The American and European witch hunts of the early modern era had a significant impact on Western societys history, politics, and culture. The Black Death: Europes Deadliest Pandemic in Human History. The overwhelming majority of processes, however, went no farther than the rumour stage, for actually accusing someone of witchcraft was a dangerous and expensive business. During this time, witches and conspiring with the devil were frowned upon by the Puritan church, and were the cause of much fear and suspicion. A bolt of lightning releases the handcuffs on a woman accused of being a witch and strikes down her inquisitor in this late nineteenth-century lithograph of a colonial-era trial. Society was undeniably affected by witch hunts, as people did everything in their power to either free themselves from blame or accuse someone else. Torture was not allowed in witch cases in Italy or Spain, but where used it often led to convictions and the identification of supposed accomplices. When a local doctor diagnosed the girls as suffering from the malevolent effects of the supernatural, they set in motion a series of events that would irrevocably alter the course of American cultural, judicial, and political history. We can guess from the circumstances that Parris enslaved Tituba in Barbados, probably when she was 12 or a few years older. As Miller puts it: 'Land-lust which had been expressed before by constant bickering over boundaries and deeds, could now be elevated to the arena of morality; one could cry witch against one's neighbor and feel perfectly justified in the bargain.'. The most common suspicions concerned livestock, crops, storms, disease, property and inheritance, sexual dysfunction or rivalry, family feuds, marital discord, stepparents, sibling rivalries, and local politics. A witch hunt is seen as an intensive effort to discover and expose disloyalty, subversion, dishonesty, or the like, usually based on slight, doubtful, or irrelevant evidence. The Salem witch trials of the 1690's portrayed by Millers the Crucible parallel The Red Scare of 1920's, both events revolve around the fear of foreign ideology causing hysteria. What Caused the Salem Witch Trials? - JSTOR Daily Tituba was questioned about her role. Along with this older tradition, attitudes toward witches and the witch hunts of the 14th18th centuries stemmed from a long history of the churchs theological and legal attacks on heretics. In an article called The Single Greatest Witch Hunt in American History, For real by Stacy Schiff, a small village in Massachusetts is being accused of being involved with witchcraft and they are testing people and most are giving into the stronger people just to get out of trouble. In both The Crucible and in modern day witch hunts, witch hunts are caused out of fear or for personal gain. Both Protestants and Catholics were involved in the prosecutions, as the theology of the Protestant Reformers on the Devil and witchcraft was virtually indistinguishable from that of the Catholics. This helped to feed the paranoia that people felt about one another. Four-year-old accused witch Dorcas Good went insane after spending months in prison and watching her baby sister die while in jail with their mother, who was later hanged. Christian theologians and academics entwined together the superstitious worries people held about the supernatural with Christian doctrine. The witch-trials provided release and the outcome was tragically unpleasant. They were a wide cultural, social, political phenomenon. Or to keep it anonymous, click here. In act 4 of The Crucible, why does John Proctor decide to confess but refuse to sign a written confession? Rev. The emphasis on personal piety exacerbated the rigid characterization of people as either good or bad. It also aggravated feelings of guilt and the psychological tendency to project negative intentions onto others. The Puritans were marked by inflexibility and extremism. Start your 48-hour free trial to get access to more than 30,000 additional guides and more than 350,000 Homework Help questions answered by our experts. Witch hunts primarily target women and exploit India's caste system and culture of patriarchy. To find out what was causing the afflictions, a local doctor (presumably William Griggs) and a neighboring minister, Rev. The Reformation, Counter-Reformation, war, conflict, climate change, and economic recession are all some of the factors that influenced the witch hunts across the two continents in various ways. []. In the article Are You Now or Were You Ever, Arthur Miller claims that the McCarthy era and the Salem witch trials were similar and he does this through his choice of diction, figurative language, and rhetorical questions. The Salem Witch Trials and Ergot: Mushroom Madness? During the examination of Elizabeth Procter, Abigail Williams and Ann Putnam the two were afflicted teen-age accusers, and Abigail was Parriss niece both made offer to strike at said Procter; but when Abigails hand came near, it opened, whereas it was made up, into