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.
Crucible/Modern-day Witch Hunt The “Wenatchee sex ring witch hunt” parallels the witch-hunt of The Crucible because in both cases devout Christians are being unfairly persecuted as a result of unfounded accusations made by teenagers, who are incapable of understanding the ramifications of their accusations. The most obvious example from The Crucible is when Rebecca nurse, the saintly, angelic character of the play, is accused of witchcraft by guilty teenagers trying to shift the focus of blame away from themselves. In act II Reverend Hale, who is brought to rid the evil from Salem, is troubled about Rebecca’s accusation and that “… if Rebecca Nurse be tainted, then nothing’s left to stop the whole green world from burning” (Miller 67). It is somewhat ironic that Mr. Hale is so concerned and in disbelief of Rebecca being accused yet he let’s her fate “… rest upon the justice of the court” (Miller 67). However, that very court was itself guilty of unjustifiably assuming that the accused were guilty of witchcraft and would sentence them to death unless they admitted to such.
‘The Devil on Trial’ by Phillip Margulies and Maxine Rosaler The book, The Devil on Trial: Witches, Anarchists, Atheists, Communists, and Terrorists in America’s Courtroom, discusses the rights people have in the courtroom. It tells the stories of cases that tested the court system’s ability to give everyone the right to a fair trial. The trials mentioned in the book are the Salem Witch Trials, the Haymarket Bomb Trial, the Scopes “Monkey” Trial, the Trials of Alger Hiss, and the Trials of Zacarias Moussaoui. In 1692, during the Salem Witch Trials, the legal systems were not as fair as they would become. “There was no police force; officials called “magistrates” performed the roles of judges.
Gillian MacDonald 21 March 2013 ENG 4U Mr. Chalmers The Ringleaders of the Salem Witch Trials In the book The Crucible by Arthur Miller, the theme of hysteria is dominantly present throughout the entire play. It is not hard to narrow down the cause of the widespread hysteria to three people that inevitably had their hand in the trials. The devious character, Abigail, shows her wicked mind and skill of manipulation in the play so she can get what she wants, John Proctor. The slave, Tituba, gave into the accusations and started the hysteria of the witch trials. The last character that contributed to an entire town’s belief in witches would be Danforth.
She lays her first accusation on Tituba. “Sometimes I wake and find myself standing in the open doorway and not a stitch on my body! I always hear her singing her Barbados songs and tempting me with-“(44). Parris and Hale question Abigail on her activities in the forest, and Abigail fears she’ll be accused of witchery. She puts all suspicion on
The Salem Witch Trials + Arthur Miller= A Good Movie Arthur Miller's The Crucible delivers a powerful message to its modern American viewers about one of the more controversial chapters of our country's history. As a dramatization of the Salem Witch Trials, the movie brought the historical context of the time period to the big screen. The trials, which began in 1692 and resulted in the deaths of nineteen people, demonstrated the dangers of allowing the blurring together of church and state so closely that a legal trial was used to determine the fate of those who "were working with the devil" (Divine, Breen, Fredrickson, Williams, Gross, Brands, 83). The story is set in seventeenth century Massachusetts, where Puritanism had become the social norm. One of the key themes is that under time of stress and adversity, neighbors, friends, and even family members have a tendency to turn on each other when they allow fear to govern their actions.
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.
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.
Witchcraft: The Phenomenon, the Executions and the Trials. Witchcraft is often related to folklore and popular superstition; however, in Early Modern European traditions, witches have stereotypically had the characterization of a witch as an evil magic user developed over time. From the late 15th century to the late 18th century, a wave of persecution washed across parts of England. Tens of thousands of people were executed for witchcraft due to the belief of magic . From England and all the way to Scotland, witchcraft became one of the greatest problems.
Hysteria in Salem In 1692, in Salem Massachusetts, the superstition of witches existed in a society of strong Christian beliefs. Anybody who acted out of the ordinary was accused of being a witch and the accused would actually be forgiven if they blamed their accusations on another individual. In this play, a group of young girls is accused of being witches. These girls then blame other people in order to get out of trouble and even pretend to be "bewitched" in front of the court during a trial. This leads into the deaths of the innocent people who are accused and automatically found guilty.