Were the Salem Witch Trials a peculiar aberrant moment- did they reflect socially in any age?

Answer 1

remeber there where no witches burned at salem, they all where inocent. It was the rambling of a semi illiterate black girl, who had an axe to grind n some girls of the rural community, and the stories snow balled, the man that whipped the whole thing up was a quasi legal religious leader who was having an affair, and was tring to get hte Girls through fear to give in to his desires. It wa a real sex scandal hidden behind a guise of so called witch craft, the Balck girl had been practicing it a little I guess, and the other girls where foolish and giggly and dabbled in some innocent cnanting and dances, but it was monthslater when figers statrted to point and people where being drug to curt and scandalized and often killed. No most of society at the time, where appalled when they heard of the goings on, in fact that is what brought it all to an end, as the Governor got wind, and people started to see the power trip this guy on. News traveled very slow, no tv, no radio, no newspapers, only word of mouth, and most people did not travel very far, and it took weeks before outside communities started to pick up on what was going on in salem. the punishment in the colonies had been expulsion from the community, to be taken into the woods and left to fend for ones self, and not allowed to return to that settlement, harsh, but all life was harsh in the new world, and anything different for several decades was not tolerated very well, but death was not commonly doled out for such things. It was an extreme case, and would fit in nicely in todays scandal 24/7 driven news shows don't you think?!

Answer 2

You can find witch trials in almost any country, in a wide range of times.

Reflect socially, I'm not sure what you mean. Do you mean the tendency of Witch Trials to target those least able to contribute to a community (old women, single women and old men) or do you mean the theory that most of the Salem accusations were economically and politically motivated because they usually were between the two divisions of Salem that of the Old Town and outlying town (I forget exactly what they referred to this group as.)


Oh and the ergot bit sounds nice, but just because a historical theory sounds cool doesn't make it true. It'd be nice if they had some sort of actual proof other than "well an ergot might have been produced that year."

Answer 3

That's a big question, not even counting the fact that it is two questions. First, are humans liable to panics, witchhunts, and persecution? Sure, just give them enough stress and it can happen anywhere. Look at all the genocides since the world said "Never again!" after the Holocaust. Second, the particular case of the Salem Witch trials is interesting. They came just as the age of witch burnings in Europe was ending, and were a small case compared to the major witch persecutions in Europe. Did they represent the dying ember of the religious persecutions that Americans mostly left behind in Europe? Or were they something peculiarly American that is repeated ad nauseam because we refuse to learn the lessons? Take your pick, better historians than you and I have made both cases before.

Answer 4

Greetings! There are two things that modern historians argue regarding the Salem Witch trials.

While it was true that there were many small cultures who took religion in general and Christianity in particular to large extremes, there were relatively few trials that took the extreme that Salem did.

The first argument of modern historians is that the people of Salem Village consumed a tremendous amount of hallucinogenic mushrooms (not as a drug but as an herb they consumed in daily diet). That, coupled with extreme beliefs caused the hysteria.

The second argument, which is gaining credibility is that the village had just recently concluded a native American war that was particularly heinous. Villages around them were slaughtered. Most of the Salem Villagers witnessed the war carnage and were suffering from what we now know as Post Traumatic Shock Syndrome. That, also coupled with religious extremism caused the wild witch trials.

If this is for a paper, perhaps you could look into both arguments and see which one you believe plausible.
Take care.

Answer 5

At the time it wouldn't be abnormal to believe that the devil had taken over someones spirit though "witchcraft" HOWEVER, the people would use this idea of witchcraft for vengeance, personal gain, etc, which is pretty "abnormal" seeing how at the time these people were EXTREMELY religious, and believed in telling almost no lies, let alone a lie that would get someone killed. For as how harshly they should be condemned, well in their own religious beliefs, you could consider that murder, which is an unforgivable sin. I don't know if i answered this right for you, but there you go. lol

Answer 6

It seems that every culture/generation needs to have an "other," the group of people that they can blame for all their ills.

McCarthyism comes to mind as a modern Salem. And I could go on and on about this administration's witch hunting.

Answer 7

Sadly enough, witch hunting can happen anywhere, at any time in history. Arthur Miller made the point beautifully when he wrote The Crucible, a comment on his own times, the McCarthy era.

Answer 8

Look up ergot poisoning due to a fungal infection of rye grain during abnormally cold and wet years. "Claviceps Purpurea"
is the medical term.
Cold Growing season – Weakens the Rye plants
Wet - Encourages fungal overgrowth
Ergot Poisoning – Ergotamine in the grain
> > > Ergotamine in the Rye bread
Also hallucinogenic compound isoergine
= lysergic acid amide (like weak LSD)
Muscle spasms, writhing movements, convulsions,
grimacing, psychotic behavior, hallucinations
To the ignorant – Looks like a person “Possessed"
In the 1690s the people would have no understanding of
the illness caused by eating contaminated grain.
Superstition overcame reason. That was certainly not rare in pre-modern times.