a fist before, and came down exceeding lightly as it drew near to said Procter, and at length, with open and extended fingers, touched Procters hood very lightly. Why is Thomas Putnam bitter in act 1 of The Crucible. Cotton Mather's account of the Salem witch trials, 1693 Tituba served as a housekeeper. If theyre that much trouble? Parris' sermons in late 1691 warning of Satan's influence in town is also not known, but it seems likely that his fears were known in his household. A combination of multiple different forces came together to create the circumstances in which these witch hunts took place, so there are numerous reasons to consider. Moreover, just as the growth of literacy and of reading the Bible helped spread dissent, so did they provoke resistance and fear. The "parochial snobbery" as well as a "predilection for minding. What caused them? A fire, a fire is burning! Proctor house. She confessed to witchcraft and accused others. In each paragraph these traits will be further explained. Parris promised to pay the fee to allow Tituba to be released from prison. The Crucible Act One: An Overture Flashcards | Quizlet 2023 eNotes.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved, Essential Quotes by Character: John Proctor, Critical Context (Masterplots II: Juvenile & Young Adult Literature Series), Critical Context (Comprehensive Guide to Drama). What is the setting for Act 2? In the play some girls get in trouble for dancing in the woods. Prior to the beginning of the early modern period, before the devastating impact of the Black Plague transformed European institutions and the political dynamic of the entire continent, many people throughout Europe may have believed in magic. Miller's extensive stage directions suggest several reasons why the Witch Trials had to take place in Salem. While any number of marginalized groups could, in theory, have served as a scapegoat, the shift in attitudes towards witchcraft as heresy created the conditions that allowed populations to turn upon those accused of witchcraft instead. In Arthur Miller's play, The Crucible, witch hunts empowered towns and consumed people's lives with fear. Log in here. Mather and his fellow New Englanders believed that God directly intervened in the establishment of the colonies and that the New World was formerly the Devils territory. Although, the play is fiction, Miller based the plot of his play on the historical event, the Salem Witch Trials.According to the the Salem witch trials of the late 17th century, The Crucible explores a mass hysteria that its residents must go through because of the witchcraft accusations made by young girls and many other people of the region.These accusations, we learn further in the novel, are not true and are purely for the purpose to put the blame of someone's mistakes or wrongdoings to someone else. The next spring, the trials ended and various imprisoned individuals were released once their fines were paid. How do you think Miller uses setting to help create mood in Act I? Many historians see its publication as a watershed moment in witch-hunting history. Miller argues that the fundamental nature of Salem's construction made it a community where the Witch Trials were inevitable. B.A. Parris in the Salem Village church conflict. Under the rules of the colony, similar to rules in England, even someone found innocent had to pay for expenses incurred to imprison and feed them before they could be released. As just one example, the king of Italy, Charlemagne, dismissed the concept of witchcraft as a pagan superstition and ordered the death penalty for whoever executed someone because they considered them to be a witch. But the events surrounding the witch trials of Salem in 1692 were not in any way unique or isolated. The Salem witch scare had complex social roots beyond the communitys religious convictions. In his telling, witch hunts are perpetrated by the marginalized rather than upon them, since, when sex is involved, women are inclined toward group-malice, sexual irrationality, and wholesale invention. The ensuing witch hunt would result in the executions of 19 men, women, and children, along with the deaths of at least six others, and the suffering, torment, and calamity of an entire community. According to Cotton Mather, what are the immediate and long-term goals of the Devil? Miller cites the reason for the witch-hunts to be "a preserve of manifestation of the panic which set among all classes when the balance began to turn toward greater individual freedom" and "a long overdue opportunity for everyone so inclined to express publicly his guilt and sins." What does the overture imply about human nature? Salem is an early example of what Miller saw around him and personally experienced in the 1950sthe communist witch hunts conducted by Senator Joseph McCarthy. In Act 1, what explanation does Miller give as to why the witch hunts Both of these historic elements, however, were shaped by Miller into a story about a married man tormented by an orphaned, libidinous teenage girl