Causes for the Outbreak of Witchcraft Hysteria in Salem
1. Strong belief that Satan is acting in the world.
· "The invisible world": disease, natural catastophes, and bad fortune attributed to work of the devil
2. A belief that Satan recruits witches and wizards to work for him.
· Prior witchcraft cases in New England (and Europe before)
3. A belief that a person afflicted by witchcraft exhibits certain symptoms.
· Cotton Mather's Memorable Providences
· Most symptoms can be feigned
4. A time of troubles, making it seem likely that Satan was active.
· Smallpox
· Congregational strife in Salem Village
· Frontier wars with Indians
5. Stimulation of imaginations by Tituba.
6. Convulsive ergotism, a disease caused by eating infecting rye that can produce hallucinations, causing strange behavior? (Interesting theory, but unlikely)
7. Teenage boredom.
· No television, no CDs, and lots of Bible reading
· Strict and humorless Parris household
8. Magistrates and judges receptive to accusations of witchcraft.
· A way to shift blame for their own wartime failures
· Admission of spectral evidence
9. Confessing "witches" adding credibility to earlier charges.
10. Old feuds (disputes within congregation, property disputes) between the accusers and the accused spurring charges of witchcraft.
