Witch trials

First, someone would make an accusation about someone that he or she believed to be a witch to the Magistrate. Complaints were often made through someone else to pass the notice onto the Magistrate. Next, a warrant of arrest would be issued, the victim would be taken into examination, then if Magistrate feels that he or she is guilty, they would send the victim to jail and make them stand trial. Third, the circumstances along with evidence supporting or not supporting the case would be revealed…

The Persecution of Innocent Lives The period of witch hunting can be described by R.H Robbins as, “the shocking nightmare, the foulest crime and deepest shame of western civilization,” (“The Witch Hunts”). In Europe between the 15th and 18th centuries, around 60,000 ordinary people were imprisoned and sentenced to death over accusations of witchcraft. Witch-hunting had the crime of degrading women and attempting to put people under authoritative control. The misogynistic society and strict…

reject their body and prevent them from submerging. According to this logic, an innocent person would sink like a stone, but a witch would simply bob on the surface. The victim typically had a rope tied around their waist so they could be pulled from the water if they sank, but it wasn’t unusual for accidental drowning deaths to occur. Witch swimming derived from the “trial by water,” an ancient practice where suspected criminals and sorcerers were thrown into rushing rivers to allow a higher…

alleged witches washed across parts of Europe. The courts targeted women and children rather than adult males. Tens of thousands of innocent women and children were wrongly convicted of being participants of witchcraft and were convicted through heinous trials. The number of executions increased drastically on a daily basis. In most executions, prosecutors used these methods: “burned by the stake,” “drowning”, and “hangings.” In modern-day European society, the methods that the courts used are…

According to Theory number 1, Ergot fungus contaminated the crops harvested by the people of Salem, Massachusetts which developed the hallucinations of the citizens and started the Salem Witch Trials. In 1692, they harvested a great deal of wheat, rye and cereal grasses. Ergot, or ergot poisoning, is a fungus that attacks the central nervous system and causes muscle contractions, confusion, impaired speech, crawling sensations on the skin and hallucinations. The girls in Salem had feelings of…

“The Visible and Invisible Worlds of Salem” describes the mysterious troubles experienced in Salem Village during the winter of 1691-1692 (Davidson & Lytle, 2005, p. 25). Accusations of witchcraft led to the death of twenty individuals. Reverend Samuel Parris’ daughter and niece came down with afflictions. The girls appeared to have pains, pricks, and convulsions. Many individuals, mostly women, were imprisoned. This forced them to defend themselves through forceful interrogation techniques…

1. The Salem witch hunts in 1692 and the McCarthy hearings of the 1950’s are very similar. The Salem witch hunts were a period in time where people were accusing each other of conjuring the devil to save their own name. In The Crucible, Abigail accuses others in order to save herself from being charged of witchcraft. Early on the play Abigail proclaims, ‘I saw Sarah Good with the Devil! I saw Goody Osburn with the Devil! I saw Bridget Bishop with the Devil!’ (Miller 48). In the quote, Abigail…

In The Crucible, By Arthur Miller showed us how witchcraft and how bad the time was in this time.My main reason for this paper is to show you that African Americans were being discriminated against and how wrong they were treated. The Salem Witch Trial was a very bad time to live in. People were dying for just being hated on, heard things about the person, or just a false accusation. People in Salem had it worse in my opinion. Many believe that if someone is going to accuse someone then they…

scared. People throughout the ages have seen and respond to the supernatural differently. If you look throughout the years you will see 1890s classic monster movies, 1680 witch trails, and now. Well you will see a different respond to witches in the 1680s than someone today were accused of being a witch. The Salem Witch trials started with a group of girls. They started having fits and, the Doctor told the parents of the girls that it was witchcraft. We aren’t sure if it was Ergot poisoning…

A series of hangings and executions had taken place from June 10, 1692 to September 22, 1962, which was known as the Salem Witch Trials. By examining five documents based on the Trials, I have figured out that that there are multiple events that lead to this major event in history. My analysis shows that the leading causes for the Salem Witch Trial Hysteria were the very little to no evidence made for the case, the unusual ratio between the accused and accusers, and the locations of the accused…