salem Witch Trials of 1692 The Salem Witch Trials were a series of trials in the 1690s which accused society members of practicing witchcraft, they took place in Salem, Massachusets. What caused this mass hysteria to occur? Some contributing factors could include some socio-economic reasons, an overbearing Puritan society and the influential sense that witchcraft was taking place all over the world. Massachusetts was settled by English puritans, faithfulRead MoreSalem Witch Trials Research Paper1340 Words   |  6 Pages(Gurteen). The Salem witch trials began in the Spring of 1692 in Salem Village, Massachusetts. A group of young girls, who claimed to be possessed by the devil, began accusing a few women of witchcraft, which caused hysteria among the people in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Approximately 150 people were convicted of practicing witchcraft, 19 were hanged at Gallows Hill, and others died in captivity (â€Å"Salem Witch Trials†). These tragic events lead to the convictions of many innocent people in Salem VillageRead MoreThe Hysteria Of The Salem Witch Trials1463 Words   |  6 PagesPuritan society: a group of English reformed protestants who pursued the Purification of the Church of England. Among these issues, is the hysteria of the Salem Witch Trials that prosecuted women to be found worshippers of the devil. The Puritans found the necessity to exercise this crusade in order to stay by their moral codes of conformity which included witchcraft to be the greatest crime, punishable by death. However, the true reasons of the trials was not to simply follow their religious constitutionsRead 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 verdict