Salem Witch Trial
National Geographic's site on the Salem Witch Trials
Directions:
Read and analyze the documents from your groups, review the textbook, examine the websites above. Respond to BOTH questions below. Read and respond to TWO other classmate's postings - agree and ADD additional evidence or disagree and pose additional contrary evidence.
Discuss the following questions, citing evidence as you make your argument.
1) Were some of the "afflicted" girls merely adolescents having fun at the expense of their elders?
2) What, if any, is the connection between the conflicts among New England and the New England's Indian Wars (King Philips War 1676) and the "second Indian War" of 1692?
1) I wouldn't say they were merely having fun, though I certainly believe many of them were acting. Perhaps it is naive to believe that young people don't have the capacity to mercilessly try to get their elders killed, knowing full well that they are not witches, but that is what I believe. I didn't find documents or evidence in the book that gave solid evidence to make me believe that young girls were accusing people purely for fun. It seems more likely that the ones who were acting were either getting back at people (as that one lady did to Rebecca Nurse; it was a document in our Salem Crises document packet), afraid (the textbook makes it clear that plenty of girls were having nightmares and fits, and this undoubtedly would create an unavoidable sense of paranoia and lead some girls to falsely convince themselves that they have been targeted by witchcraft), and desperate (the textbook says that the only way to avoid prosecution was to confess and name other witches, so most women felt so women who were afraid for their lives would save their own skins by acting and accusing others of witchcraft). The general pressure and influence of the community around these young girls also played a major role in the witchcraft craze (doctors and religious leaders fueling the fire), but the desire to have fun' does not. (almost all information obtained from chapter three of Give Me Liberty!)
ReplyDelete2) The connection between King Philip's war/the New England Indian wars and the Second Indian War of 1692 isn't solid but can be argued in my opinion. King Philip's (Metacom's) war started with Indians winning, but halfway through the colonists had a great counterattack and not only slaughtered many Indians, destroyed their villages, and sent many into slavery, but also ended up getting the colonist's more access to land. The Indian attacks wholly convinced colonists that Indians are savages, and the readily dispossessed them, (Page 95, Give Me Liberty!). This all seems like it could build up even more tension and more possibilities of battles over land.
I hope these are okay...
I agree that the girls were not doing it in spite of the elders. But in the case were older women were making accusations, I believe it was jealously. For example in the case with Rebecca Nurse, she had been trying to get land and harrassing the women. So i believe in that case she was accused because she was putting her nose in the wrong persons business. Also on the mape of salam it showed most of the acussers were from the weathy district and most of the acussed were from the more poor district. So i believe that the children started it out of fear and the adults continued it in spite of each other
DeleteSara- Thank you for getting this conversation moving. Your thoughts are well argued.
Delete1. It was not just girls having dun at the expence of the elders. The children were rised that they could not be persauded by evil like the devil, witchcraft, or sin. Keeping this in mind the main food source rye was infected with a fungus that would cause seizesure and cause people to see things. Young females were more likely to get the infected by the fungus. So when the gurls were infected they got scared and used the knowlegde they grow up on to expel the evil inside them or around them in a desprete atempt to get better.
ReplyDelete2. The conections between the salam witch trials and the indain war dont seem to be the cause of the trials but it could have help fuel the flames of it. The colonist considered natives the devil or sinful for having other gods. The people of salam were scared that there socity was going to collaspe because of the "sinful" natives. So when wars were sparked up it on only justified that fear more. The towns people were scared of the evil around them and having nothing they could do about it. The witch trials started and the people saw this as an oppertunity to control the evil around them. This fear of the natives let colonist think they were doing nothing wrong in the yime of the salem witch trials.
Ah, I neglected to mention the Elgort (I think that is the name) fungus! I completely agree that the fungus infecting the rye could have played a huge role in the Salem Witch Trials, further disproving the idea that girls were accusing their elders only for fun. The fungus causes hallucinations and other symptoms of "witchcraft" which could have easily convinced girls they were afflicted by dark magic.
DeleteTess you make some nice arguments about the girls' upbringing and the reaction to the foods' contamination.
DeleteWell I guess I should get a reply in here somewhere on this topic. I believe that through the government not being stable at the time and fact that the court system was told to make the trials go by fast led to the people being confused and killing more people. I also have to agree with Sara that the girls were acting, possibly to get revenge? Fantasy was no foreign topic to these people that is for sure and witchcraft was something people really believed in.
ReplyDeleteReece, I agree with most of what you said but you should also add in the fungus outbreaks is that cause a lot of the symptoms that were attributed to witchcraft. The combination of these fungus outbreaks and the religious beliefs of the area were a big part in the Salem witch trials.
DeleteReece - What would the young girls be getting revenge about?
DeleteI agree witchcraft was definitely a reality, or at least a perception that the colonials had and believed. I am a bit unclear on your mention of "fantasy".
I believe that the Salem witch trials were caused by a number of reasons. One reason being the outbreak of a fungus in the rye supply. This particular fungus caused crawling sensations in the skin, tingling in the fingers, vertigo, hallucinations, mania, Melancholia, psychosis, and delirium. All of the symptoms were attributed to witchcraft. In addition to that the outbreak of the fungus coincide with the time of the Salem witch trials. Another big factor to the Salem witch trials was religion. People in Salem were primarily Puritan. Puritans believed in supernatural forces such as Demonic possession, and Satan. Puritans attributed witchcraft two deals with the devil and demonic possession. There are many other factors that cause sandwich trousers well such as jealousy, and unstable government. When you put all these factors together the Salem witch trials are born.
ReplyDelete