Main explanations

       There are many explanations for the events that happened in Salem in 1692. In this post I am going to explain briefly the main ones as well as introduce you to the main actors in this historical event. 

       One of the most controversial explanations for the Salem witch-hunt is that the accusing girls suffered from ergot poisoning. The main authors who developed this theory – supporting or criticizing it - were Linda Caporael, Mary K. Matossian (1982; 1989) and Nicholas P. Spanos (1976; 1983). The first two established that ergot poisoning, something very common in rye in colonial days could be the reason for the girls having fits and claiming to see spectres and their neighbours attacking them in their dreams. It was very common for families to bake their own rye bread at home, so that if it was infested with ergot – an hallucinogenic substance very similar to LSD – the families who ate that bread could experiment symptoms very similar to the ones recorded in the witchcraft cases. However, there were several drawbacks in this interpretation, and it is the third author, Nicholas P. Spanos the one who states several questions that reject this interpretation as the main reason for the behaviour of the girls. 

       The most "famous" explanation for the accusations is that the girls were playing magic and they were scared to death because of the punishment that they will receive if their parents discovered what they had been doing. It is important to take into account that they were living in a Puritan community with very strict norms and playing with the Devil was considered a very serious crime against God and the whole community.   

Tituba playing magic with the girls

Charles W. Upham (1867: 76) is the first one to present Tituba, Samuel Parris’ slave girl from Barbados, as triggering the event by teaching magic to the girls. Marion Starkey (1989: 10-11) also places emphasis on this theory as can be seen in the quote below:

Tituba yielded to the temptation to show the children tricks and spells, fragments of something like voodoo remembered from the Barbados. [. . .] It is possible that history would never have heard of Abigail and Betty [the two children first afflicted] . . . had they kept Tituba to themselves. But that they could not do. Tituba's fascination was too powerful to be monopolized by two small girls. Thanks to her, the parsonage kitchen presently became a rendezvous for older girls in the neighbourhood.

       Scholars have used other disciplines in order to find an explanation for the behaviour of the whole population. Psychology has been one of such disciplines. George M. Beard (1882[1971]: vii – xvi) compares the Salem Witchcraft Trails. However, one of the main psychological explanations is presented by Winfield S. Nevins (1994: 244) who explained that:  “[…] it may be they were carried away by the importance in the community which their statements gave to them; or they may have been the victims of the same mental derangement that afflicted the older people.”

       Of the many assumptions about the Salem witch trials, the most persistent is that they were instigated by a circle of hysterical girls (Rosenthal 1992: 12). Marion L. Starkey (1989: 14) also explains that what happened in Salem was a case of hysteria and that the girls were enjoying the attention they were receiving and they were lying.

The girls suffered a fit during one of the examinations

       Hysteria as an explanation was also supported by Chadwick Hansen who claimed that: “the behaviour of the afflicted persons was not fraudulent by pathological. They were hysterics […] These people were not merely overexcited: they were mentally ill (1969: x).

       Finally, sociology has also been used in order to decipher the real causes behind the accusations. Boyer, Paul and Stephen Nissenbaum in their book, Salem Possessed (1992) establish the hypothesis of a pattern of village quarrels, i.e., people divided among those in line with the minister and those against him. It is interesting to see how these two authors show us that most of the accused belonged to the group who were against the minister of the village while those in line with him comprised most of the group of the accusing girls and adults. It is also interesting to remember that Boyer and Nissembaum clearly state that the girls were directed by adults who were the real accusers but who were plotting against their enemies behind the curtains and using their daughters as the accusing voices.

In this presentation you can find a summary of the main causes of the Salem witch-hunt as well as a list of the main actors that took part in these events.