What caused the Salem witch trials of 1692 Dbq?
Open Document What caused the Salem Witch Trials in 1692? Based on the documents read in the Salem DBQ, there were three reasons of the Salem Witch Trial Hysteria. These reasons were gender, age, and marital status; division of the town due to wealth and power; and lying or acting accusers.
What were the Salem witch trials short summary?
The Salem witch trials occurred in colonial Massachusetts between 1692 and 1693. More than 200 people were accused of practicing witchcraft—the Devil’s magic—and 20 were executed. Eventually, the colony admitted the trials were a mistake and compensated the families of those convicted.
How old was the youngest person convicted of being a witch in Salem?
Dorothy, written as “Dorcas” on the warrant for her arrest, received a brief hearing in which the accusers repeatedly complained of bites on their arms. She was sent to jail, becoming at age five the youngest person to be jailed during the Salem witch trials.
How did hysteria contribute to the Salem witch trials?
Women accused of being witches were slandered and denied rights. In January 1692 mass hysteria erupted in Salem Village, Massachusetts, when the specter of witchcraft was raised after several young girls became unaccountably ill.
What is the cause hysteria in the Salem Witch Trials?
The salem witch trials hysteria of 1692 was caused by the Puritans strict religious standards and intolerance of anything not accepted with their scripture. The largest account of witch trials as well as deaths by witch trials occurred in Salem, a village heavily populated with the Puritans.
What were the 5 types of evidence allowed in the Salem witch trials?
Courts relied on three kinds of evidence: 1) confession, 2) testimony of two eyewitnesses to acts of witchcraft, or 3) spectral evidence (when the afflicted girls were having their fits, they would interact with an unseen assailant – the apparition of the witch tormenting them).
What are the primary triggers of the Salem witch trials?
Causes for the Outbreak of Witchcraft Hysteria in Salem
- Strong belief that Satan is acting in the world.
- A belief that Satan recruits witches and wizards to work for him.
- A belief that a person afflicted by witchcraft exhibits certain symptoms.
- A time of troubles, making it seem likely that Satan was active.
What are the Salem witch trials for kids?
The Salem witch trials were a series of investigations and persecutions that occurred from June 1692 to May 1693 in the town of Salem Village in the Massachusetts Bay Colony (now Danvers, Massachusetts). The proceedings led to the hanging of 19 suspected witches and the imprisonment of many others.
What lessons can we learn from the Salem witch trials?
The Salem trials remind us to beware of the work that fear and ignorance do in our own time, in our own society, and in our own hearts and minds. They call us to a place of courage and reason. And they warn about what can happen when we allow ourselves to be governed by our fantasies and nightmares.