Salem Witch Trials example essay topic

There are many different theories as to why the Salem Witch Trial's took place. The most unconvincing reason tries to assure people that men and women who were accused or did the accusing had medical problems. In a website set up by the television station, PBS an article was written on this theory, "Secrets of the Dead" talks about a researcher that hypothesized the reason for the trials was caused by Ergot. Ergot is fungus in grain that was highly common.

The article states " Caporael, now a behavioral psychologist at New York's Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, soon noticed a link between the strange symptoms reported by Salem's accusers, chiefly eight young women, and the hallucinogenic effects of drugs like LSD. LSD is a derivative of ergot, a fungus that affects rye grain. Ergotism -- ergot poisoning-has indeed been implicated in other outbreaks of bizarre behavior" (1). Linda Caporael found this grain while researching and determined it to be the cause of the hysteria.

On the contrary, if this grain was truly the cause, then how could it have infected such a select group? In an article by Brett Loiselle, the events and people of the Salem Witch trials were explained. He stated "most of the accused from Salem Village were members of the anti-Parris faction (Rebecca Nurse, John Proctor, Daniel Andrew), while most of the afflicted girls were related to the pro-Parris faction if not to the minister himself (Elizabeth Parris, Ann Putnam, Abigail Williams) " (3). These statistics can be used against the theory of medical problems, but it can also help the theory stated next. Some researchers place the blame on Reverend Samuel Parris for the Salem witch hysteria. As shown in the source above, most of the girls that had the symptoms of being under a spell had a direct relationship with him, whether it is his niece or his daughter.

Other evidence found against Rev. Parris is that his own slave, Tit uba, was first to be accused of witchcraft, and that the fortune telling and spell casting actually started right around Parris' own home. ( this is noted in almost every source, how do you cite it?) Parris also received special treatment in the town. He received more treatment than other ministers had gotten. In an Internet article, "Salem Witchcraft" written by Tim Sutter, the treatment he received was explained in detail. "Contracts for ministers during this period often provided them with a modest salary, use of a house, and free firewood. Parris received this and much more.

He not only got a modest salary and free firewood, but the title and deed to the parsonage and its surrounding land. Needless to say, this was a very uncommon perk to be included in a minister's contract during this time. This perk especially angered the residents who wanted to remain part of Salem Town" (1). When the residents of Salem were angered, this of course angered the minister. The dislike they showed toward him reflected his model of an ideal minister. It also conflicted with his pay as shown in the rest of the article, "The Salem Town supporters showed their (1) opposition by refusing to worship at the Meetinghouse and withholding their local taxes.

This ladder action was of important consequence because the local taxes helped pay the minister's salary and provides his firewood" (2). At the same time, Rev. Parris showed his sincere concern for the inflicted and did not jump to the conclusion of witchcraft right away. Parris asked for help from friends to see if the girls were having medical problems. In an article entitled, "The Salem Witch Trials", Brett Loiselle gave his opinion on the reverends behavior when he first learned of the girls' uncommon behavior.

"Parris sought the advise of fellow ministers and initially decided to rely upon prayer and Bible reading to aid the girls" (3). It seems like Rev. Parris was a victim himself of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. He looks guilty because the trials began at his home. Another possibility is that gender influenced who was hung and who wasn't. Women in the 1600's were nothing like they are today. Puritan women had more weight to carry and more expectations to hold.

In the article, "Delusions of Gender" by Sandra F. VanBurkleo, many books on the Salem Witch Trials were criticized. Reading each book, VanBurkleo came to this conclusion, "Who could doubt that gender mattered when the victims dangling from gallows were overwhelmingly female? Christian and lay writers had been railing since the Middle Ages about women's peculiar susceptibility to Satan -- whether because of her Eve-like, oversexed and conniving nature, or because of her stupidity and cupidity. On one side, we have historian Jean Bodin's belief that witchcraft emanated from 'the power of bestial desire' which reduced 'women to extremities to indulge these appetites, or to avenge themselves... For the internal organs are seen to be larger in women than in men, whose desire are not so violent...

' On the other side, European writers like Pierre de Lance regularly explained that the demon 'wins over more women than men, because they are naturally more imbecile' " (2). This tells the researcher that the women's feminine side allows her instincts and immunity to unwelcome things to be bad for her ability to disregard witchcraft. VanBurkleo also cited another well-known journalist, Frances Hill. In one of her books, she says that", 'In certain social and psychological conditions... all empathy is destroyed and there is only a furious desire to hurt, even kill.

In naming... witches, the affected girls indulged to the full those impulses that are more than overt in the furious young -- -children and adolescents who have been over-controlled or unloved or otherwise make to feel worthless -- than in their more socialized elders. ' Girls allegedly fastened upon women they especially disliked and attacked them in a fit of displaced rage; this behavior, in turn, was 'complemented by the compliance of the rest of the community' " (5). Contradicting to this theory, other outbreaks of witch hunting have shown no pattern of gender in the hangings of witches. VanBurkleo demonstrates this in the same article. "Yet, while historians of the American scene knew full well that eighty percent of accused witches were female, they explained witchcraft outbreaks without much resort to gender. That is, beyond oblique references to 'female hysteria'... or to women's relative powerlessness... , the sex of accusers and victims served merely as descriptors and labels rather than as analytical categories" (2).

Therefore, more evidence supports the fact that gender was merely a coincidence in the Salem Witch Trials. For each person accused, they were given a trial. The trials however, were a bit unfair. Each trial was based on spectral evidence, instead of real, convicting evidence. Brett Loiselle describes what spectral evidence is in his article, "The Salem Witch Trials". He states " [Sir William] P hips created the court of Oyer and Termine r (listening and hearing and appointed Lt. Gov. William Stoughton as chief justice.

The court was allowed to consider confessions, eyewitness testimonies, and 'spectral evidence' in judging the cases. Since most of the accused refused to confess and it was difficult to find people who witnessed the accused meeting with Satan, the court was forced to rely heavily on spectral evidence. Spectral evidence consisted of Satan or some other supernatural being appearing in the form of an accused witch. Such 'evidence' is impossible to verify or refute, but it was sill used by the court to send people to their deaths" (3). On the contrary, this spectral evidence was not nearly enough to convict 19 possibly innocent people to death. Another article helps grasp this idea by citing a very important individual during the Salem Witch Trials.

In this article, "Homo Economics and the Salem Witch Trials" Franklin G. Milton Jr. states "Many ministers agreed that the spectral evidence employed by the court had led to the death of innocent people. Prominent among these ministers was Increase Mather, whose essay titles Case of Conscience deemed the spectral evidence unreliable. However, Mather maintained the Puritan belief that the devil could impersonate an innocent person and that witchcraft did exist in Salem. In fact, Mather stated openly that, although spectral evidence was unreliable, the court could still accept confessions from a witch and other types of evidence" (3). The court situation is no doubt confusing. But, it is very possible that the court situation was much less in depth in the 1600's than it is today.