seeking to punish him for a sexual transgression she participated consensually in. Parris. The effects of conflicts such as the Thirty Years War were exacerbated by the drastic Little Ice Age with which they coincided, especially in regard to the European witch hunts. and Quakers; and between American Indians and Englishmen on the frontier. Scapegoating can be viewed as the main reason behind the American witch hunts. If witchcraft existed, as people believed it did, then it was an absolute necessity to extirpate it before it destroyed the world. One was Elizabeth (Betty) Parris, the 9-year-old daughter of Rev. Salem Witch Trials - Events, Facts & Victims - HISTORY Miller sums up his experience with the benefit of hindsight: "I am glad that I managed to write The Crucible, but looking back I have often wished I'd had the temperament to do an absurd comedy, which is what the situation deserved. why did the witch-hunts occur? In act 4 of The Crucible, it is revealed that Abigail Williams has run away from Salem, but her motives are never discussed. Although many witchcraft theorists were not deeply misogynist, many others were, notably the authors of the infamous Malleus maleficarum. These allegations would have important implications for the future because they were part of a broader pattern of hostility toward and persecution of marginalized groups. As exemplified in the play The Crucible by Arthur Miller, witch trials took place. Tituba would not likely have been directly involved in the growing church conflict involving Rev. Tituba, also known as Tituba Indian, was an enslaved person and servant whose birth and death dates are unknown. Calling all K12 teachers: Join us July 1619 for the second annual Gilder Lehrman Teacher Symposium. My own marriage of twelve years was teetering and I knew more than I wished to know about where the blame lay. She is a tour guide in Glasnevin Cemetery Museum, a popular historical site in Dublin, and a published fiction and non-fiction writer. The Rev. ", EDSITEment is a project of theNational Endowment for the Humanities, Salem Witch Trials: Understanding the Hysteria, Origins of Halloween and the Day of the Dead. Although the lurid trials at Salem (now in Massachusetts) continue to draw much attention from American authors, they were only a swirl in the backwater of the witch hunts. Why did Arthur Miller write The Crucible? So for a brief explanation, McCarthyism was carried out under senator Joseph McCarthy during 1950-1954 against alleged communist in the US government and in other institutions. Salvation and Scapegoating: What Caused the Early Modern Witch Hunts? But Tituba recanted her confession, and Parris never paid the fine, presumably in retaliation for her recantation. Accusations originated with the ill-will of the accuser, or, more often, the accusers fear of someone having ill-will toward him. A detailed study of a timeline accompanies their close reading of The Crucible. In the late 1940s early 1950s, Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy made the grandiose pledge to uncover a communist plot to overthrow democracy in United States. Instead, they were just one very small chapter in the much longer story of the witch hunts that took place all across Europe and America in the early modern period, with the European witch hunts reaching a height between 1560 and 1650. The witch-hunt also provided those who were greedy for land, such as the Putnams, to seek satisfaction. Latest answer posted December 16, 2019 at 7:31:02 AM. why did the witch-hunts occur? | The Crucible Questions | Q & A In his telling, witch hunts are perpetrated by the marginalized rather than upon them, since, when sex is involved, women are inclined toward group-malice, sexual irrationality, and wholesale. Like the Spanish colonies, the English colonies repeated the European stereotype with a few minor differences. Those include fear, personal motives, unfair treatment of the accused, and accusers. Among the main effects of the papal judicial institution known as the Inquisition was in fact the restraint and reduction of witch trials that resulted from the strictness of its rules. Salem witch trials | History, Summary, Location, Causes, Victims Another Information that imparted Arthur Miller . Set in the 17th century The Crucible told the story of a town that ensued a hunt for witches, caused by the accusations of Salem 's young girls and their ring leader Abigail Williams. The paradox lies in the fact that the rules which were created and adhered to in order to ensure unity 'were grounded on the idea of exclusion and prohibition.' Witch Hunts Today: Abuse of Women, Superstition and Murder Collide in Fear, hatred, guilt, jealousy, pain, grief, confusion, lust, and hunger are all feelings with one thing in common: They were the driving force that caused a witch-hunt amongst early modern Europeans. And it is my face, and yours, Danforth! Even though the clergy and judges in the Middle Ages were skeptical of accusations of witchcraft, the period 130030 can be