Why did the Witchcraft scare occur in New England?

Answer 1

Though you do not specify, I assume you are referring to events in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692.

There WERE other witchcraft trials. But what makes Salem stand out is all the people that ended up suffering from it. Few people pay attention to the fact that OTHER trials were much more carefully conducted, and usually resulted in acquittals or charges being dismissed. (In fact, there were other witchcraft trials in England and elsewhere in Europe around this time, so the IDEA of witches was NOT a "Puritan" thing, but something brought with them from their homeland.)


First, a couple of explanations already suggested should be put to rest

a) the suggestion that "local authorities" used it as a scare tactic to control people -- sorry, this is absolutely ignorant of what happened. This was a "bottom up" thing, not started or run by authorities. In fact, it seems at times to have TARGETED some authorities.

b) the recently fashionable ergot theory is panned by experts on the subject area
I wouldn't say there couldn't be anything at all o it in explaining odd behavior in some of the accused. But it's no real help in explaining how the accusations, trials, etc. proceeded. It also fails to explain why some succumbed and others did not.

ALSO, please do NOT take your history --as so many do-- from such popular sources as Arthur Miller's play, "The Crucible". Miller's concern was not really what happened at Salem (and he did little careful study on these things). Rather, he was expressing his own criticism of the anticommunist efforts in Congress in the 1950s, particularly the McCarthy Hearings.
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There are MANY theories of exactly "what was up" in Salem that produced the accusations at the heart of this whole affair. It's probably a whole complex of things, including very LOCAL tensions between two major groups in the community, perhaps jealousy/competition over property, AND the larger picture of goings on in the colony at the time. In particular, the tension of the INDIAN wars of the time (esp. since the massacres of "King Phlillip's War" in 1677) caused a lot of fear and tension.

Here is an excellent summary article (which also describes the local tensions at the time the accusations started, and follows matters through to subsequent steps toward reconciliation)
"The Witchcraft Trials in Salem: A Commentary" by Douglas Linder
http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/salem/SAL_ACCT.HTM

(There are several supplement links in the article. One that you should definitely follow is to an article about the role played by the views of Increase and Cotton Mathers, both in the initial acceptance of accusations based on "spectral evidence" AND in the later decisions NOT to accept such evidence, which effectively shut down the trials --
http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/salem/ASA_INC.HTM )

An older book that does a decent job of telling the general story, trying to take a sympathetic look at the various people involved. Unlike many studies, it also looks at what people did to correct, forgive and heal AFTERWARDS. Yes, it's dated (more recent research can counterbalance that), but it tells the basic story well and gives you a sense of the people.
-- The Devil in Massachusetts by Marion L. Starkey, 1949.

A heavier, scholarly study - but considered THE book on the matter -
In the Devil's Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692 by Mary Beth Norton (2002)
(She, unlike many others, seeks to take serious account of the Indian wars.)

To go further, here are some good collections of materials and overview, including court documents.

http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/salem/salem.htm
http://www.salemwitchtrials.org/home.html
"Teaching the Salem Witch Trials -
http://www.iath.virginia.edu/~bcr/maps_esri/Ray_ch02.pdf

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If you are interested in the LARGER questions beyond Salem, there are a number of sociological studies that try to explain the BELIEF in witchcraft more generally, how these sorts of trials came about, etc.

One book I have found helpful in suggesting an explanation for the belief in witchcraft in the medieval and early modern European world is Rodney Stark's *For the Glory of God: How Monotheism Led to Reformations, Science, Witch-Hunts, and the End of Slavery* (Princeton University Press, 2003). One major section of this book is devoted to studying when and where witch-hunts took place, who conducted them, what the results were, etc. (He shows, for instance, that most studies greatly inflate the numbers. He also argues that some sort of belief in witchcraft was "normal" in these times... and suggests this belief is related to their view of a RATIONAL universe, not exactly to the type of superstitions many have blamed it on.)

Answer 2

Witchcraft begn as a taboo term to explain the unknown -- especially when the unknown itself could not be explained.

Given the prominence of the Church in New England back then, it was easy to blame everything on paganism, antichrist and plain old blasphemy. Those who were deemed witches were burned at the stake. If they were to survive, they would be branded witches. If not, they'd be clean. Unfortunately, humans don't survive being burned at the stake so the logic itself was flawed.

Real witchcraft dates back to pre-religious practices. If you're interested in knowing more, see the site below.

Answer 3

It started when several young Puritan girls in Salem started experimenting with fortune-telling to find out their futures. They did so with a slave named Tituba (check spelling, that may not be right), and one of them started having a guilty conscience about it, because she was afraid she was committing a sin. She started having fainting fits, etc. Her father was afraid she was bewitched. Then the other girls started having hysterics as well, and then they accused Tituba of witchcraft. From there, the whole thing snowballed until half the village was accusing the other half. The witch trials started, and 21 so-called "witches" were eventually executed.

Answer 4

There was a "Secrets of the Dead" episode that suggested ergot poisoning as the trigger.

After that, who knows? What caused the terrorist scare in the US today? It was triggered by 9/11, but it seems to go on of its own accord.

Answer 5

It's a typical situation when a government or local authorities use scary tactics to rule the commoners.
Just compare that old scare with the newest "islamofascism" and "color-coded alert" schemes.

Read "The Prince" by Niccolo Machiavelli.

Answer 6

http://usminc.org/salem.html

And you might also like,

http://usminc.org/burning.html