Salem Witch Trials Research Paper

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The Salem Witch Trials were a dark period of time in the history of colonial Massachusetts. Between June and September of 1692 about twenty men and women were accused and convicted of witchcraft. The Salem Witch trials began when a gang of young women started to act very strange. The citizens of colonial Massachusetts were very concerned because of their profane screaming and uncontrollable seizures. Physicians were called in to examine these bizarre behaviors. The doctors could not figure out what was wrong with these girls. Typically, when a doctor could not determine what was wrong with a patient, they would diagnose them as being a witch. Although it was possible that these girls were possessed by the devil, it is more likely that these girl had ate bread that contained rye mold, which has the basis for LSD. This caused the people who ate this bread to hallucinate and could possibly explain their odd behavior. The first of these hysterias popped up when Bridget Bishop was accused of witchcraft and hung in June of 1692. This sparked an outburst of accusations. Close to 150 people, even…show more content…
It was believed that Satan began recruiting witches as his workers. During the 1690s it was a bad and troubling time, making it more likely for people to believe that Satan was alive. Also, there was a lot of tension between the Puritans that lived in Salem at the time of the witch trials in 1692. Everyone was accusing each other of being a witch in order to have someone either hung or imprisoned. Another cause of the Salem Witch Trials was Charles II who revoked the Massachusetts Bay Colony charter. Additionally, the Salem Witch Trials were caused by the girls who were experiencing seizures or uncontrollable screaming. They may have eaten rye that had been contaminated, causing them to act this way. People thought they were “bewitched”, but they may have actually ingested moldy rye

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