Causes Of The Salem Witch Trials

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The United States of America has had many questionable events regarding human rights, such as the witch trials that took place in Salem, Massachusetts in the spring of 1692. The events that took place violated the rights of the accused and those who associated with them. Experts are unsure as to what caused these trials; however, many people believe that the British War, Smallpox, fear of Native Americans, a type of fungi, town status, and perhaps even teenage boredom were the cause of the Salem Witch Trials.
In the winter of 1691, Betty Parris and her cousin Abigail Williams began experimenting with the idea of fortune telling. While experimenting, the girls saw an imagine of a coffin and started to behave in a strange manner (Brooks). January …show more content…
Ann was known for her outbursts in the courtroom. Ann would fall to the ground and scream that her tormentors were attacking her. Ann claimed she was being bitten, choked, threatened, and even pinched, because she refused to sign the “Devil’s Book.” On some extreme cases, it is noted that Ann would shove pins into herself, because her tormentors made her. Ann had accused nineteen people of being a witch, eleven of which were hanged. Years after the trials ended, Ann apologized for her part, in front of the church. The fact that Ann admitted to her wrongdoings shows that teenage boredom could have been a factor. Ann was able to accuse many innocent people of “bewitchment,” and thus received an endless amount of attention. By her actions exhibited in the courtroom, one can think she began to enjoy the attention she was receiving and continued to do so despite the outcome …show more content…
The events that took place in Salem can be most recently compared McCarthyism. According to the Oxford Dictionary, “McCarthyism is a vociferous campaign against alleged communists in the US government and other institutions carried out under Senator Joseph McCarthy in the period 1950–54. Many of the accused were blacklisted or lost their jobs, although most did not in fact belong to the Communist Party.” No one is quite sure as to why this took place in Salem; however, we can assume that a type of fungi, town status, and perhaps even teenage boredom were the cause of the Salem Witch
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