What Caused the Salem Witch Trials Hysteria? Essay
What Caused the Salem Witch Trials Hysteria? Essay
801 Words4 Pages
The salem witch trials hysteria of 1692 was caused by the Puritans strict religious standards and intolerance of anything not accepted with their scripture. The largest account of witch trials as well as deaths by witch trials occurred in Salem, a village heavily populated with the Puritans. Because most of the trials were occurring in Salem, this meant that the accusations were happening among the Puritans themselves, which could very well be anything as long as the Puritans found it as contradicting their bible. Not only did the strict religion intolerance fuel the accusations and trials, but also the possible factor of ergot being involved which has been known to cause symptoms leading to hysteria. The Puritans were a very closely…show more content…
Due to the locations of these two forces, its possible to infer that those living outside Puritan terriotry were better off economically due to their location. In document K and L ,it seems the Puritans also caused trouble regarding wanting a piece of this fertle land and buisness prosperity. To do so, we are presented with the example of Ann Putnam, whom lived on Puritan territory and for two generations was being harrased by Rebekkah nurse who was not on Putnam territory. This is because often the Puritans would accuse those of the other side for aiding in cocealing a witch, or of being a witch themselves in hope of gaining more land from those they dislocated.. Rebekkah nurse’s family was a victim of this harassment, and is returning the favor to Ann Putnam now. Lastly to further fuel the hysteria on all the occurring witch trials, was the possibility of ergot playing a role among the Puritan accusers, as was proposed by Linda Caporael in document N. Ergot, which may or may not have been present and consumed in the diet of the Puritans, could lead to abnormal body symptoms such as a raise in anxiety. With all the trials occurring around the village of Salem, it’s likely the thought of possibly being accused caused anxiety levels to soar among the people, particular the females. According to documents B and E, most of the accusers were women who accused other
Due to the locations of these two forces, its possible to infer that those living outside Puritan terriotry were better off economically due to their location. In document K and L ,it seems the Puritans also caused trouble regarding wanting a piece of this fertle land and buisness prosperity. To do so, we are presented with the example of Ann Putnam, whom lived on Puritan territory and for two generations was being harrased by Rebekkah nurse who was not on Putnam territory. This is because often the Puritans would accuse those of the other side for aiding in cocealing a witch, or of being a witch themselves in hope of gaining more land from those they dislocated.. Rebekkah nurse’s family was a victim of this harassment, and is returning the favor to Ann Putnam now. Lastly to further fuel the hysteria on all the occurring witch trials, was the possibility of ergot playing a role among the Puritan accusers, as was proposed by Linda Caporael in document N. Ergot, which may or may not have been present and consumed in the diet of the Puritans, could lead to abnormal body symptoms such as a raise in anxiety. With all the trials occurring around the village of Salem, it’s likely the thought of possibly being accused caused anxiety levels to soar among the people, particular the females. According to documents B and E, most of the accusers were women who accused other
