The Salem witch trials is notorious for being one of the most mind-boggling mysteries in American history. Why did an event so strange occur during the development of the American colonies? How did these so-called “witches” get “bewitched” in the first place? Multiple theories such as illness, trauma, tension between colonists, and economic problems could have possibly led to the supernatural occurrences that took place in Salem, Massachusetts during the seventeenth century.
The people that resided in Salem at the time were mainly of the Puritan religion. Puritanism, which was another form of Christianity, consisted of a strong belief in predestination and purity in its church and all of its members. Predestination was the belief that God himself already knew who was going to heaven and who was not. In addition, colonists believed that God brought the sinners (or in this case, witches) to light. Before the outbreak of “witchcraft”, however, the Puritan church’s following started to decline. There were far less colonists attending church meetings and corrupt church leaders needed to figure out a way to get others back in church. When conspiracies about witches were brought to light, the residents of Salem began to go back to church out of fear of becoming bewitched. Furthermore, Puritans had a natural fear of Satan and his evildoings as he is the enemy of their God (Aronson 28, 29). They also had to prove themselves free of witchcraft by showing their love for God by regularly attending mass and church meetings. Could the corrupt church leaders of the 1600s have started spreading the news of satanic beings among Salmon order to get colonists to go back to church?
King William’s war also had an effect on Salem in the seventeenth century. Originally fought in Europe, the war carried over to England’s American colonies in 1690 (Kelly). In order to flee from the effects of the war, some migrated to other colonies and cities to take refuge until the war was over. Salem was one of these cities, and the original residents of Salem were not happy with this. Refugees started to steal residents’ crops for food and wasted lots of their resources (Blumberg). Naturally, these conflicts raised tensions between the residents and the newcomers. Many believed this conflict was caused by Satan himself in order to tear the city of Salem in two, leading colonists to believe that there was a hellish presence in Salem at the time. Others denied this claim, however, and really just need some excuse to get rid of those refugees, maybe even to the extent of accusing them of witchcraft and getting the refugees hanged.
Similar to the refugees, there were people in Salem who just did not fit in with the general public. As stated in the novel Witch-hunt: Mysteries of the Salem Witch Trials by Marc Aronson, “a witch … was a woman (or man) who had few or no children, or was past (their) child bearing years, … who lived outside the pattern of life people expected to be of a woman or man).” (11) Aronson also claims that “(they were) especially suspect if (they were) outspoken, not modest and quiet.” (11, 12) These people were often compared to the story of Sleeping Beauty or Cinderella: one who was rejected by their community/surroundings would naturally turn to the powers of Satan or supernatural beings to get revenge on those who looked down on them. Therefore, the colonists of Salem would often mistake uniqueness for witchcraft and accuse those that were different from them to make sure that even though chaos was breaking out, there was somewhat still a sense of unity within the town.
Everyone has someone that they are not compatible with, and the same reasoning applies for Salem during the 1600s. Although the four-act play, The Crucible, gives a fictional account of occurrences during the Salem witch trials, it parallels real life themes and stories of the colonists’ resentment toward others in the village and the accusations of the despised. Abigail Warren, who is the main accuser of Salem, had an affair with a man named John Proctor. John, however, is a married man with Elizabeth Proctor as his wife. Throughout the play, Abigail becomes persistent to accuse all whom she resents, including the wife of the man she loves. In a conversation with her husband, Elizabeth says “She will cry me out until they take me!” and “She wants me dead, John, you know it!” (Miller 57) There was so much hatred present in Salem that people would go to the extent of accusing someone of witchcraft so that the accusee could be hanged. At the beginning of the play Abigail also declares “I saw Sarah Good with the Devil! I saw Goody Osbourne with the Devil! I saw Bridget Bishop with the Devil!” (Miller 45) Could the residents of Salem have started the witch hunt in order to eliminate those who they disliked or even hated?
If someone started to act very strange or sickly, such as vomiting or hallucinating, he or she was considered to be “bewitched”. These actions were not very common, which led colonists to believe that some dark spirit had conjured Salem. As described by Mrs. Putnam in The Crucible, Betty who had been “bewitched” could not see, hear, or eat anything and never awoke from sleep in the morning (Miller 13). There was a scientific explanation to justify this phenomenon, however. There was a poisonous fungus growing in the crops of the colonists called ergot (Sullivan). Found growing on wheat, rye, and other wheat-based products, this fungus provided the same symptoms of those affected by witchcraft: hallucinations, convulsions, vomiting, and muscle spasms. In fact, based on a study done by Linda R. Caporeal, a student at the University of California at Santa Barbara, the hallucinogenic effects of those who ingested the fungus paralleled that of our modern-day drug, lysergic acid diethyl amide, or LSD (Sullivan). Because of the time of these occurrences and lack of scientific knowledge, the results of the growth of ergot within Salem could have possibly led to the belief that someone had possessed the city of Salem rather than the ingestion of a drug-like fungus.
Although there are many other theories to why the Salem witch trials began such as illnesses, other wars that occurred during this time period, and financial problems, we may never figure out the true origin of the witch-hunts of the seventeenth century. For all we know, there could have been a true witch in Salem. However, with all the events that occurred at one time, it is very difficult to narrow the answer down to just one theory. Today, the Salem witch trials serves as an inspiration to many forms of entertainment including fortune tellers, television shows like American Horror Story: Coven or the Witches of East End, palm readers, magicians, and movies such as Hocus Pocus. It is uncertain that we will ever uncover the truth about the Salem witch trials, but it will always remain a very intriguing and mysterious subject to discuss.