In Exodus 22:18, the bible proclaims, “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.” In 1692, in Salem, Massachusetts, the Puritans believed that witches existed, The Bible states, “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live” and because of this belief twenty innocent people were sent to their death. What caused the Salem witch trial hysteria of 1692? Age, gender, marital status, notoriety, and a divided town.
One cause of the witch trial hysteria was age, gender, and marital status. According to Document B, twenty-nine of the of the accusers out of thirty-four accusers were females. Twenty-one out of twenty-seven female accusers were under the age of twenty accusing mostly married women that lived in the eastern, richer area of Salem that have husbands …show more content…
On Document C, The examiner or Samuel Parris spoke with Bridget Bishop when she came near them, then the afflicted girls started acting possessed. While the examiner was accusing Bishop she was denying it and whenever she made a movement the girls would either act out being tortured or do the exact same thing. Also on Document D, about 200 years later, a 19th century historian that lived in Salem named Charles Upham examined the witch trial for much of his adult life. He believed that all of those girls were lying out of boredom or jealousy. He also says that the “afflicted children” soon after, became intoxicated by their outstanding success of their acting skills. This evidence helped explain the hangings because it shows a possibility that lying girls could be the reason for the hangings
A third very important cause of the witch trial hysteria was a town divided between rich and poor. According to Document E, it shows that most of the accusers lived on the west side which happened to be the poorer side of Salem. The eastern side of Salem gained more wealth and political influences, while the western half of Salem farmed poorer lands and lost political power. This could lead to jealousy, envy, and hatred towards the eastern part of Salem where most of the accusations of witchcraft were taking
One cause of the witch trial hysteria was age, gender, and marital status. According to Document B, twenty-nine of the of the accusers out of thirty-four accusers were females. Twenty-one out of twenty-seven female accusers were under the age of twenty accusing mostly married women that lived in the eastern, richer area of Salem that have husbands …show more content…
On Document C, The examiner or Samuel Parris spoke with Bridget Bishop when she came near them, then the afflicted girls started acting possessed. While the examiner was accusing Bishop she was denying it and whenever she made a movement the girls would either act out being tortured or do the exact same thing. Also on Document D, about 200 years later, a 19th century historian that lived in Salem named Charles Upham examined the witch trial for much of his adult life. He believed that all of those girls were lying out of boredom or jealousy. He also says that the “afflicted children” soon after, became intoxicated by their outstanding success of their acting skills. This evidence helped explain the hangings because it shows a possibility that lying girls could be the reason for the hangings
A third very important cause of the witch trial hysteria was a town divided between rich and poor. According to Document E, it shows that most of the accusers lived on the west side which happened to be the poorer side of Salem. The eastern side of Salem gained more wealth and political influences, while the western half of Salem farmed poorer lands and lost political power. This could lead to jealousy, envy, and hatred towards the eastern part of Salem where most of the accusations of witchcraft were taking