The Speculation and Theories Around Salem Witch Trials 

The Salem Witch Trials of 1692/93 was the most infamous witchcraft episode in United States’ history. Set in a Puritan New England settlement, Salem Village, the original ten females became afflicted between January 1682 and the madness would not end until May 1693. Salem Village, Massachusetts became engulfed in hysteria. During this time, one hundred and fifty-six people accused of witchcraft, fifty four people confessed, fourteen women and five men were hanged, a man was pressed to death, three women and a man died in jail. In addition, an infant, who was born in the jail died as well.

Salem has been researched, discussed and actively collaborated by a broad range of disciplines since the 1960's. These scholars hypothesize about what sparked the witch frenzy in the winter of 1692. Besides fraud, a few of the many theories that surround the phenomenon of Salem are feuding families and ergot poisoning; some lesser-known hypotheses are clinical hysteria, hypocalcaemia, and economic profit. In order to understand the theories, one must first examine the micro history of the episode. This paper will focus on scholars' theories of what was the cause of bewitchment in Salem Village. However, even though Salem has been studied and theorized countless times in the past, there is still no clear reason of what caused it. A confluence of these theories may help pinpoint why such a battle was waged.

Salem Village is now present-day Danvers, Massachusetts. Puritans inhabited Salem since 1626 as a place for trade and fishing. In 1641, a law in England made witchcraft a capital crime punishable by death.[5] Before Samuel Parris took the position of Salem Village's minister, a man named Deodat Lawson was the minister from 1684-1688.[6] He left his position freely and Samuel Parris was hired as a replacement. Before coming to Salem, Samuel Parris attempted to become a successful merchant in Barbados, but failed. He relocated in Boston, and then chose to become a minister; he moved his family to Salem in 1689. During this time there had been other witchcraft episodes in New England, but Salem Village did not have any witchcraft troubles to this point. That is until it enters the preacher's home.

Originally, the young girls who claimed they were stricken from witchcraft that started the witch-hunt in Salem were Parris' daughter, Betty age nine, and his eleven-year-old niece, Abigail Williams age eleven. These two young girls, go on to accuse Tituba the Slave of witchcraft. As the episode continues, more young girls become afflicted and begin to name other men and women as being witches and practicing witchcraft. Betty and Abigail became the first two afflicted of witchcraft in Salem Village. Documentation showed that between January 16 and January 19, 1692 the two girls become noticeably sick. Symptoms described that the girls would 'crouch under chairs and stools and twisted in puzzling postures.' The girls would also faint, claim they were being pinched, hysterically cry, have disorderly speech, roll on the ground, attempt to fly, tear off clothes, bark like a dog, have their bodies in unnatural shapes, hallucinate, and have hearing loss.

It was not until February 24th, 1692 that Dr. William Griggs 'diagnosed the girls to be under an evil hand,' meaning witchcraft. The next day, while Mr. and Mrs. Parris were out, the girls alleged that they could see who was tormenting them. On this same day, more being claimed to be stricken by witchcraft. Ann Putnam Jr. and Elizabeth Hubbard both said they became plagued by witchcraft. These two lived more than a mile from each other. Abigail and Betty continued to be sick, and claimed of their heads hurting. They named Tituba as their tormentor. Tituba confesses of alleged witchcraft and begins to name other witches. During this time more people become supposedly bewitched and the deadly Salem witch-hunts began. Trying to discover the cause of the Salem Witch Trials has been attempted and some scholars believe they may have discovered the source of the alleged bewitchment.

From the history stated previously, one could see that possible theories are feuding families, ergot poisoning, clinical hysteria, hypocalcaemia, and economic profit. However, since there are ten original accusers, each individual may have had a different cause for becoming 'bewitched' and thus one theory may not be completely right. Possibly a combination of a few theories could be the true reason. The theory of the feuding families came from Paul Boyer and Stephen Nissenbaum. The basis of the theory is that there were two powerfully, wealthy families in Salem Village, who were the Putnams and the Porters. The Putnams were on the west side of Salem Village and the Porters on the east side. The Porters were more connected to Salem Town. Both families were building up their power either by town leadership or by being a merchant. The two families may have been in a power struggle, which would explain why in the western part of the village, is where thirty of thirty- two adult accusers resided, and twelve of the fourteen witches were from the eastern section. In addition, half-brothers Joseph and Thomas Putnam were not on the best terms. When Thomas Putnam Senior, their father died, Joseph was given the best part of their father's land angering Thomas Jr. who was almost virtually not included in the will. Straining the relationship further, Joseph Putnam married Elizabeth Porter, separating himself from the Putnams and aligning with the powerful Porters. This theory also states that those who were supportive of Reverend Parris and divided the town by those who were not.

The villagers living on or around Ipswich Road, which goes to Salem town were anti-Parris. The villagers living on or around Ipswich Road made up of one third of the total anti-Parris group. A quote embodying the anti-Parris movement is, 'anti-Parris villagers may have lived in the village but not of the village.' Meaning, even though they lived in Salem Village, they were more connected to Salem Town. The Putnams were also known for being pro-Parris. They made up of twenty-four percent of the pro-Parris movement. The Putnams were never accused of being witches. However, as stated before, twelve of the fourteen hanged witches belonged to the eastern side, which was known to not support Parris.

