The witch hunt in Salem took place in the town of Salem, a British colony after the discovery of the American continent. In the 17th century, superstitions were widespread among the people. In such an environment, nearly 200 people would be imprisoned for the lies told by 3 little girls and nearly 20 people would be executed ...
Salem Witch Hunt
Samuel Parris, a well-known merchant living in Salem Town, near Massachusetts, buys 2 slaves while trading in Barbados. The purpose of Parris's purchase of the two slaves is for the slaves to help his wife with household chores. These slaves are John and Tituba. Because of superstitions, children doing things like dancing, singing, playing games were not welcomed. That's why Parris's daughters weren't having a very good time. They would spend most of the day with Tituba to relieve their boredom. Tituba would tell them about magic and sorcery and taught them to do rituals like foreseeing the future. Girls who were influenced by these stories started to tell other girls what they listened to.
They used to pour egg whites into a glass to see the future. This innocent play of the children would have bad consequences in the days to later. In February 1692, the girls began to have epileptic seizures. The doctors who were called upon this situation could not explain the situation of the girls in line with the information of the period. The girls were crawling on the ground, screaming and writhing in pain.
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| witch hunt salem |
For the stories and rituals Tituba told the girls, the girls blamed Tituba. According to them, it was the devils that made the girls in such a situation. The people believed that the girls would be cured if the devil was found and eliminated. An investigation was launched and the girls were questioned.
First, Tituba was found guilty. Sarah Good was then accused by the public of living alone. Another accused was an old woman because she lived unmarried with her servant. While questioning these three women, the little girls who slandered began to have epileptic seizures. They kept saying that the witches were flying around and hurting themselves. The eyes then turned to the three women in the courtroom (Tituba, Sarah Good, and the old woman). During his time with the little girls, Tituba confessed to being a witch as a result of what she told the girls was revealed. Knowing it was death at the end, Tituba told lies to getaway. She said she was under the command of two cats, red and black, while a black dog forced her to torture girls. As if that wasn't enough, she also told the lie that she flew to the meeting with the witches. Nowadays it is a little difficult to find a believer in such an incident, but don't be angry with Tituba either. Because at a time when superstition was so intense, only such an answer could satisfy the public. Thus, it was concluded that all three women were witches.
Tituba did not stop there. While he was thinking that he would be executed, at last, he wanted to take other people with him. He claimed that there were 7 more witches besides himself. He said that these witches were ruled by a man in a black robe with long white hair. This old man told that he had forcibly signed the devil's notebook and saw 9 more signatures in the notebook. The older one of the three women could not stand and died. The remaining Tituba and Sarah Good were sent to Boston prison and the witch hunt began ...
When the court heard the news of the group of witches living in the town, forced the girls to give more names. Ann Jr. accused Martha Corey, the wife of one of the town's congressmen, at the force of her mother, who had been full of revenge. Martha went to visit little Ann with her family to dissuade her from this ridiculous accusation. However, Ann began to have terrible seizures and said that her ghost saw a man cooking in the cauldron. Mercy, one of the girls, said that other witches joined her and forced her to sign Satan's notebook. Marta Corey was quite successful in defending herself in court. However, the girls were in deep pain during his defense and were showing signs of the bite to the court. Even her husband, who was from the Town Council, forced her to confess.
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Because of this situation, the girls would either be saved by blaming others or had to admit that they were a witch. events had grown so large that girls in the neighboring towns were also being blamed. This situation continued until May 1693. Nearly 200 people were charged. The public no longer even remembered how things started. The girls on trial continued to blame others without mercy. The court board decided not to see the girls' accusations as evidence anymore. By the time this decision was made, nearly 20 people had already died. People held in prisons were released. Even Tituba! But he was sold as a slave because he could not afford the court expenses.
What Made The Girls Crazy?
Rye Spur
It was Linnda Caporael's rye mushroom theory featured in Science magazine in 1976. Those who ate the rye contaminated with this parasite had symptoms, hallucinations, muscle spasms, and seizures, also known as 'ryegrass disease'.
Others attributed it to a plant known as the devil's apple or tubular flower, which had psychoactive effects. Later, a sleeping sickness or immune system disorder caused by an environmental toxin or microbe was mentioned.
However, all of these were later eliminated because the basic symptoms specific to those diseases were absent or for other reasons.
Antibody-induced brain inflammation
Today, another theory put forward by neurologist Michael Zandi and his student Johnny Tam at UCL University in London in the Journal of Neurology is on the agenda: anti-NMDAR brain inflammation, brain inflammation caused by antibodies.
Typical symptoms of this disease are: It starts with symptoms of the flu. Within a few weeks, the patient develops god or devil obsession, paranoia and insomnia. He keeps repeating the same words for a while, then goes silent. The next stage is seizures, uncontrolled limbs, repetitive strange mouth and tongue movements. Increase or decrease in heart rate, increase and decrease in blood pressure, abnormal movements occur.
These patients had been labeled hysterical or neurotic for years and were sent to mental hospitals. However, research conducted in 2007 revealed that this is a neurological disorder and is caused by antibodies reacting against NMDA receptors.