Salem Witch Trials And Convulsive Ergotism

The history of the Salem witchcraft epidemic is well known. In the winter of 1692, two girls suffered convulsions and hallucinations, alarming fast their families and subsequently the entire

In early 1692 Salem village, Massachusetts began to experience strange occurrences among their residents. Victims suffered from strange mental and physical illnesses. The randomness of the victims, and their unusual symptoms, led residents to suspect a supernatural explanation. These suspicions eventually led to the infamous Salem Witch Trials. Past historians have concentrated their research on the accused, while Laurie Winn Carlson focuses on the afflicted in her novel, A Fever in Salem: A New Interpretation of the New England Witch Trials. Carlson offers an innovative, knowledgeable explanation of witchcraft’s link to organic illness. She focuses on the physical symptoms of “possession”, which can include convulsion, hallucinations, distorted language and paralysis; which are all congruent with the symptoms of encephalitis lethargica. Carlson expertly supports her case with accounts of Puritan religious and medical beliefs, histories of witchcraft and mental illness, scientific studies of plagues, colonial diaries and court records to those of the encephalitis lethargica epidemic in the early twentieth century. In eight chapters, Carlson convincingly argues that the victims suffered encephalitis lethargica and offers persuasive evidence for organic explanations of other witchcraft victims throughout New England. A Fever in Salem is a stimulating understanding of one of America’s most unusual moments and offers a retreat from the Freudian, Marxist, feminist, and

The Salem Witch Trials started in 1692, when a doctor was called to examine a group of teenage girls, who would act strangely by barking like dogs, throwing tantrums, and be seen performing dances in the woods. After the doctor gave them a thorough examination, he diagnosed them with bewitchment. The community came to the conclusion that punishment should be delivered to the person who did the bewitching. In July of 1692, a nine year old girl named Elizabeth Parris, the daughter of local reverend, began acting out suddenly. Elizabeth and her cousin, eleven year old Abigail, would shout blasphemies, have convulsions, enter trances, and “bark like dogs”. Eventually, Reverend Parris called the local physician, William Griggs. The doctor never

When considering possible explanations for the Salem witch trials, it is important to consider and reference other historical accounts of witchcraft. Although Salem presents its own unique case, and therefore is a result of things specific singularly to Salem, there may yet be a link to other cases of witchcraft. Cases may differ in religion, denomination, or other spiritual beliefs, and social setting. Additionally, a study of horticulture in the Salem area shows that hallucinogenic mushrooms may have contributed to the visions of witches. However, I have discovered in my studies that in most cases, there seems to be growing discontentment in each community before and during accusations of witchcraft. This is the clearest link between all cases. In my opinion, witchcraft is a result of suppressed feelings caused by human suffering. This is displayed as accusers in a community using witchcraft as an excuse to release tension, or rid themselves of enemies.

The spring of 1692 was the beginning of what would later be known as the Salem Witch Trials. In January of 1692 Elizabeth Parris and Abigail Williams the daughter and niece of Samuel Parris the Minister of the Salem Village, began having violent fits of anger and outbursts of screaming as well as crawling under furniture and muttering strange words. A local doctor diagnosed the girls, along with a few other young girls in the community with “bewitchment”.

On February 1692- May 1693 there was witch’s going around and killing/threaten families. We know that that this all started when these three girls were accused of witchcraft because of numerous sources. The girls in the Salem Witch Trials were mentally ill and that made them act strangely because they were throwing objects, behavior and odd sounds going around. This all started when Elizabeth Parris and Abigail Williams started showing strange behavior. The symptoms of figuring out if they were witches or not were: having strange behavior, odd sounds going around, contouring their bodies and throwing objects. children stated that there were an invisible being scratching and bitings of the bodies. The doctor’s stated that the scratching and bitings of the bodies were being caused by supernatural

The puritans settled the Salem, Massachusetts in 1626. The puritans moved to the village because of their religion and beliefs and needed a safe place to live. They believed in personal faith and worship (Kekla 15), they believed in every person’s faith was predetermined by God before they were born. In 1692 a hysteria started in Salem, the Salem witch trails event caused many executions in one year. Many people were accused to be witches based on spectral evidence, the puritans believed that witches was evil and the devil was inside them.

