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We can conclude many things about this horrible event. Both Zach and I truly do not believe that there was a plague of witches assailing the town of Salem. We believe that instead of witches afflicting the citizens of Salem, it was hatred, a tad bit of mold, and paranoia born from fear and suffocation from a hardcore religion. There is solid evidence of rivalry between families and people, whether it was because of a wealth gap, land disputes, or just plain hatred, it was clearly there. (Ex: Ann Putnam accusing Rebecca Nurse, whose former family had constantly been harassed from Nurse's local authorities). Accusing a rival of being a witch in a die-hard Christian community is an easy way to eliminate someone you dislike, since it was probably difficult settling differences where every word could prosecute you of blaspheming God, or breaking the commandments, or just violating a verse of the Bible. Also, ergot is possibility. If it managed to infect some crops and was consumed, it could easily explain some of the symptoms the accused were having. Both ergot and "witches" display the same symptoms. Also, the timeline fits. The contaminated crop would have been harvested right before Thanksgiving, and symptoms began in early and mid December.  Although ergot alone could not have caused this event, it likely contributed to it.

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Notice how close it is to the water. The cause of Ergot is when bread gets moist. Hmm.

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"Thou Shall Not Suffer a Witch to Live."

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"Thou Shall Not Suffer a Witch to Live."

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Exodus 22:18.

This shows the Puritans (those who believe every single word of the bible.) That Witches do not deserve to live. This was a law in many places despite witches not existing.

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19 People were killed in total of the 134 accused. 18 were hung and the other 1 (Giles Corey) was "pressed to death".

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What is ergot? Ergot is a form of mold. It grows, like all mold does, when there is moisture and warmth, and bacteria. In this case, it grows on wheat, especially rye. When ergot is in the crops, and that crop is consumed, that person also consumes ergot and the mold itself. The strange thing about ergot is that is 10% of the power of LSD. When consumed, it can cause hysteria, hallucination,  spasms, convulsions, mania, delirium,  unconsciousness, and much more, including death. Another interesting fact is that the symptoms of ergot poisoning is the same symptoms that can convict you of being a witch/wizard.  Interestingly, an ergot outbreak can damage a crop one year and not appear again for many years. Also, the witch trials fit into the threshing cycle. Threshing began before Thanksgiving,  and the ergot symptoms began in December. So if the crops were contaminated with ergot, it would fit perfectly into the time period when people began to show symptoms.  Also,  a large part of the Putnam residence had swampy meadows, ideal for mold. Three of the afflicted lived in the Putnam residence, and another two regularly received payment in the form of grain, likely to be from Putnam. Females and children are more susceptible to ergot poisoning, which could explain the female and children majority. (Doc N).  In conclusion, it i highly possible that witch-like symptoms could have been caused by ergot. Not only that, there is a high chance of there being ergot in certain crops, due to chronological evidence and the nature of the fungus itself. Also, these ergotized grains could have been spread around certain parts of town, and those parts have town have also yielded "witches".

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how you about to get hung just breathe lol

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how you about to get hung just breathe lol

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We believe the Salem Witch Trials were caused by 2 things. The most likely cause of the Salem Witch Trails is general hatred. If one person hates another person, an easy way to get them in trouble or just straight up killed was the Salem witch trials. Another likely reason is Ergot, a fungus that causes many hallucinations, quaking and other "witch" related things.

1. Grudges. The simple truth of Salem was if you disliked somebody, you can call them a witch or a wizard and they would be seriously investigated or even killed. Family grudges could ruin careers, authority, and their lives.

2. Ergot. Ergot is a fungal bacteria that grow on different types of wheat, specifically rye. Ergot is a mold, and when the crops were moist, it could grow on them. When bread made from this grain was eaten, the ergot was ingested. Ergot has about 10% the strength of LSD and it causes all sorts of hallucinations and "witchy" things. Many of the signs of being a witch were also side effects of ergot.

We believe the biggest factors of the Salem Witch Trials were Grudges and Ergot because they made the biggest factors on people. There were a variety of other, small reasons behind the Salem Witch Trials too. A faulty court system, jealousy,  straight up lying and hysteria all likely played a part as well.

Examination of A Witch, T.H Mattison
This shows the court trying to fnd a "Witch's mark." It was a mark the puritans believed the devil put onto witches when they were bewitched. It was likely a birthmark.

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There is several instances of textual evidence that show that family rivalry was occurring at the time of the witch trials. There is also class differences between certain areas of the Salem Community.  Most of the accused lived within the western parts of the community. Most accusers live in the eastern areas. The defenders usually occupy the western areas as well, maybe friends and family of the accused. There was also territorial disputes and strife between families, one being the wealthier and overall better off, another with poorer land and less wealthy.   Believe it or not, by the 1680's, the wealthiest owned over 60%, (exactly 62%) of all wealth. The wealthy also had political prestige, and were well connected with merchants. However, the poorer population had none of this. They had no political prestige, bad land, little money, and didn't reap the benefits of Salem's expansion.  In the case of family rivalry, this may have been borne from the wealth gap between the citizens. Or maybe just life happened, and families grew to resent each other. For example, the accusation of Rebecca Nurse from Ann Putnam, may have been a form of payback, as Tops-field authorities, where Rebecca came from, had been harassing the Putnam's for years over a territorial dispute. In conclusion, several accusations could simply be a cruel form of payback among citizens, because of wealth, land, and grudges.