seen as the beginning of witch trials. While she enjoys any topic relating to history, culture, and the humanities, she is most interested in Ancient Greece and Rome, the Ancient Near East, Irish history, colonization and de-colonization, Jewish and Christian history, and the Early modern period. The authors purpose is to point out that falsely accusing outsiders will not have a good outcome in order to convince the reader to not divide society. People demanded one to be hung or burned if the person sinned unless they confessed, turned back around to God, and blamed others for their sin. Widely influential, it was reprinted numerous times. It was from a report written by the Reverend Samuel Parris, who was one of the chief instigators of the witch-hunt. The witch-hunt provided the perfect opportunity for the settlement of old scores. This idea that when trouble comes, particularly when it comes to a man whos just trying to get laid, it comes at the hands of an unstable woman who should never be believed. He tells the story of a man in a cold marriage who because of this is pushed into an affair with a much younger girl who then goes crazy and accuses him of wrongdoing. Aligns with CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.11-12.5- Analyze and evaluate the effectiveness of the structure an author uses in his or her exposition or argument, including whether the structure makes points clear, convincing, and engaging. Examples Of The Salem Witch Hunt In The Crucible | ipl.org The number of trials and executions varied widely according to time and place, but in fact no more than about 110,000 persons in all were tried for witchcraft, and no more than 40,000 to 60,000 executed. It was this combination of sorcery and its association with the Devil that made Western witchcraft unique. Conventional wisdom has it that mankind has evolved so far that the idea of targeting innocents is no longer an issue; however, Senator McCarthy and targeting of innocent Muslims after 9/11 remind us that witch hunts still exists in modern times. After the magistrates finished their examination of Tituba, she was sent to jail. Ecclesiastical and civil authorities usually tried to restrain witch trials and rarely manipulated witch hunts to obtain money or power. However, many were guilty of caving into their own weaknesses and only feared to be caught in their acts of hypocrisy. One of the most important aspects of the hunts remains unexplained. "Tituba and The Salem Witch Trials of 1692." The term 'witch-hunt' has become entrenched in our vocabulary and our consciousness to mean, metaphorically, any act which purposely seeks out to punish those who hold unpopular views or. Maleficium was a threat not only to individuals but also to public order, for a community wracked by suspicions about witches could split asunder. This Map Shows the Scale of 16th- and 17th-Century Scottish Witch Hunts After an outbreak of hunts in France in 158788, increasingly skeptical judges began a series of restraining reforms marked by the requirement of obligatory appeal to the Parlement in cases of witchcraft, making accusations even more expensive and dangerous. For example, The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street, an episode of Rod Serlings Twilight Zone series, may provide students and teachers an opportunity to examine the phenomenon of mass hysteria. Describe a relatively recent historical event that resembles the situation that unfolded in Salem. The malevolent sorcery more often associated with men, such as harming crops and livestock, was rarer than that ascribed to women. Studying the American and European witch hunts today serves as a reminder of how hardship can bring out the very worst in people, turning neighbor against neighbor and brother against brother. In early 1692, three girls with connections to the Parris household began to exhibit strange behavior. Miller supports his claim by describing how the young girls of Salem blame the outsiders of their town of witchcraft. The Reformation, Counter-Reformation, war, conflict, climate change, and economic recession are all some of the factors that influenced the witch hunts across the two continents in various ways. The theory best supported by the evidence is that the increasing power of the centralized courts such as the Inquisition and the Parlement acted to begin a process of decriminalization of witchcraft. Salem was a pressure-cooker ready to explode. Scholars have attempted to answer these questions with a variety of economic and physiological theories. Presumably, whoever paid the fine had become Tituba's enslaver. Anyone who failed to subscribe to Puritan social norms could become vulnerable and villainized, branded as an outsider, and cast in the role of the Other. These included those that were unmarried, childless, or defiant women on the fringes of society, the elderly, people suffering from a mental illness, people with a disability, and so forth. Parris was, at the time he was in New Spain, not yet married and not yet a minister.