In January of 1692, the small village of Salem started to have troubles when young girls started to show odd behaviors. They see the doctor, and the doctor says that the girls are bewitched. The reverend tries to fix this, by using prayer and fasting but it does not help the behavior, it continues on and off for a period of time. There was no explanation for how the girls were bewitched, so people come up with many different theories about what was happening. It was said that the young girls only threw fits at specific times during the day, like when people were there to visit. But, if the girls were faking this, it was a very dangerous thing because they could’ve been tried for witchcraft and hung. As time went on, more girls started to show

The Salem Witch Trials were a horrendous event in the history of America and was the first of its kind. A question that has risen up numerous times is what was the actual cause of the trials. We know that a few girls made the first accusations, but why. I will now explain how Salem became one of the most notorious towns in Massachusetts. Ergot poisoning was the cause for the witch trials as it caused the girls to become crazed and delirious.

The Salem Witch Trial is famous for its sudden outbreak, widespread influence, and mass accusations. The traditional story of the witchcraft hysteria starts from the strange illness that was experienced by the local minister’s daughter and niece, Betty Parris and Abigail Williams, who claimed

While Puritan religious beliefs did contribute to the Salem Witch Trials, it was only to a minor extent as, rather than being the true source of the witchcraft fear, they were used by New England authorities to manipulate and control the public. In the 1600s, religion was the cornerstone of Puritan society, a denomination that originated in England and was established in America with the migration of approximately 9,000 colonists between 1630 and 1645. Already superstitious, with a Christian Church that preached of a God who protected his servants, and a Devil who preyed on the weak, society’s fears were intensified

(4) (3) The townsfolk from Salem were considered very religious. They looked down on those who did not believe or follow God. Back then the 13 colonies still belonged to the British, making them follow their rules. The British had sent out a new law prohibiting witchcraft. So in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692 a group of girls decided to go into

In the spring of 1692, a superstitious belief of witchcraft mysteriously appeared in a small village of New England named as Salem. The Salem village was settled by religious colonists seeking to build a pure Puritan bible-based society. The Puritans were expected to follow their strict moral code to avoid their strong belief in the wrath of God. Majority of the sinners, who drifted away from the Puritan lifestyle, developed witchcraft hysteria which was believed as the devil’s possession of God’s people. As time passed, the paranormal outburst of witchcraft resulted in the Salem Witch Trials which involved executions and prosecutions of innocent people accused for witchcraft. However, the Salem Witch Trials were not proven by reliable

The Salem witch trials were trials for people who were being accused of worshiping the devil. They believed the witches were out to harm others in supernatural ways. They were believed to be able to turn into animals, cause others to become possessed by looking at them, and were accused of being the cause of illness or miscarriages. However, there are many false theories about the Salem witch trials causing many controversies. One of the bigger controversies was if people were really being possessed by the three women. Often times, if doctors could not find a cause to an illness they will blame it on witchcraft. “Laurie Winn Carlson argues that in the spring of 1691 and winter of 1692, some of the accusers exhibited these symptoms, and that a doctor had been called in to treat the girls. He could not find an underlying physical cause, and therefore concluded that they suffered from possession by witchcraft, a common diagnosis of unseen conditions at the time”. They believed there had to be a cause to everything and if something

The largest outbreak of witchcraft in America took place in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. A group of girls, including the Parris’s Indian slave Tituba, gathered in the Salem village and were attempting to see the future by decoding “messages”. Shortly after this gathering the girls started showing signs of the possessed (pg. 73). To this day people all over America are still amazed with the events that took place in this time. But why is that? The fear of the village fell heavily onto the judicial system, which later made people focus on the proper separation of government and religious beliefs. Mass hysteria broke out amongst the village and many people were being accused, therefore leading to many innocent deaths. Although there could be many theories as to the reason the witch trials in Salem began, there are two points of view that are very commonly shared amongst people. Some believe that the Salem witch trials were women unconsciously searching for power, whereas others believe it was an encephalitis epidemic.