The Mystery of the Salem Witchcraft Trials

The Mystery of the Salem Witchcraft Trials

In a plain meeting house in 1692 a woman stands before her judges. She is accused of tormenting innocent girls with an unseen evil. Standing there, the poor woman is ridiculed in front of her whole town. She is surrounded by people accusing her of witchcraft based only on the hallucinations of attention-hungry schoolgirls. It makes us wonder was there no justice? It did not matter; superstition got the best of them. Eventually these superstitions claimed twenty-five lives, shattered the community, and forever shaped the American social conscience. The combination of fear and superstition in Salem in 1692 caused a devastating witch-hunt, leading us to cry out for some old-fashioned justice. There were many causes that could have led to the occurrence of the Salem Witch Trials including: the influence of religion in 1692, the lack of scientific knowledge, and disputes between townspeople. Whatever the causes, the