Many try to explain or rationalize the bizarre happenings of the witch hunts and the causes that contributed to them. To understand the trials and how they came to be, we must first examine the ideals and views of the people surrounding the events. Although religious beliefs were the most influential factor, socioeconomic tensions, and ergot poisoning are also strongly supported theories The Ergot Poisoning Theory The Salem witch trials have fascinated historians for centuries, largely because of their bizarre nature and the great uncertainty that surrounds them. One of the most intensely debated topics is the question of why the girls began to accuse seemingly random townspeople of witchcraft. However, there is little evidence to support any theory, and consequently historians
The Civil Rights Movements and The Salem witchcraft trials Since the witch trials times in Salem and before, fear and persecution have acted on people’s life. It doesn’t matter if the person was one of the involved or not, it affected indirectectly everyone around. Arthur Miller in the Crucible showed a perfect fear and persecution scenery using the Salem witchcraft trials as and example. Arthur Miller used the Crucible to represent the Mc Cartheism, when the communists were been “persecuted” and everyone was pointing fingers to the enemies. As in Salem, it started with a small portion of people trying to accuse people for personal reasons and ended with a big mass of ruined lives without any evidence.
During the early decades of the 14th century to 1750, Europeans executed between 200,000 and 500,000 witches, most of which were women. (Ben-Yehuda, The European Witch Craze of the 14th to 17th Centuries: A Sociologist's Perspective). The nature and timing of the executions and the persecutions that preceded these women were based upon the changes of the Inquisition, as well as their distinct differences played within the medieval society. In conclusion to these changes within the medieval social order, the witch craze accounted for the need of a redefinition of moral boundaries. The fact that these executions and the accompanying demonological theories were accepted and popular amongst society can be further explained through the lack of social and ethical standards of people, which spread throughout society at that time.
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 main factors that started and fueled the trials were politics, religion, family feuds, economics, and the imaginations and fears of the people. The following essay on these causes and the events surrounding the Salem witch trials of 1692 is divided into four sections: 1) Salem Politics 2) Cold Winter Days 3) Salem Witchcraft 4) Aftermath. Salem Politics Salem Village had a very colorful history before the famous witch trials. It was not exactly known as a bastion of tranquillity in New England. The main reason was its 600 plus residents were divided into two main parts: those who wanted to separate from Salem Town, and those who did not.
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.
Witchcraft and Salem Witchcraft in general, and Salem in particular, have long been a focus of interest and study in American history. The circumstances triggering witchcraft accusations in the Salem witchcraft trials and the longevity of those trials are a long standing subject of debate. The Devil in the Shape of a Woman, by Carol Karlsen, examines witchcraft as a complicated, religiously lead, male dominated social structure. Women were held in dual roles, subservient to, and agents of spiritual leadership, using events in Salem as one aspect of a global analysis to promote a feminist view of female persecution by a patriarchal and Puritanical social system prompted by fear of social change in gender relationships. In Salem Possessed: The Social Origins of Witchcraft, a study of the events of Salem specifically, Paul Boyer and Stephen Nissenbaum minutely examine the economic byplay of the Salem Village inhabitants, unearthing social tensions while also detailing the personal histories of the leaders.
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 were created for the poor to take revenge on the wealthy for taking their land, to intimidate the townspeople to start paying more attention to religion, and by the deception that people were possessed by the devil when in reality it was just the consumption of ergot. To begin with, the witch trials that took place in Salem, Massachusetts were conceived because the poor were retaliating to the wealthier townspeople taking their land. In 1692, Salem, Massachusetts was unofficially split into two halves. The eastern side was the wealthier side, and was controlled by the supporters of the Porter family.
Throughout the years, witchcraft has been the common fear of mankind. In England, the legal definition of a witch was “a person who hath a conference with the devil to consult with him or to do some act”. In early modern Europe, women were thought to be witches due to their biblical association with the devil, the superstitions and misunderstanding of the people of Europe, and the negative perceptions of those who deviated from the social norm. As a result, these beliefs and superstitions led to the death of thousands of alleged witches. (Witch Hunts) Witches were thought to be consults of the devil who gave up their bodies and led others away from the church for the devil in exchange for otherworldly power.
When English colonists began the new American colonies, they brought the fear of witchcraft with them across the sea. Before the American colonies had even begun, England experienced a similar witch hunting phase. In 1484, Pope Innocent VIII issued a papal bull called the "Summis desiderantes" which openly called for hunting down, torturing and finally executing Satan worshipers, otherwise known as witches. Even when this