Arguably an intriguing hypothesis surrounding the ten girl’s bewitchment is the idea of ergot poisoning. This idea first arose by Professor of Biology, Linnda Caporael in 1976. Convulsive ergot is from the Claviceps purpurea fungus that grows on rye. The ergot fungus over takes the rye grain, and turns it purple. Rye was a staple crop during this time period, and they made bread from it. Ingesting ergot is very dangerous. It contains isoergine (lysergic acid amide.) The drug Lysergic acid diethylamide, commonly referred to as LSD, was originally made from ergot. Ergot existed before the seventeenth century; however, it was so common that people believed it belonged to the rye plant. Ergot fungus grows in wet climates and lowlands. Salem Village resided in what is presently the town of Danvers, in Essex County. This village is located in the coastal lowlands and the climate is wet and mild, perfect for ergot to thrive. The colonists planted seeds in April and gathering took place in August. It was then stored until needed in the winter months. This could explain why Abigail and Betty did not become sick until winter, because the infected rye was not eaten until then. Again, those who were accusers, apart from the bewitched girls, the majority were from the western part of Salem Village, and the majority of the witches were from the eastern side of town. The ergot poisoning may have been only on the west side of town.

The most convincing argument of ergot poisoning is the correlation between ergot symptoms and Abigail and Betty's symptoms. Ergot poisoning affects mostly women and children, because they 'ingest more food per unit of body weight; consequently, they ingest more poison per unit of body weight.' This would explain why the first accusers were female. Side effects of ingesting ergot are tingling hands or fingers, dizziness, hallucinations, vomiting, muscle contractions, mania, psychosis, delirium and melancholia. Some coincide with the girls' symptoms of pinching, barking like a dog, and hallucinate.

A different theory surrounding Salem is mass clinical hysteria. Clinical hysteria is defined as 'in which a patient experiences physical symptoms that have a psychological, rather than an organic cause; and histrionic personality disorder characterized by excessive emotions, dramatics, and attention-seeking behavior.' Historian Chadwick Hansen believes that 'the stress of living in unsettled area, along with the strict Puritan religion, led to hysteria.' During this time period the Puritans were constantly fighting with the Wabanakis tribe. The American Indians became their biggest threat and enemy. Settlers were being kidnapped or killed. The King Phillips war, which took place in 1675 with the Wampanoag Tribe, was still in the Puritan's minds. Fear of the wilderness and of Native Americans must have been present in Salem.

On January 25th, 1692 in York, Maine indigenous peoples attacked the settlers and many were kidnapped. Exactly a month later two more girls claimed they were attacked by witchcraft. Ann Putnam and Elizabeth Hubbard. Elizabeth Hubbard was a servant girl in the Griggs household. When she was a little girl living in Maine, American Indians attacked her village and many people in her family were brutally murdered. This experience would have been stressful on anyone. Speculating that possibly with the news of the January 25th York attacks, Elizabeth Hubbard could have experienced Post Traumatic Stress. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD is defined as, 'the capacity to provoke fear, helplessness, or horror in response to the threat of injury or death.' Symptoms of PTSD are shortness of breath, tremor, nausea, insomnia, unexplained pain, and mood swings. PTSD would not explain why all ten women were claiming they were bewitched, but it could explain Elizabeth Hubbard's belief that she was afflicted of witchcraft. Aside from medical explanation, an economic theory has surfaced. The theory believes that Parris used Betty and Abigail (the original two afflicted) for his own economic enhancement.

As of January 1692, churchgoers were not paying Reverend Samuel Parris' full salary, because some wanted to drive the reverend out. Understandably, the lack of promised payment would cause financial hardship on the Parris family. Originally a merchant from Barbados, Parris must have known something about economics. During some of his sermons he would address their economic struggles. He was not successful in occupying the village meeting house for worship.' Some were going to the Salem town instead for church service. Reverend Parris knew something needed to be done to rejuvenate the Salem Village so that they would want to go to their own place of worship and pay taxes for the minister's salary. Reverend Parris may have used the girls to profit from by making him more important in the village. He may have thought he would make more money if the village believed he was purging the town of evil. If church members believed Reverend Parris was doing a favor to the town, this could have raised attendance rates to church, and cause his salary to be paid in full.

Once the trials came about Parris did become more important in the village. Since he was a man of God's he was part of the trials and believers flocked to him. Another town in Massachusetts in 1735 was having trouble filling the congregation with churchgoers. Minister Jonathan Edwards decided to claim that instead of witchcraft and demons, God actually blessed Northampton. After Minister Edwards made that assertion, followers began to flock to church. If this propaganda happened in 1735, it can be argued that Minister Edwards got the idea from another source, which could have been Reverend Parris and his Salem witches. There is not any clear-cut explanation to the exact cause of the Salem Witch Trials, however there are some logical and convincing theories: feuding families, ergot poisoning, clinical hysteria, hypocalcaemia, and economic profit. As for the original accusers, there may be one answer to the cause, or could possibly be a different reason for each one of the girls. One might just have been play-acting while another was overcome with hysteria. Another girl's involvement could have resulted from a family feud. We may never know the cause of the Salem Witch Trials, but that will not stop scholars from evolving theories.