The book, Witches! The Absolutely True Tale Of Disaster In Salem by Rosalyn Schanzer, is about the Salem Witch Trials. The trials started in 1692, when many people were accused of being witches and killed, even though they were innocent. Most of the accusers were young girls under the age of thirteen. The accusations started when Reverend Parris, the Puritan minister, wasn’t getting paid for his work. His niece and daughter started having “fits”, then almost like a wave, more and more girls started having fits. These fits were blamed on witchcraft and the girls named women they knew as witches. .
There was a great deal of unfairness in the accusations and trials in Salem. First, most of the judges were uneducated. Second, all of the people …show more content…
This means that they didn’t really know what they were talking about. Instead of being scrutinized like the the people being tried, they were just treated like they were smart and knew what they were talking about.” The few trained lawyers in the Massachusetts Bay Colony had studied law in England , and most of them were so frustrated by the legal process in America that they went back home.”(Schanzer.74) “The court’s new chief justice was a thin faced Harvard graduate and politician from Dorchester who had been educated to become a minister.”(Schanzer. 74) Because of this, many people that the “judges” didn’t like were sent to prison, and forced to live in horrid conditions.. “In fact they would be stuck in the jailhouse for a very long time as the process dragged on.” (Schanzer.31) Also, the uneducated judges paid no attention to the fact that Reverend Parris made an elixir after to help his children, yet he was never accused of …show more content…
The girls who were seemingly healthy outside the courtroom were never condemned as being witches themselves, although they had the wild fits in the courtroom as they sat through the trials. Reverend Parris had the two original accusers, his daughters, examined by an elderly doctor who claimed the girls were touched by evil. “This was the worst of all possible news because it meant that the two girls were BEWITCHED!” (Schanzer 22) The doctor overlooked possible medical diseases of the time because of the hysteria over possible witchcraft. “Was there really a dread disease running rampant in New England? If so, could it have been encephalitis or Lyme disease, both of which exhibit many of the symptoms described by the victims?” (Schanzer 109) The doctor and the accusers could also have been influenced by Reverend Parris into accusing his enemies and bringing them down so he would be seen as better. “Was there an evil plot by Reverend Parris, Thomas Putnam, and their supporters to take advantage of hysteria over the dread disease by doing away with their personal enemies?” (Schanzer 112) If there was a plot, they did away with their enemies and a lot of other innocent
There was a great deal of unfairness in the accusations and trials in Salem. First, most of the judges were uneducated. Second, all of the people …show more content…
This means that they didn’t really know what they were talking about. Instead of being scrutinized like the the people being tried, they were just treated like they were smart and knew what they were talking about.” The few trained lawyers in the Massachusetts Bay Colony had studied law in England , and most of them were so frustrated by the legal process in America that they went back home.”(Schanzer.74) “The court’s new chief justice was a thin faced Harvard graduate and politician from Dorchester who had been educated to become a minister.”(Schanzer. 74) Because of this, many people that the “judges” didn’t like were sent to prison, and forced to live in horrid conditions.. “In fact they would be stuck in the jailhouse for a very long time as the process dragged on.” (Schanzer.31) Also, the uneducated judges paid no attention to the fact that Reverend Parris made an elixir after to help his children, yet he was never accused of …show more content…
The girls who were seemingly healthy outside the courtroom were never condemned as being witches themselves, although they had the wild fits in the courtroom as they sat through the trials. Reverend Parris had the two original accusers, his daughters, examined by an elderly doctor who claimed the girls were touched by evil. “This was the worst of all possible news because it meant that the two girls were BEWITCHED!” (Schanzer 22) The doctor overlooked possible medical diseases of the time because of the hysteria over possible witchcraft. “Was there really a dread disease running rampant in New England? If so, could it have been encephalitis or Lyme disease, both of which exhibit many of the symptoms described by the victims?” (Schanzer 109) The doctor and the accusers could also have been influenced by Reverend Parris into accusing his enemies and bringing them down so he would be seen as better. “Was there an evil plot by Reverend Parris, Thomas Putnam, and their supporters to take advantage of hysteria over the dread disease by doing away with their personal enemies?” (Schanzer 112) If there was a plot, they did away with their enemies and a lot of other innocent