NationStates Jolt Archive

What do you think were the causes of the Salem Witch Trials? I'm doing some homework on it was just wondering what all you thought.

1. fanatical fundamentalist puritanism
2. lying teenage girls who could 'hear' god telling them who was a witch.

If you want some great pieces of literature from this time period to demonstrate what was going on, read 'Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God' and Arthur Miller's The Cruicible . The Cruicible isn't from the time period but it illustrates it well.

Most of the executions were attributed to the lies told by the group of girls.
However, some historians attest to actual hallucinations, caused by eating ergot.
This may have sparked the girls initial hysteria.
What followed, were the girls lying to cover up thier own mistakes, and deceits.

There was a study done on the possibility of Salem's wheat supply being contaminated by ergot (LSD). It also extended the study to the medieval witch scare, they both matched pretty close.

What do you think were the causes of the Salem Witch Trials? I'm doing some homework on it was just wondering what all you thought.What causes? The values and morals that the US is built upon, of course. Listen to a Bush-speech and you will hear they have not dissappeared since. Demonizing others is still pretty en vogue.

Liberals with their godless science are apparently the new witches.

Damn Puritans messed everything up. That's why we're so uptight with sex, but so tolerant of violence.

Another thing that, while it wasn't the catalyst, could be considered a factor. As the condemned "witches" were executed, being criminals, the land they own defaulted to the city government. The city officials realized that they could get prime pieces of land for free.

People were also encouraging it to get rid of troublesome neighbors as well. You could also contribute it to a puritannical "righteous soldier" attitude. "Oh, we're getting rid of the heathens and Satanists like God commanded, we're gonna have a GREAT place in Heaven! Boy, God will really favor us!" kind of attitude.

Another thing that, while it wasn't the catalyst, could be considered a factor. As the condemned "witches" were executed, being criminals, the land they own defaulted to the city government. The city officials realized that they could get prime pieces of land for free.

People were also encouraging it to get rid of troublesome neighbors as well. You could also contribute it to a puritannical "righteous soldier" attitude. "Oh, we're getting rid of the heathens and Satanists like God commanded, we're gonna have a GREAT place in Heaven! Boy, God will really favor us!" kind of attitude.

Your confusing the Salem witch trials, where property remined in private hands, with the Inquisition, where property defaulted to the state.

There was a study done on the possibility of Salem's wheat supply being contaminated by ergot (LSD). It also extended the study to the medieval witch scare, they both matched pretty close.

One of my ancestors (not a direct one) was tried in those trials - she was accused of bewitching her neighbour's chickens. Guess what they'd been eating?

She got off, somehow.

Some of the ergot research has been called into question however. What is clear is that the girl in charge of making most of the accusations had an affair with the husband of the first woman accused, Miller did not make that part up. In essence, it became a way to get at people you didn't like, and after the trials and the chaos that ensued the witchcraft laws were either thrown out or simply ignored.

the whole ergot poisoning issue is an unlikely cause for the whole witch trials
mania, sdimply because Ergot was actuallly well known about in farming communities of the time. Black spurred rye ( or ergot ) was interestingly a known medicine used by the women of rural communities for getting rid of unwanted pregnancies. So if ergot was involved at all, it is possible that at least one of the girls central to the trials had actually taken Ergot dleiberatly for this reason.... the experience can be painful and traumatic and she may then have saught to punish the woman who gave the the Ergot
and / or the man who got her pregnant in the first place.
It is important to remember also that the witch trial took place in a country founded on a the principals of personal and religious freedom.
as an English witch ... I have always found this hard to understand

My great (x?) Aunt was killed in that craziness. You can read her name in the Crucible and in the court records. Her name was Elizabeth Howe.

the whole ergot poisoning issue is an unlikely cause for the whole witch trials
mania, sdimply because Ergot was actuallly well known about in farming communities of the time. Black spurred rye ( or ergot ) was interestingly a known medicine used by the women of rural communities for getting rid of unwanted pregnancies. So if ergot was involved at all, it is possible that at least one of the girls central to the trials had actually taken Ergot dleiberatly for this reason.... the experience can be painful and traumatic and she may then have saught to punish the woman who gave the the Ergot
and / or the man who got her pregnant in the first place.
It is important to remember also that the witch trial took place in a country founded on a the principals of personal and religious freedom.
as an English witch ... I have always found this hard to understand


Salem was a communityof English Puritans founded to extend and practice pure, unadulterated Puritianism. Not exactly a hotbed of religious freedom.

Everybody is forgetting the most important reason:

Warmth. Witches burn with a nice clean hot flame. Great for bonfires on cold nights. *nod*

Everybody is forgetting the most important reason:

Warmth. Witches burn with a nice clean hot flame. Great for bonfires on cold nights. *nod*


Its a fat duck.

Everybody is forgetting the most important reason:

Warmth. Witches burn with a nice clean hot flame. Great for bonfires on cold nights. *nod*

It's true. The stench of burning flesh is good aromatherapy too.

It's true. The stench of burning flesh is good aromatherapy too.


Never smelt burning flesh have you. Not a good smell :gundge:

Its a fat duck.

If she weighs the same as a duck...

that means she's made of...

wood?

And therefore...

If she weighs the same as a duck...

that means she's made of...

wood?

And therefore...


BURN THE WITCH!!

Interestingly Burning witches was not actually a very widespread practice...
the way witches were executed in England was generaly hanging.... and I remember that the witch trials of Salem used a variety of methods, including crushing.
the burning thing probably comes from the Inquisition burning Heretics
although a lot of people on trial for Witchcraft were actuallly burnt ' as heretics.

