The Horror of the Salem Witch Trials

The Horror of the Salem Witch Trials Delia Peterson Would you ever die for what you believe? In 1692, many people had no other choice but to do just that. The belief in magic and spells was introduced by Native American and African slaves in New England. Many who practiced this were accused of witchcraft. Salem, Massachusetts was the sight of many witch trials and perhaps the most well-known, but other villages held them too such as Andover, Massachusetts; Fairfield, Connecticut; and other places in New England (Historical Witches, n.p.). Historians have analyzed the accusations and hearings of the Salem Witch Trials, and have since observed possible causes of the hysteria. It all started when Betty Parris, the daughter of Puritan minister, Samuel Parris, and his niece, Abigail Williams, experimented with magic and witchcraft (Salem Witch, n.p.). They began twitching, screaming, and not speaking, so a doctor diagnosed the girls with being under the spell of a witch (Currie, 7-8). Samuel Parris pressured the girls to identify the perpetrator. They named Tituba, their slave, Sarah Good, and Sarah Osborn. The latter two, who were outcasts and did not attend church regularly, declared their innocence, but Good accused Osborn. Tituba originally pleaded innocent, but eventually told the officials of her dealings with the devil (Britannica School Salem witch, n.p.). What followed was a witch hunt, as the girls went on a spree of identifying witches, even pointing the finger at a former minister. Newly identified and confessed witches then turned around and named more witches. By the time the uproar had quieted down, 156 people sat in prison, charged as witches. Then trials were held by a panel of untrained judges, trying people who were forced to defend themselves without lawyers (Salem witch, n.p.). The trials took a year to complete, only stopping when accusations extended to well respected members of the community. The accused were convicted using spectral evidence, which is claims by victims that the defendants Satanic form attacked them. As, each witch testified, the victims seemed to have fits in the crowd, giving the judges enough evidence to believe that person is guilty (Britannica School Salem witch, n.p.). The judges also allowed a touch test, and if the accused persons touch stopped the victims contortions, their demonic presence was confirmed. Other forms of evidence was allowed such as examining people for witch marks and accepting gossip, hearsay, and stories (The Witchcraft, n.p.). If someone confessed (or confessed and named others), they were spared as it was thought they would receive their punishment from God. Those who declared their innocence did not have it so easy, becoming martyrs to their own sense of justice (Britannica School Salem witch, n.p.). It was thought a witch could not recite the Lords Prayer perfectly, yet an ex-minister did so but was still hanged. Using these methods, 19 people were hanged that year. An additional eight people died in prison, and one man was pressed to death by a heavy board. Over 200 townspeople were accused of being witches by the young girls between June and September of 1692. (Currie 37-38). When the accusations extended to his own wife, the governor stopped the trials and established a court that accepted only concrete evidence. There, the rest of the accused were pardoned by the governor (Britannica School Salem witch, n.p.). Historians have turned to many different reasons for so many people to believe the claims of the girls. Many believe that in transitioning from one governor to the next, Salem was in the midst of many social issues. The former governor had done nothing to stop the worsening of the hysteria, and while the new leader tried to step in and conduct fair trials, he unearthed a law causing the death penalty to be inflicted on those practicing witchcraft, a capital punishment. Betty Parriss involvement was attributed to her fear of having disobeyed the laws of her religion as her father was a minister (Salem Witch, n.p.). There is also a theory that ergotism was present in Salem during this time, and is what caused mass hysteria. Ergot grows on cereal grain, and in this case, it would have been rye which the people relied heavily on. It causes a poisoning that is most common in women and children (Ergotism, n.p.). One type of ergotism, or long term ergot poisoning causes hallucinations, delu sions, muscle contractions or convulsions, and shaking, all of which were reported in Salem. All the facts add up, and the weather at that time was warm and damp which is perfect for ergot to thrive (Ergot Theory, n.p.). There are many other theories, but no one knows for sure if any of them are the real cause of the frenzy. The accusations and trials have led to many theories about the possible reasons for the delusions in Salem around 1692. Many people wonder how the judges were able to convict so many without concrete evidence or why the governor did not stop it until it was too late. It has taught us a lot about our countrys history and about the many mistakes we made. Those trials led to the first amendment which is freedom of religion. Nowadays, the government cannot persecute anyone for what religion they practice or for what they believe. We need to respect others and their beliefs even if they are different from us. We know now that we should not be afraid to stand up for what we believe, and not conform to what society tells us because it is not always right. Work Cited Caporael, Linnda R. Ergotism: the Satan loosed in Salem. Science, 1976. science.sciencemag.org. 16 Jan. 2017. Carlson, Marc. Historical Witches and Witchtrials in North America. personal.utulsa.edu. Accessed 5 Jan. 2017. Currie, Stephen. The Salem Witch Trials. San Diego: KidHaven Press, 2002. K, Anna. Ergot Theory Could Clear Accused Witches. The Salem Journal: The Aftermath Witches Remise. 2012. people.ucls.uchicago.edu. Accessed 16 Jan. 2017. Salem Witchcraft Trials 1692. Famous American Trials. law2.umkc.edu. Accessed 16 Jan. 2017. Salem witch trials. Britannica School, Encyclopà ¦dia Britannica, 26 Jan. 2016. school.eb.com. Accessed 15 Jan. 2017. Salem Witch Trials. Research in Context, Gale, 2016. Research in Context, go.galegroup.com. Accessed 4 Nov. 2016.

