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In 1630, Puritans from England sailed to North America in hopes of finding solidarity to practice their form of religion. They built settlements along the east coast with a heavy concentration in New England. Another settlement they built was in Salem, Massachusetts where the Salem Witch Trials would later take place. The Salem witch trials were an event that began in 1692, approximately 62 years after their arrival, and continued until May of 1693, a year after starting. Many colonists would be accused of witchcraft or black magic, which later led them to be put on trial. If proven to be a witch by the examiners and the court, they were to be hung, pressed to death, or killed in some other form. Today I will attempt to give my take on the cause of the Salem witch trial, using a series of documents that were provided. I believe that there were three main causes. Number one - Grudges and past conflicts. Number two - Consumption of dangerous foods. And number three - Child and adult hysteria.

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It’s not uncommon to have a fight with someone or to even have a grudge against them for something they might’ve done to you. However, most people keep these feelings to themselves, or at the very most talk it out in a peaceful manner. A theory as to what started the Salem witch trials was the conflicts between two or more people. Think of this, you and someone get into a really heated argument, and they end up making you mad in some sort of way.  The theory is that people who had a personal problem with others would accuse them of being a witch or practicing dark magic to get them severely punished or even killed.

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Sometimes we eat food that isn’t good for us. It can make us sick, sometimes even to the point where we can’t work. In Salem, a common problem was different fungi and molds growing on their food and them eating it. These fungi could cause people to hallucinate or act out of the ordinary. Sometimes during a witch trial, if someone had eaten this dangerous substance, it could cause them to look as if they are under the influence of a witch. This would later be used against the accused person, and could later get them executed.

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Hysteria is a mental illness or type of reaction that causes people to have exaggerated reactions to certain events. Commonly found when a child is being overdramatic in a situation that doesn’t require it, adults also had these reactions during the Salem witch trials. It would cause people to be overly afraid and not trust others around them. It would constantly put others on trial and get killed because people were so afraid. In King James’ version of the bible in exodus 22:18 “ Thou shall not suffer a witch to live” Could have been one of the many causes for people's overreactions to the idea of witches and caused them to accuse people. If people already have the idea in the back of their mind, it can make them worry about it subconsciously.

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One document I have to disagree with is document D which is a painting of a witch trial by T.H. Matteson. This painting was done 1853. I don’t agree with it because it was drawn around 200 years later, and the person who painted it probably didn’t know what it actually looked like. Because it didn’t give me an accurate representations I couldn’t use it to help answer why the Salem witch trials started to happen.

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In conclusion, the cause of the Salem Witch Trials was not the act of witchcraft, or people practicing black magic, but was really personal grudges, and people consuming toxic foods, which furthermore caused hysteria in the way that people reacted. People would first accuse someone because of their own problems, then they go to court while having dangerous toxins in their system which appeared to look as if they are under the influence of a witch, and then when people would die others would become frantic and accuse every person that they even thought was remotely related to a witch.

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This painting shows the execution of Mrs. Ann Hibbins in who was accused of witchcraft and hung in 1656

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This image was done in 1883 and shows a series of people going on a witch hunt

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An oil painting done in 1869 of an accused witch getting arrested.