I only have 'The Crucible' and what's been said in the thread already to go on, but here's my theory. As had been said earlier in this thread, ergot was used around that time to prevent unwanted pregnancy. Perhaps the girl who was the cause of the trials simply wanted to get rid of her lover's wife so that she wouldn't need to take the ergot again. Of course, there were more girls involved than just her, funnily enough, all of her friends were of one particular faction. Perhaps there was also some parental pressure involved as well?
I agree that the main method of execution would probably have been hanging, but also some might have died during torture to remain honest, such as that of Giles Corey in 'The Crucible.'
The trials took place long before the USA was formed, and so the provision of freedom is extremely questionable, except in terms of distance from the central power.

Elizabeth Howe? Are you talking about Elizabeth Proctor from the play?

What do you think were the causes of the Salem Witch Trials? I'm doing some homework on it was just wondering what all you thought.

She turned me into a newt!

What do you think were the causes of the Salem Witch Trials? I'm doing some homework on it was just wondering what all you thought.

Well there are several causes, but the most prominent would have to be the ignorant and faulty judicial system of the time, which is exactly why church and state need to be kept seperate.

Reminds me of when the court would have you stick your hand in a fire and if you were burned god wasen't protecting you and you're lying(can't remember the name). Lmao I love blind faith.

What do you think were the causes of the Salem Witch Trials?

Dumbass farmers.

Supposedly it started with a few bored girls pretending to be possessed by a witch? And then the mass hysteria took over, and the women started burning.

People go crazy.

I used to live in Stratford, CT. Stratford/Fairfield were the #2 witch killing town area in New England/North America.

On Main Street, there is a place called Sterling House. It is a community center where kids take piano lessons, ballet, and the like. It's right next to the town library (the Armoury, back in the day) and the original walled cemetary. It's pretty close to I-95. There's also a place called Judson House, which is an original house from the 1640s (or so) that is still upkept as a tourist attractions.

Anyway...

If you walk the grounds (only a couple of acres), there is a very large rock with an iron ring attached to it. This was where they used to stone the witches to death. Apparently there is a similar rock in Fairfield (just a few miles down the road), but I've never looked for it. (Bridgeport didn't exist until 200 years after the witch trials). I know that there were a couple of books about this in the library, but I haven't looked at them in many years, as I learned all this as a project for my history class in High School.

One of my ancestors (not a direct one) was tried in those trials - she was accused of bewitching her neighbour's chickens. Guess what they'd been eating?

She got off, somehow.

My (not direct either) ancestress ( through the Raymond line) wasn't so lucky. Mary Brewster was hung as a witch. Her husband managed to escape South, but since they'd both been found guilty after entering a plea of not guilty, their property was confiscated by the local government. :mad:

As to what brought on the witch trials and the hysteria, several ideas--drugs, the culmination of the pervasive cultural enviornment, and financial gain for the upper class--have been brought up. How about plain, old-fashioned sexism? If you read about these individuals, they were, almost without exception, female--and nearly all were women who for one reason or another were seen as different; some were terribly ugly, some were known for speaking their minds (to the detriment of TPTB), others were general outcasts. Only one, Rebecca Nurse, was a respected upper-class lady. (The accusation against her appears to have been part of a land and power struggle between her powerful family and the Putnams, the driving force behind the Trials. The Putnams won the first round with her trial and execution and that of her sister.) The rest were victims more for their gender and minor oddities than for any possibly Satanic connection. Furthermore, women had less protection under the law and were therefore easier targets.
:(

Hope this helps....

Laurie

the church and their fucked-up view of god.

Pure and simple ignorance. Your cow or your child dies for what appears to be no reason a witch must have done it. Then the show trials where there can be no witnesses since witchcraft is an "invisible" crime. Have anyone seen the movie "The Crucible"? I really like the scene where an accused witch is being questioned in court and says she doesn't know what a witch is.
The prosecutor then shouts: "If you don't know what a witch is how do you know you aren't one!" Zing! I've always known people are stupid.

the church and their fucked-up view of god.

AN UNBELIEVER! PERSECUTE, KILL THE HERETIC!

Pure and simple ignorance. Your cow or your child dies for what appears to be no reason a witch must have done it. Then the show trials where there can be no witnesses since witchcraft is an "invisible" crime. Have anyone seen the movie "The Crucible"? I really like the scene where an accused witch is being questioned in court and says she doesn't know what a witch is.
The prosecutor then shouts: "If you don't know what a witch is how do you know you aren't one!" Zing! I've always known people are stupid.

The Salem Witch Trials are nothing more than an example of one of mankind's biggest flaws.

We always need someone to blame.

I forgot about the seven children dying soon after being born. Rebecca Nurse was the midwife at only three of them, yet she was still accused of murdering all seven. I like the major hypocrisy involved in "The Crucible" (I am going by the play and book, not the movie.) Mary Warren testifies against the others who have been busy accusing people of witchcraft, even by simply saying that a puppet she made was made by her, therefore she is accused herself until she goes back to testifying for the prosecution again.
And of course the judges were so stupid, rejecting the idea of lawyers being brought in because they wouldn't know how to defend the case. "In defending a normal case, one brings in witnesses... however, witchcraft is an invisible crime." So the only ones who can possibly testify are the 'victim' and the 'witch,' no one else would know. The 'victims' testify, but not the 'witches,' because the 'witches' don't want to get themselves hanged.