Historically witchcraft has been thought of as violent horrible things. They tortured and killed many innocent people, although the exact opposite is what happened at the Salem Witchcraft Trials. Nineteen women and five men were hung on Salem’s gallows hill. They were all accused witches, who were all also innocent. How did the witch-hunt in 1692 begin, and why there?
If the declaration had been functioning during those past moments, it would have occured, most likely, that the victims of the illegal charge of witchcraft, might have been given a life-time jail sentence and not the death-penalty by being hanged or crushed. Another article that had been clearly violated during the Salem witch trials was article five, which states that "everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law". Many thought of the women accused of practicing witchcraft to be diabolic and inhuman ; in fact, they were thought of human figures of the devil. This would clearly interfere with the judge´s veredict and it would be almost impossible for the victimis to save themselves from being condemned to death. If these victims of whom most were in their late fifties, had been seen as people who are just like us, they would have been saved from such destiny.
Still tying into religious influences, the very physical appearance of a woman could lead to the belief that she is a witch. Warts and other natural marks of age were viewed as if they were stamps from the devil himself. Older women were the typical candidates for being a witch, many older than 50 years of age. They had no protectors, as they were often widowed, and could incite revenge if they erred in a way that would make them public targets of the community. These women were often
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.
Although both incidents occurred almost 260 years apart, they are directly associated because of the similarities in people, causes and effects. In the Crucible, two young girls made accusations of witchcraft which lead to 180 people accused and jailed with little evidence brought about against them. During the Red Scare, Senator Joseph McCarthy made accusations against 205 people saying that they were communists (Breen). At that time, people were Blacklisted and also jailed for being considered a communist. To be blacklisted means to be put on a list of people or products viewed with suspicion or disapproval (Free Dictionary), which means nobody would hire you for work.
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.
Black witchcraft was believed to be inherited from the female side as women were seen as inferior to men and more likely to fall to temptation to the devil, for example 90% of those charged were women. A common charge for black witches was for bringing harm to people or property that they made possible by making a pact with Satan and having access to his invisible power. Those who were charged with witchcraft were often not random accusations but more an excuse to victimise women who were seen as "different" within that community, and over 50% of those charged were acquitted. However witches could be acquitted alive or dead as many tests
This across the board procedure in most countries was for accused witched to be brought before investigating court of law and were interrogated. In few parts of Europe torture was rarely used, but where the witch-hunts were most intense, it became one of the standard features of the interrogation process. As a result of such torture many of who were accused would “confess” to witchcraft, but only did so due to the brutal conditions they were put in. About half of all who were convicted witches were given sentences short of execution, and the other half were generally killed in
This leads into the deaths of the innocent people who are accused and automatically found guilty. In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, the people of Salem are responsible for the witch hysteria. The person with the most influence on the hysteria is Abigail. In the past, Abigail had an affair with John Proctor. She gets jealous when Proctor leaves her to go back to his wife, Elizabeth.
Conformity is following what everyone else is doing. They would accuse people and when someone was accused the majority of people agreed that the person was guilty without question. They would have a witch trial but it was merely to get someone to confess they were a witch. If they did not they would be killed. Analysis During the time of the witch trials if someone did something that was odd or uncommon they would be accused of being a witch.