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There are many causes of the Witch Trials. Some of these are:
-Ignorance of the town.
-Fear in Salem.
-Jealousy towards the wealthy

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The Salem Witch Trials were in full effect until the governor's own wife was accused. (Background Essay) It's unfair that many people were killed, but it instantly stopped because an important person became involved.

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Many of the hangings were done at similar times about a month apart each. The mass hanging were probably done for entertainment, similar to the gladiator battles in Greece. The large amount of hangings at the same time most likely contributed to the fear and hysteria in Salem

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One major cause of the Salem Witch Trials was the jealousy felt by the people of western Salem, towards the people of eastern Salem. The western part of Salem had less wealth and power than the rest of the village.

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Bridget Bishop was one of the first accused witches and the first to be hanged because of it. (Background Essay.) Even though she denied any connections to witchcraft, the acting of the girls was enough to convince the gullible town of Salem. Their acting took the life of Bridget. Also, the recording of the trial was done by Samuel Parris, who was biased because his daughter was supposedly afflicted by a witch.

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For the accused witches, over 68% of them were women. (Document B) It is cruel to target one gender over the other. This may be because in those days, men had much more political power than women and were thought of as higher beings in society. It was most likely much easier to accuse a woman than it would be to accuse a man.

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A=Accuser D=Defender & W=Witch

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According to Charles Upham, a 19th century historian, the children were just acting the whole time when they said there were witches. Then, he says that after the success of their acting, people became scared and starting making more accusations for no reason. (Document D) They just became swept up by the success of their acting that they continued. 20 lives were lost and a whole town went into a state of fear because of a couple of children that made up a fake story. It is very cruel they took 20 lives.

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Throughout the course of the Salem witch trials, many people died.  19 people were killed by being hanged, 1 person was crushed to death, and 4 people died in jail while waiting to be hanged.  The hangings were scheduled to create more of a spectacle for the rest of the village.  Also, the number of hangings grew from month to month.  In June, there was one hanging on the tenth.  Then in July, there were five hangings on the nineteenth.  Five hangings again on August nineteenth.  Then came the one person crushed to death.  This execution took place on September nineteenth.  Finally, there were eight hangings on September twenty-second. (Document A)

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A surprising fact about the trials was the majority of accusers were not only young children, but this whole ordeal of witches living in Salem was started by these young accusers. The child of Salem Village's minister, Samuel Parris, caused the first charge of witchcraft. This charge was laid against the Carib family's slave, Tituba. (Document C)

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One strange aspect of the Salem Witch Trials is the fact that those who denied any connection to witchcraft were either hanged or pressed to death, while people who admitted they practiced witchcraft, such as the slave Tituba, avoided punishment. (Background essay.) This may be because the people believed that once people admitted to practicing witchcraft, it meant that the devil had left their souls.