What caused the Salem witch trial hysteria of 1692 documents?
What caused the Salem witch trial hysteria of 1692 documents? Classifying the Documents (cont.) The Salem Witch Trial Hysteria of 1692 was caused by a cultural belief in witches by the Christian Puritans, and social factors such as the young, unmarried women of Salem accused the married or widowed older women because they were jealous of their status in society. What social conditions led to the Salem witch trials? On the other hand, the physiological theories for the mass hysteria and witchcraft accusations include both fungus poisoning and undiagnosed encephalitis. Linnda Caporael argues that the girls suffered from convulsive ergotism,...