Political reasons salem witch trials

Ergot is a fungus Claviceps purpurea that infects rye and other cereal grains and contains a byproduct known as ergotamine, which is related to LSD. Ergot tends to grow in warm, damp weather and those conditions were present in the growing season. Not everyone agrees with this theory though. Many experts question the very existence of Artic hysteria, which results in such behavior as people stripping off their clothes and running naked across the wild tundra.

The accounts mention no such streaking in Salem, and while the supposed symptoms of witchcraft began in January, more people showed symptoms in the spring and summer…Encephalitis, the result of an infection transmitted by mosquito bite, does not really seem plausible, given that the first symptoms of bewitchment appeared during winter. None of these suggested diseases fit because a close reading of the testimony suggests that the symptoms were intermittent.

The afflicted had stretches when they acted perfectly normal, intersperse with acute fits. Historical records indicate that witch hunts occur more frequently during cold periods. In her paper, Oster explains that as the climate varied from year to year during this cold period, the higher numbers of witchcraft accusations occurred during the coldest temperatures. Strikingly cold winters and dry summers were common in these decades.

The result was not just personal discomfort but increasing crop failures. Starting in the s, many towns that had once produced an agricultural surplus no longer did so.

Mixed farming began to give way to pastures and orchards. Once Massachusetts had exported foodstuffs; by the s it was an importer of corn, wheat, and other cereal crops. Several scholars have noted the high correlation between eras of extreme weather in the Little Ice Age and outbreaks of witchcraft in Europe; Salem continues this pattern.

Salem was very divided due to disagreements between the villagers about local politics, religion and economics. One of the many issues that divided the villagers was who should be the Salem Village minister. Salem Village had gone through three ministers in sixteen years, due to disputes over who was deemed qualified enough to have the position, and at the time of the trials they were arguing about the current minister Samuel Parris.

Rivalries between different families in Salem had also begun to sprout up in the town as did land disputes and other disagreements which was all coupled with the fact that many colonists were also uneasy because the Massachusetts Bay Colony had its charter revoked and then replaced in with a new charter that gave the crown much more control over the colony.

In their book Salem Possessed, Paul Boyer and Stephen Nissenbaum attribute the witch trials to this political, economic, and religious discord in Salem Village:.

Boyer and Nissenbaum go on to provide examples, such as the fact that Daniel Andrew and Philip English were accused shortly after they defeated one of the Putnams in an election for Salem Town selectmen.

They also point out that Rebecca Nurse was accused shortly after her husband, Francis, became a member of a village committee that took office in October of that was vehemently against Salem Village minister Samuel Parris, whom the Putnams were supporters of. Charles Upham suggested this as a major cause and Paul Boyer and Stephen Nissenbaum have provided a brilliant analysis of the Salem community to support that argument.

Indian warfare and the uncertainties related to the arrival of a new charter and new Governor in the two years before the witchhunt also added to the level of social stress. But other towns in frontier Massachusetts that experienced the same socio-economic-political difficulties did not spark a similar witchscare. Several communities suffering from less stress did suffer from contact with Salem as the witchscare virus spread. This contagion too was a unique aspect of the episode.

Baker suggests though that fraud may have been a bigger problem in the witch trials than we realize:. Though such scenarios seem unfathomable in our modern culture, it was a reality for hundreds of New England settlers. The causes of the famous outbreak of witch trials in Salem, Massachusetts are rooted in social, economic, and political aspects of the late 17th century Salem community.

Early New Englanders were unable to accept the increase in diversity and the break in…. Though many historians have attributed the cause of the Salem Witch Trials to economic instability between the thriving seaports and the languishing agriculture and the political struggle between the highly patriarchal society and the independent women who started to defy the status quo of women, these are not the most compelling cause of the Salem Witch Trials. Through the system of the trials, the people who were….

Bryan F. Le Beau. The Salem Witch Trials has been a debatable topic for many historians enamored by its deviation from the normal as seen in Europe or other European Colonies in North America. In the first two chapters…. When the outbreak broke out everyone was so scared and just started to accuse people in the village if they did one wrong move. When it all broke out it scared people, the aftermath was sad for families who were in it and the possible causes of why it started all line up.

Spring of in Salem village, Massachusetts was where the Salem witch trials took place "Salem Witch…. While Mc Carthyism was illustrated as a widespread fear of communism that led the United States to pursue unnecessary investigations, imprisonments, and often unprovoked acts against those who were often only remotely accused of being a "dreaded communist", the Salem witch trials led to well over a dozen executions of local women accused…. Share Tweet Email Print.

Have a correction or comment about this article? Please contact us. The Journal of Economic Perspectives, Vol. Join Our Newsletter. More Stories. When states began restricting labor by children, verifying a person's age became an important means of enforcement. Freedom libraries in the south provided Black residents with access to spaces and books, whether in church basements or private homes.

World History. One group proposed bringing agriculture to the California desert instead. The nature of the Salem Witch Trials was one of hysteria and fear. The Puritans of the Massachusetts New England colony were extraordinarily religious with a strain of Protestantism far more rigid than most, which was reflected in their reaction to supposed witchcraft. The pain of the Salem Witch Trials extended far beyond the nineteen executed and the five more who died in prison. Over a hundred more languished in jail for months on end, chained to the walls of dark, damp, and tiny jail cells….

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