The Salem Witch Trial Hysteria of 1692
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- Category: History: American
- Date Submitted: 04/08/2015 01:34 PM
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What Caused The Salem
Witch Trial Hysteria of 1692?
There is no doubt that there were several factors that could have been causes of the Salem Witch Trial Hysteria of 1692. Just a few of these could have included turf war between ministers, paranoia, or even younger girls being smitten with another woman’s man.
Turf war was a highly possible reason for this hysteria. Evidence of this is shown in document nine. Thirty-three out of the thirty-five accusers of the accused witches lived on the left side of Salem Village. While twenty-seven out of the thirty-three defenders of the accused witches lived on the right side of Salem Village. Yet more of these surprising statistics appear in the locations of the accused witches. The majority (seventeen out of twenty-two to be exact) of these accused witches lived in the right side of Salem Village, interestingly enough where the defenders lived also. One must keep in mind that this means that the accused witches and their defenders had lived alongside each other for, probably most of their lives, while the accusers had most likely barely even knew the “witches”.
Paranoia is another probable cause of the Salem Witch Trial Hysteria of 1692. This paranoia would have been caused by all the talk and word going around Salem about these witches. It would have gotten people worried and paranoid about just about all other people around them. In his Memorable Providences Relating to Witchcraft and Possessions (printed in 1689), Cotton Mather stated, “These evil spirits are all around…. Go tell mankind, that there are devils and witches…. New England has had examples of their existence…and that not only the wigwams of Indians…but the houses of Christians…have undergone the annoyance of evil spirits.” (Doc.3). Now at the time, Cotton Mather’s words were taken very seriously by much of the Puritan population throughout the area. So such an influential person as himself saying something like that would have really...
Witch Trial Hysteria of 1692?
There is no doubt that there were several factors that could have been causes of the Salem Witch Trial Hysteria of 1692. Just a few of these could have included turf war between ministers, paranoia, or even younger girls being smitten with another woman’s man.
Turf war was a highly possible reason for this hysteria. Evidence of this is shown in document nine. Thirty-three out of the thirty-five accusers of the accused witches lived on the left side of Salem Village. While twenty-seven out of the thirty-three defenders of the accused witches lived on the right side of Salem Village. Yet more of these surprising statistics appear in the locations of the accused witches. The majority (seventeen out of twenty-two to be exact) of these accused witches lived in the right side of Salem Village, interestingly enough where the defenders lived also. One must keep in mind that this means that the accused witches and their defenders had lived alongside each other for, probably most of their lives, while the accusers had most likely barely even knew the “witches”.
Paranoia is another probable cause of the Salem Witch Trial Hysteria of 1692. This paranoia would have been caused by all the talk and word going around Salem about these witches. It would have gotten people worried and paranoid about just about all other people around them. In his Memorable Providences Relating to Witchcraft and Possessions (printed in 1689), Cotton Mather stated, “These evil spirits are all around…. Go tell mankind, that there are devils and witches…. New England has had examples of their existence…and that not only the wigwams of Indians…but the houses of Christians…have undergone the annoyance of evil spirits.” (Doc.3). Now at the time, Cotton Mather’s words were taken very seriously by much of the Puritan population throughout the area. So such an influential person as himself saying something like that would have really...