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In conclusion, the Salem witch trials were caused by three things, girl's boredom, ergot, and hysteria. In no case were there actual witches, but people believed there were, which caused nineteen deaths.

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"Ergotism, or long-term ergot poisoning, was once a common  condition resulting from eating contaminated rye bread. In some epidemics it appears that females

were more liable to the disease than males. Children and pregnant women are most likely to be affected by the condition... Ergotism is characterized by a number of symptoms. These include crawling sensations in the skin, tingling in the fingers, vertigo, …hallucinations,…mania, melancholia, psychosis, and delirium. All of these symptoms are alluded to in the Salem witchcraft records." (Document N)

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"Adolescents, especially in the presence of

Tituba, might very well have succumbed to the suggestion of bewitchment. The fits they experienced were very likely genuine, born of anxiety over a magic that

threatened to overpower them. The diagnosis also explains many of the adult fits

experienced by those who were convinced that their neighbors were conjuring

against them. This is not to say that there was no acting at all; indeed, hysterics are notably suggestible, and no doubt the girls shaped their performances, at least"

(Document H)

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"It was perhaps their original design to gratify a love of notoriety or of mischief by creating…excitement in their neighborhood… They soon, however, became intoxicated by the terrible success of their imposture, and were swept along by the frenzy they had occasioned" (Document G)

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"(Examiner) Why you seem to act witchcraft before us by the motion of your body, which seems to have influence over the afflicted?

(Bridget Bishop) I know nothing of it. I am innocent to a witch. I know not what a witch is.

Then she turned her eyes up, and the eyes of the afflicted were turned up." (Document F)

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This explains the adult cases. People would have mental breakdowns and were hysterical. They would have panic attacks because they thought their neighbors were witches, and those attacks would be used as evidence.

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Ergot is a fungus that grows on rye, which is used for bread. The conditions at that time were perfect for Ergot, so it would be surprising if there was none. It caused hysteria, hallucinations, and other problems that were prominent in the Salem witch trials.

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This is what I believe started it all. Two girls who were very bored, as there was nothing to do in the puritan society, decided to cause a little mischief and pretend to be bewitched. But their attempts worked, and way too well. They couldn't confess as soon as the first witch was hung, and became drunk with power. So, I believe the main cause was the two girls being bored.

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The Salem witch trials were a series of hangings and one suffocation That happened in Salem. These events happened because women and men were accused of witchcraft, but why? Here I have three reasons why the Salem witch trials happened.