The Salem Witch Trials
The Salem Witch Trials were of unfair nature. The accusations made against many men, and women, was wrongful and unfair. The cause for these trials was due to the belief in witches and witchcraft. The reason for such accusations were because many of the accused (witches), I believe, suffered from, the still present, ailment of hysteria. Hysteria, I believe, is the most accurate, logical, and reliable explanation for the accusations made against so many people during the early colonial years in New England. The people of Salem and the surrounding Puritan areas were under severe amounts of stress and pressure. This extreme amount of stress and pressure came from the fact that the way their social stability and order was maintained throughout the towns. The Puritans believed that social order, stability, and peace were very important in trying to achieve their greatest goal, to make "Earth more like Heaven." In trying to pursue this goal, that many of the townspeople wanted so badly, they felt that one of the only ways to achieve this goal was to keep a very rigid and harsh social structure, with laws and punishments. "Order coexisted with an institutional savagery that appeared in the BURNING of r
Hysteria, by definition, is a psychoneurotic disorder characterized by emotional outbreaks, disturbances of sensory and motor function, and various abnormal effects due to autosuggestion. For young people this would be a rather stressful time. "Wildes and Bishop or Oliver, Good and Osborne, and they had a Feast both of Roast and Boiled meat and did eat and drink and would have had me to have eat and drink with them, but I would not and they would have had me Signed, but I would not then nor when Goody Oliver came to me. Women who reached the age of 30 and were unmarried were called "thornbacks. In the trial of Susanna Martin, who was tried for being a witch, she herself did not suffer from hysteria, or fits, but it was said that she had the ability to cause fits on other people. Therefore there can be no other explanation, but hysteria. " Some support and evidence that mental illness was a factor that was used and suggested was that, "1. Marriage was also something that was rather stressful for the people of Puritan New England. " Even though Susanna Martin never admitted to hurting anyone, many women claimed that she was their tormenters and made them suffer from hysteric like symptoms. Some witches claimed that they could do impossible acts (such as flying and cause floods). " The people in Puritan areas were under great stress trying to keep the perfect society, and not! be put to death by making any mistakes. She never admitted to doing so to anyone, but she said that she was tempted by others. Hysteria is the most likely and probable cause for the wrongful accusations made against so many women. If you did not end up getting married, it was thought of as "God's ill favor" (towards you). Why would so many women fake either being tormented or that they were witches, when they knew that they would put someone else to death or themselves.
Common topics in this essay:
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