Human Nature in Lord of the Flies :: Free Essay Writer

Human Nature in Lord of the Flies Good morning/afternoon Mrs. Visser and class, I will be speaking about human nature and what it means to be human. Now what does it truly mean to be human and what makes us human? The main thing about humanity is we see ourselves as superior to nature and the animals in it. We see this in Lord of the Flies when the boys first land on the island. Even though there are animals and plants on the island they disregard it and claim the island as their own. Now what would make man superior to nature, his ability to think? To alter his surroundings to make his life easier? Arrogance or how about that it is how it is always been? Man seems to try and force his views upon others, through different means. Jack for example uses fear and manipulation to control his tribe, while Ralph hung onto the values he was taught in society. Now behind Ralph was piggy, who in the novel represented man’s knowledge and civilized man’s ideals. He was the one Ralph turned to when he was in doubt about what he must do, about what the civilized thing to do would be. Behind Jack was Rodger who represented the savagery and nature instinct that a human has to survive. Simon represented the spirituality and nature in the book. Simon is also one of those that seek the truth. When the beast is mentioned, he was the first and only person until later on to suggest that the beast was human’s. He was the first person to see that the beast was an internal thing. People like Simon who seek the truth soon find that they are not accepted in society. Simon was laughed at when he suggested that the beast was internal. It is in human nature to try and blame something else for our mistakes. This separates him and makes him an outsider as it is in human nature not to accept the truth. Later on when he finds out who and what the beast is, all the boys help to attack and kill him. This shows that it is in human nature to reject the truth as a lie or even insanity. When Simon dies it shows the death of spirituality and a foreshadowing of what the inherit evil in man will do to nature later on. The inherit evil in man is represented by in the following ways by the following people:

