Of all the misunderstood and “blown out of proportion” events in American History, the Salem Witch Trials were a prime example. Although not completely understood by anyone; anyone could see how such a fiasco could occur.
Salem comes from the Hebrew and Arabic words meaning peace. In the Salem of the late 1600’s, women were considered subservient to men and viewed as naturally lustful and therefore fair game for the devil. The literality of children to be seen and not heard was strictly enforced. People who had fallen on hard times were viewed as deserving of their suffering. Ill will was a staple of Salem’s inhabitants. There were consistent disagreements over land boundaries and continuous feuds with Native Americans. There was an ominous air about the town over the choice of Salem’s first ordained minister, Samuel Paris.
In the winter of 1692, eight young girls including Samuel Paris’ daughter, Elizabeth and his niece, Abigail Williams, then 11 years old, began to suffer from convulsions, trances, pin-prick feelings of the skin and incomprehensible speech. The first and easiest explanation was that they were bewitched.
The accused were Tabitha, a Caribbean born slave with whom the girls participated in fortune telling with a makeshift crystal ball; Sarah Good and Sarah Osborn, both elderly women of ill reputation.
All in all, 150 “witches” were taken into custody and by late September 20 were put to death and 5 more died in jail. Of the 150 or so, 152 women and 7 men were tried; 26 women and were convicted. 14 women and 5 men were executed by hanging and 2 were stoned to death.
On Oct 3, 1692, Increase Mather, father of Cotton Mather, preached a sermon that declared, “It were better that ten suspected witches escape than one innocent person be condemned”.
It is assumed the witches were women over age 40 and women over 60 were at high risk of accusation. The convicted men tended to be family members of the women involved. It is interesting to note that the convicted in England were poor and those convicted in Salem were wealthy or powerful. John Alden, son of legendary John and Priscilla Alden of Plymouth Colony was among the accused.
What caused these charges? What caused the symptoms in the children? Was Salem so strict in it’s convictions that it was subject to an eventual “meltdown” of some sort? It had to be difficult to live in such strict quarters; even keeping up with the rules would be a chore.
Some psychologists contribute the entire incident to mass hysteria. However, in the 1970’s, a lady named Linda Caporall wrote a history paper attributing the entire incident to ergot poisoning. Ergot was a fungus that grew on rye which was a staple grain used for bread. The symptoms of the girls are side effects of ergot poisoning. This makes perfectly good sense until you consider the fact that the girls would not have been the only ones to eat the tainted bread. This should have been a widespread problem.
Was it mass hysteria in combination with ergot poisoning? We will probably never know.
