Gender Norms of 17th Century of the Chesapeake High mortality rate, an increase in illegitimate births, and indentured servitude are terrible conditions and hardly selling points to convince any woman to embark on a journey to the British Colonies in the 17th century. However, in spite of these harsh elements, women still voyaged through these conditions to North America to possess a better life. Woman’s rights were improved primarily through their ability to inherit, acquire valuable skills and a trade, and moreover, the fact to have an opportunity to come to the New World and marry. Deceived, these women were manipulated into believing that these false privileges would come with no trials or tribulations. The gender norms prior to the journey from Europe to North America were changed due to severe servitude circumstances, gender imbalance, late and short marriages, and high mortality.
Salem Witch Trials In Taking Side, articles written by author Kyle Koehler, (1980), Was the Salem Witchcraft Hysteria a Product of Women’s Search for Power?, and by author, Laurie Winn Carlson, (1999), A Fever in Salem: A New Interpretation of the New England Witch Trials, had very different opinions of what happened during The Salem Witch Trials. Their opinions are based on the judicial process of suspected witches, living in Salem Massachusettes, during the 1690’s. As a woman, and registered nurse, I can relate to both sides of the authors interpretations. Women wanting equal rights, respect, and the same opportunities as men. Understanding of the disease process of encephalitis, and how it affects the mind, body, and spirit.
Background: The Salem witchcraft trials of 1692 have been studied by many historians looking for the complex social, political, and psychological determinants behind the community wide hysteria that led to the death of 20 innocent Puritans. Ergot poisoning has been put forth by some as a previously unsuspected cause of the bizarre behaviors of the young adolescent girls who accused the townsfolk of witchcraft. During the early winter of 1692 two young girls became inexplicably ill and started having fits of convulsion, screaming, and hallucinations. Unable to find any medical reason for their condition the village doctor declared that there must be supernatural forces of witchcraft at work. This began an outbreak of hysteria that would result in the arrest of over one hundred-fifty people and execution of twenty women and men.
Sanger’s reasoning for studying eugenics was more often than not seen as controversial and has led many to believe she was racist and immoral for supporting such a belief. Sanger was born on September 14, 1879 in Corning, New York and was the sixth child out of her eleven siblings. Her mother was a catholic as well as her father, Michael Higgins, who later on in his life became atheist. Being the middle child not only meant that she had to rival against her many brothers and sisters, but it also meant that she was able to witness her mother give birth to many children. Sanger’s mother gave birth a total of eighteen times and seven of those were miscarriages.
The Salem Witchcraft Trials of 1692 The Salem Witchcraft Trials are so famous that people say it as if it’s one word: Salemwitchcraft. But do people really know what went on in Salem? During the Salem witchcraft trials of 1692 in a few terror-filled months, nearly 200 people were condemned as witches. Historically witches are not the funny mischievous Samanthas of the 1960s show Bewitched, nor are they the cartoon green warted witches on brooms that you see so often on Halloween decorations. Historically witchcraft has been thought of as violent horrible things.
The reason they would not confess to witchcraft was because the convicted people knew they were not witches, and confessing to it would be a lie, and a sin in God’s eyes. Three contributing factors to the social climate of the witch trials would be religious beliefs, superstition and the belief in the supernatural, and teenage boredom. Tituba, a slave from Barbados, played a major role in the Salem Witch Trials and she was responsible for accusing Sarah Osborne and Sarah Good as witches. There is not one ultimate cause to the witch hysteria, but ergot poisoning played a key role in the witch hysteria. The Salem Witch Trials was an important and drastic event in American history due to the fact that 20 innocent people were persecuted for a crime they did not commit, and over 100 people were punished and put in
All of these were events leading up to Parris’ arrival. (law) In early January of 1692 the first to be affected were Reverend Samuel Parris’ daughter, Betty Parris, and Parris’ niece, Abigail Williams, who both showed symptoms of fits, distempers, odd postures, and blasphemous screaming. The local doctor, William Griggs, was called but Griggs could not find the cause of the affliction and he suspected malefic witchcraft was at play. Shortly after other Salem girls began to show similar symptoms and every physician concluded that they were under the influence of Satan. Late February came and the symptoms did not abate so prayer services, community fasts, and a rye witch cake made with the girls’ urine to be fed to a dog were measures taken to try and ease the affliction but none worked.
In the summer months of 1692, twenty-three people died in Salem, Massachusetts. The passing away of these people were due to them being accused of being possessed by evil spirits. Were these people actually possessed or were these accusations made for different reasons? The witch hunts in 1692 have caused debates over why they started, and the debate over the cause is still going on. Many people don’t know why these trials happened, but there are three obvious reasons as to why the witch trials in Salem were generated.
The Salem Witch Trials Brittany Johnson Marc Romanelli Monday April 8, 2013 The Salem Witch Trials (Rough Draft) Fear of Devil-worshipping and witchcraft swept through Salem, Massachusetts, like a plague. During the years of 1692 and 1693, more than 200 people—men, women, and even children—were accused of witchcraft (Blumberg). Words of friends, neighbors, and even complete strangers put many people's lives in danger. Nineteen people were hanged, one person pressed to death, and four known deaths occurred in prison. The accusations, the trials, the executions, and the events leading up to and after the deaths, kept Salem, Massachusetts on its toes in
The Salem Witch Trials From June through September of 1692, nineteen people convicted of practicing witchcraft were hung on Gallows Hill. One elderly man was pressed to death when he refused to attend his own trial. Rumors that certain people were witches spread like wildfire and hundreds were accused, many wasting away in jail for months, waiting nervously for their trial. This is the story of the infamous Salem Witch Trials of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The Salem Witch Trials took place only in America, but the idea of witches has existed in many parts of the world.