Opposing views in the play Essay

Priestly was a socialist, he thought that the divide between rich and poor was a problem. Priestly also helped set up a political party which he believed would give people a fairer system. His work and ideas helped to bring changes such as the welfare state. He wrote the play in order to put across his views. † We don’t live alone. We are members of one body. We are responsible for each other.† This shows Priestley’s socialism through the character of the inspector. It shows that we should think about how we behave around other people and how we are all equal. The play was set in 1912 and written in 1945. This was to remind the audience of how it was before the war. Also it was set in 1912 so Priestly could incorporate dramatic irony. In the opening of the play Priestly uses dramatic devices to draw in the audience. The Play is set  In the dining room where it is â€Å"heavily comfortable but not cosy and homelike†. This creates an impression that though the family are wealthy, successful, and of the upper class, there is lack of family warmth. This reveals that the characters in the Birling family are deprived of familial warmth and affection. I think Priestly gives such a detailed description of the stage set because, he wants to accurately reflect a specific period in time, and also as the setting doesn’t change through out the play its best to get it right the first time.  In the opening of the play priestly includes specific props to give a sense of social class in the Birlings. At the very begging Edna is clearing the table of â€Å"dessert plates and champagne glasses, replacing them with a decanter of port, cigar boxes and cigarettes.† These objects are all expensive things, things you would expect to find at a special occasion. Therefore, not only does it show the Birlings upper class, it also shows that there is a special occasion. The characters costumes are roughly described to match the correct period of time. Men more-so, partly because they would all have been the same, and partly because this would be a strict dress code for a special occasion in those days. This would tell the audience immediately what period the play was set in.  At the begging of the play the lighting is a soft pink, this is to show how relaxed the Birlings were and that everything was ok. Like the expression â€Å"looking back through rose coloured spectacles.† Then as the inspector arrives there is a dramatic change of lighting to a hard, brighter light to show the inspector’s sternness. At the beginning of the play the characters are each described briefly of their characteristics and emotions. These descriptions shall change through the play for at the beginning they are clearly happy in celebration and through out the rest of the play become more â€Å"worried, upset, or argumentative†. The inspector is described as â€Å"An impression of ‘massiveness, solidity and purposefulness’, he grows and remains more solid when each of the other characters break down.† This is because Priestly wants to put across that the inspector (a socialist) is superior to the Birlings. The Inspector goes about his investigation in chronological order to the happenings of â€Å"Eva Smith†, slowly breaking down each character letting them foresee their mistakes. Birling’s speeches are really important as Priestly uses dramatic irony to put across his ideas about social status. In his speeches Birling sounds arrogant and pompous, thinking he knows it all when dramatic irony shows how wrong he is. â€Å"Titanic-she sails next week-forty six thousand eight hundred tons-New York in five days-and every luxury-and unsinkable.† The audience all know the Titanic was infact not â€Å"unsinkable† and that it sank a week later, making Birling sound overly confident, bordering on pompous in his vision of the future. He is thus creating in Birling an untrustworthy character-if he is wrong about this he might also be wrong in other things he says. Birling is portrayed as a typical business man, an individualist, and a capitalist and his attitudes reflect that. For example he makes a speech to his son and future son in law which is interrupted by the inspector. He repeats the idea that â€Å"a man has to make his own way, has to look after himself† which seems to embody his individualistic philosophy. It seems that Priestly uses speeches as an important device to highlight the opposing views in the play. The inspector’s final speech would almost parody this earlier speech in that he proposes the exact opposite view â€Å"We are members of one body. We are responsible for each other† Priestly uses the character of the inspector as a mouth-piece to say his socialist views.  Ã¢â‚¬ËœAn inspector calls’ is very much a play to put across Priestly’s veiws about things he believed in, e.g socialism. An enjoyable mystery performance for people who like a twist.

The Rights And Nation By Gerald Friesen Essay - 2007 Words

In his book, Citizens and Nation, Gerald Friesen first mentions the concept of â€Å"imagined communities† as he states, â€Å"Space had been restructured because the communication media had eliminated so many of the inherited constraints of physical existence† (Friesen 177). Thus, for Friesen, an imagined community is constructed as communication technologies connect individuals across geographical boundaries, therefore releasing the limitations of space. While Friesen’s definition implies that a technological intermediary is needed for the formation of imagined relations, his work, Citizens and Nation works to prove that communities that are based on something other than face-to-face communication, can, without technology, also be considered imagined†. Moreover, using, Oral-Traditional and Screen-Capitalist societies, two distinct time space-configurations, this essay will demonstrate how throughout history, the concept of â€Å"Imagined Communities† differed in its effect and prevalence in Canadian life. To begin, an analysis of Oral Traditional societies will work demonstrate that while per-literate communities were predominantly traditional, their connection to the land cultivated an â€Å"imagined community†. Prior to the invention of print, Canadian aboriginals lived in an oral society where the spoken word was the dominant form of communication. Because the transfer of information was limited to face to face communication, oral societies, unlike imagined communities, could only