Tituba Salem Witch Trials

Words: 423
Pages: 2

First, the western section of Salem village was a region of swampy meadows, this is a prime breeding ground for a strange fungus called the ergot fungus. Eating ergot-contaminated food can lead to a convulsive disorder characterized by violent muscle spasms, vomiting, delusions, hallucinations, crawling sensations on the skin, and a host of other symptoms. All of these symptoms are present in the records of the Salem witchcraft trials.
In this society, children were expected to behave under the same code as adults which was doing chores, attending church services, and repressing individual desires. Any show of emotions and they could be punished. They did not play a lot, playing was considered sinful, they couldn’t be imaginative, and were very bored. This is why the girls were so captivated by Tituba’s magical stories and fortune-telling games when these activities were strictly forbidden.
The puritans in Salem had very little freedom, they
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There was little to feed their imagination that did not warn of sin and eternal punishment. These girls were entertained by the magical stories of Tituba, so they wanted to be like her. They were smart, they thought that acting like her wouldn’t be enough and would get them in trouble, so they decided to plant wheat in a very marshy area of west Salem. This caused the ergot fungus to grow on the wheat and rye and when they ate their food, they had the same symptoms that was believed to be the effect of witchcraft. They were, what others believed, “bewitched”. This started the Salem Witchcraft Trials and people started going crazy. They started accusing the weakest of the people, because of the idea that the devil does his bidding through the weakest, and the girls kept on with their fake acts of bewitchment because they didn’t want to get in trouble. That’s what caused so many people to be falsely accused for the idea of witchcraft in Salem,