Salem Witch Trials

Mass hysteria occurred during the Salem Witch Trials. Many factors contributed to the outbreak of this hysteria. One of the largest contributing factors was the Puritan religion and ideals. Their literal interpretation of the bible caused them to believe that people were capable of witchcraft and associated with the devil. The problem intensified when reports of mysterious occurrences came to light in Document A. This lead to wild accusations of mostly females as is evident in Document B. Ordinary and average women were being accused of witchcraft by others in Document H. This occurrence was for the most part only applicable to women as Document N makes clear. If the women were related to a man in blood, they were less likely to actually be executed. Though many people surely had their doubts about the legitimacy of the accusations, in document N, you can see that the church forced people to comply with them with threats of hell if they didn’t. This is further proved by looking at certain demographics like Document U that show Reverend Parris supporters were mostly doing the accusations. Document V shows that all the people accused of witchcraft were anti-Parris as well.

Another contributing factor was the inequality in Salem. Those with less money were in the village, and the wealthier people were in the Salem Town. This correlates to witchcraft accusations. The accusations mostly came from the poorer people to the richer people. Land was also a factor because there was increasingly less and less of it. If a female was convicted of witchcraft and there was no male to inherit the land, the land was returned to the local community. These factors all contributed to the hysteria during the Salem Witch Trials.