i am learning about the salem witch trials and i wondered...?

Question

i was told that one of the women who claimed that they had the devil in then actually had seizure disorder.
1) did she know what it was?
2) would you believe her if you knew it was seizure disorder?
2) what was the other womens 'proof'?

Answer 1

No one really knows what was wrong with them. Most of the people who claimed to be afflicted by the devil were children, and those who were accused were accused not of having 'the devil in them,' but of consorting with the devil. It does appear that some of the children early on (namely Betty Parris) may have been severly ill with something causing hallucinations (theories range from everything to an illness to food poisoning). In 1692, no one really knew what seizures were. You must remember that we have come a long way in the field of medicine since then. Most of those who were afflicted had no physical proof -- they would simply claim to have seen things or felt things in the presence of the accused. Let me know if you have any more questions on this subject!

Answer 2

The descriptions from the Salem trials have lead some doctors to suspect that at least one of the accused had a seizure disorder. There is of course no way of knowing for sure. A very good history article points out that all of the witches property went to the church - a map of the church and the victims property was in the research. It was most interesting how conveniently located their land was to the church. The women were of course victims of crazed people who believed in a killer religion.

Answer 3

Ok, I know this doesn't answer your question and actually responds to other answers, but they were Puritans, not Pilgrims. And yes, there is a difference. Secondly, the first Puritan settlers arrived in 1630, by 1692 they were NOT starving and the northern colonists never were in as much peril as the southern colonists because the northern climate was not so very different than Europe.

Was it ergot? Probably not. In brief reference to that issue, just consider that if the entire colony was subject to those conditions, why did only a limited number fall victim to this?

Sorry I didn't answer your question! I'm confused by what you mean by "what were the other women's proof?" Do you mean proof of possession?

Answer 4

those things were not well known at that time, even as recently as 50-75 years ago, it was called having fits, and there were laws in place to keep them from marrying. the reasons they said she was a witch or had a devil was because of falling on the ground and twitching, they didn't understand it. many still don't , if you have more questions about epilepsy, (seizure disorder), email me privately

Answer 5

salem witch trials was a mockery! pilgrims who had just come to america didn't have food, nor did they know how to cope with the new climate, and new ways of life, so they needed somebody to blame for all their misfortunes (as people always do). there are a lot of documentaries about this subject-watch them!
there is a site www. project gutenberg.org, there you can download books on this subject.

Answer 6

If you look at the archaeological evidence you'll find that nearly everyone involved had been exposed to mold of ergot which is one of the ingredients used to make LSD. It becomes clear that those people were not acting in their right minds.