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Post by lissleigh on May 22, 2008 7:23:33 GMT -11
Knowing the story of the trials I thought it would be nice to have a thread on it. So put your input on the whole thing if you would like.
IMO, I think it was a crazy time. Those poor souls died cause of a hoax.
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Post by literarysnob on May 22, 2008 7:30:35 GMT -11
It was not so much of a hoax but rather a poisoning of the rye that they were growing and eating. The spores grew on the rye and was then milled and made into bread they ate. This bacteria caused the symptoms of the "bewitched" and then with all of their puritanical beliefs they put 2 and 2 together and came out with 5......and jumped to a truly unenlightened conclusion of witchcraft. The first woman killed for being a witch was stickily a move to gain her lands. There is a lot of information regarding the latest research on the witch trials. I would start with the academic research first. Check out this University of Virginia website on Salem. www.iath.virginia.edu/salem/home.html**Once an academic...always an academic!** or here is a link to PBS series called "Secrets of the Dead" that details the possibility of a bacteria on the rye as the cause behind the claims of being bewitched. I really liked the program, it was well done and explains the science behind their claims. Ergot poisoning that's what it is!! www.pbs.org/wnet/secrets/previous_seasons/case_salem/index.html
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Post by xXSpookyXx on May 22, 2008 7:33:27 GMT -11
Good thread! Here is a very good site for research on it! www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/salem/salem.htmSnipped from the site... Commentary... From June through September of 1692, nineteen men and women, all having been convicted of witchcraft, were carted to Gallows Hill, a barren slope near Salem Village, for hanging. Another man of over eighty years was pressed to death under heavy stones for refusing to submit to a trial on witchcraft charges. Hundreds of others faced accusations of witchcraft. Dozens languished in jail for months without trials. Then, almost as soon as it had begun, the hysteria that swept through Puritan Massachusetts ended. Why did this travesty of justice occur? Why did it occur in Salem? Nothing about this tragedy was inevitable. Only an unfortunate combination of an ongoing frontier war, economic conditions, congregational strife, teenage boredom, and personal jealousies can account for the spiraling accusations, trials, and executions that occurred in the spring and summer of 1692. Causes for the Outbreak of Witchcraft Hysteria in Salem1. Strong belief that Satan is acting in the world. ---------"The invisible world": disease, natural catastophes, and bad fortune attributed to work of the devil 2. A belief that Satan recruits witches and wizards to work for him. ---------Prior witchcraft cases in New England (and Europe before) 3. A belief that a person afflicted by witchcraft exhibits certain symptoms. Why the Hysteria Ended1. Doubts grow when respected citizens are convicted and executed. -------Rebecca Nurse (jury first acquits, then told to reconsider) -------George Burroughs (recites Lord's Prayer perfectly at hanging) -------Giles Corey (81-year-old is pressed to death)
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CougarBob
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Post by CougarBob on May 23, 2008 17:59:17 GMT -11
This is one of my favorite topics. In grad school I did a Directed Research project on this. The rye thing was only one of the reasons for the madness. Sleep Paralysis was another. So were political struggles over the direction the Salem Village church was taking. The fact that Salem Proper was becoming more cosmopolitan. The colony was in danger of losing its charter. The belief that the colonists' mission was to build the "City on the Hill" right in the devil's back yard, thus pissing off the devil most mightily.
I teach a whole unit on this topic in my history classes. I start by asking my students how many of them believe in electricity (they all raise their hands). I tell them then to prove it exists. At least one kid will go to the light switch and turn the lights on and off. So, I ask him or her what proof he/she has that it was electricity that made the lights come on when the switch was flipped. Eventually they all admit it was because their parents told them that. They have to admit that they've never really seen electricity. They were told that it caused the phenomena of the lights coming on. Also the flash of lightening. Just like the kids in Salem Village were told that various events in their lives were being caused by witchcraft. It's a fun topic! By the time we're done, we simulate an entire trial. Believe it or not, the kids usually vote the accused guilty.
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Post by amara1369 on May 24, 2008 9:04:17 GMT -11
This is one of the subjects I have a really rough time with. It just blows me away how greedy and malicious people can be. I know from personal experience how nasty people can get. There is a LOT of misinformation out there about witchcraft. Not all people who practice it are bad people, nor do they condone harming anyone. In fact, they chose this path to find ways to *help* people. Granted there are bad apples, but you get that with any religious path, or belief system.
