Salem Witch Trials Dbq Analysis

594 Words3 Pages
What caused the Salem Witch Trial Hysteria of 1692? I accuse thou of witchcraft. In 1692, in Salem, everyone was against each other. People were accusing others left and right. The Puritans of Salem worshiped the Christian Bible and believed everything in it. Including the statement, “Thou shall not suffer a witch to live.” 19 people were hanged that year and one person was pressed by stones to death. What was the cause of the Witch Trial Hysteria in Salem? Salem was the target of an interconnected combination of causes – social status, the acting of the afflicted, and power in the town. One likely cause of the Salem witch trial hysteria was differing social status. Married and older women were more likely to be accused. 61 of 110 or 55% of the accused were married women in Salem (Doc B). 70 of 88 or 80% of the accused were women older than the age of 20 (Doc B). Also in Salem Village, between 1661 and 1681, the people in the eastern half of Salem gained in affluence. While the west side of Salem farmed poorer land, and was not as wealthy as the east side. There may have been some sort of tension between the single, young women and the married, older women. The causes for…show more content…
During the trial of Bridget Bishop, an accused witch, the girls acted. The afflicted girls fell into fits when Bridget Bishop came near them, they were tortured when Bridget Bishop shook her head, and their eyes rolled up when Bridget Bishop’s did (Doc C). Charles Upham, a historian who lived in Salem Village, confirmed that the afflicted children were acting (Doc D). The actors were also very young. Most of the actors were under the age of 20 (Doc B). Looking at the suffering of the afflicted, the townspeople might have wanted to kill the witches who caused this pain. The parents of the young children might also want to kill the witches. The young children were also more believable than
Show More
Related

  • Salem Witch Trial Dbq Analysis

    287 Words  | 2 Pages

    Salem Witch Trial DBQ Essay Why are two young girls accusing me when I didn’t do anything?! What Bridget Bishop, a Puritan who lived in Salem, Massachusetts, 1692, didn’t know was that that was only the beginning of the witch paranoia. So, what caused the fear of witches in Salem, 1692? The Salem witchcraft trials were caused by poor, young girls, who acted possessed. The accusers ages were mostly under twenty, they lived on the poor, western side of town, and they pretended to be possessed.

    Read More

  • Salem Witch Trials Dbq Analysis

    256 Words  | 2 Pages

    ‘I heard Giles Cory got pressed to death because he was accused of witchcraft’ said Samuel Wardwell. In Salem people were accused of witchcraft especially women.What causes the panic of the Salem Witch Trial in 1692?People were scared,little girls wanted attention and jealous citizens.I know this because on document B it talked about the ages of the accusers and accused,document C and D talks about fear and little girls playing into the fear of others and document E talks about jealous people. Ages

    Read More

More about Salem Witch Trials Dbq Analysis

Open Document