What caused the Salem Witch Trial Hysteria of

“What caused the Salem Witch Trial Hysteria of 1692? ”

Bell-ringer Answer the following question on the front of your packet: Do you believe in God, the devil, ghosts, witches, and zombies?

Using SPICEE to classify documents In your notes, write down the SPICEE categories. Use the categories to classify each of the documents. (Note: some documents may have MORE than one category. )

Classifying the Documents ● Document 1: Cultural; the Bible talks about witches--so Puritans believed they existed ● Document 2: Political/Social; most of those killed were women; some men also killed ● Document 3: Cultural; ministers preached about witches as existing ● Document 4: Political/Social; accused witches were examined in a courtroom by mostly men; women testified

Classifying the Documents (cont. ) ● Document 5: Social; accused were mostly female, married, older (41+), widowed (husbands had died); accusers were mostly young and single; done out of jealousy? ● Document 6: Political; questioning an accused woman; her movements seem to affect younger women in court ● Document 7: Social; claims the accusers were lying and “acting” about being affected

Classifying the Documents (cont. ) ● Document 8: Social; believed that Tituba did have some effect on the girls--and their “convulsions” were real ● Document 9: Environmental/Social; the accusers lived farther away from the accused; defenders of the accused lived close by

Practice Thesis Statement The Salem Witch Trial Hysteria of 1692 was caused by a cultural belief in witches by the Christian Puritans, and social factors such as the young, unmarried women of Salem accused the married or widowed older women because they were jealous of their status in society.