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Post by amara1369 on May 24, 2008 9:06:55 GMT -11
A good book about witchcraft, btw, is The Truth about Witchcraft Today, by Scott Cunningham for those who are interested.
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Post by LCellini on May 24, 2008 9:12:53 GMT -11
it amazes me that this instance isn't swept under the rug like many of the other horribly violent things that have happened in americas past. we all know of it probably so that people could show how horrible puritans were and stay away from the religion and lifestyle.
and it was sad but i can't really find anything to learn from it. we still have the same problem today and this is no example on how to handle it
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Post by amara1369 on May 24, 2008 9:26:55 GMT -11
I know lc... you even mention witchcraft, and it gets lumped in with satanism.... People try to reach out, and educate about the different paths of witchcraft, and a lot of times they get slapped down, and told to shut up. I had a friend who was Wiccan, and her children got taken from her by child protective services, and given to the father's mother. She had a heck of a fight to try and get them back.
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CougarBob
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Post by CougarBob on May 26, 2008 4:44:39 GMT -11
it amazes me that this instance isn't swept under the rug like many of the other horribly violent things that have happened in Americas past. we all know of it probably so that people could show how horrible puritans were and stay away from the religion and lifestyle.
and it was sad but i can't really find anything to learn from it. we still have the same problem today and this is no example on how to handle it I disagree. There is so much to learn from this incident. I use it to springboard my students into a discussion of the McCarthy hearings and the biases that led to the AIDS pandemic. It can also be used to set up a discussion of 9-11 and its connection to the war in Iraq. Bigotry and fear are deadly companions. We have to be knowledgeable and ready constantly to keep them from taking over.
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Post by LCellini on May 26, 2008 4:54:30 GMT -11
mccarthy was a nut job, he would have been better off writing for the national enquirer. at least he would know that everyone who read that would believe him.
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Post by ♥~KarinaKay~♥ on May 26, 2008 14:30:34 GMT -11
[ Believe it or not, the kids usually vote the accused guilty. Really? Why?
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nowhammies
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Post by nowhammies on May 26, 2008 15:08:05 GMT -11
My first experience with the Salem witch trials was reading "The Crucible" in school.
I would argue that we still have all kinds of witch trials in today's society. The cause is usually a moving target, but as a society, we like to find an evil to point a finger at and band together to fight against. I think it is how we avoid looking too deeply at our own flaws...
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Post by literarysnob on May 26, 2008 15:53:47 GMT -11
Our country has a history of viewing anyone that does not look, speak, act, believe the same as us (the accepted norm of WASP) as "the other." This otherness changes from time to time. First it was the french...they didn't speak the same as the English settlers and they were catholics. The Irish, they spoke differently and were catholics, the African slaves we ripped from their lands looked different and beliefs were different. The Chinese, they didn't look or speak the same. Their beliefs were very different from ours. We saw this again when the boat people started immigrating ....and Agni with the middle easterners.
This history will continue until we no longer view people that are different from us as "the other." Teaching and educating is the only way to learn that were all have commonalities. And no one group is better than the rest.
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Post by amara1369 on May 26, 2008 19:45:34 GMT -11
Well said lit, as always
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CougarBob
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Post by CougarBob on May 27, 2008 2:41:14 GMT -11
Believe it or not, the kids usually vote the accused guilty. Really? Why? Because, when you look at the trials, based on the evidence (especially the spectral evidence), they were guilty.
We spend almost a week on the trials, studying the people involved, talking about spectral evidence, etc. The kids understood that, with the exception of a belief in witchcraft, these were well educated magistrates. That is the scary part. They were not raving lunatics. They were serious-minded men. That is what I tried to get across to the kids. They did not wave their arms, scream and pull out their hair. They were cold calm individuals. They examined the evidence, piece by piece. The only major flaw was that they allowed spectral evidence. The kids knew that. But, just as the students all believe in electricity, the people of the time believed in witchcraft. The whole thing hinged on the afflicted girls.
Also, keep in mind that these women were not on trial for witchcraft. Although the practice was illegal. They were on trial for using witchcraft to assault someone else. 141 people were accused, 21 were executed (1 was killed during interrogation), including one dog. Execution was by hanging, not burning.
Sorry, I could go on and on in this topic.
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