The document summarizes Marc Aronson's book "Witch-Hunt" which examines possible explanations for the Salem Witch Trials. Some theories discussed include ergot poisoning causing hallucinations, encephalitis lethargica causing demonic behaviors, and possible schizophrenia leading to witch accusations. The book also profiles some of the key figures of the trials, such as Tituba, the first accused witch who described demonic encounters, and Glover, an Irish woman who was hanged due to cultural differences. The author concludes that forcing beliefs on others and destroying lives over differences can have disastrous consequences, as seen in the witch hunts and Holocaust.

1. ArE you A womEn? Do you own lAnD? CAn you rECitE thE lorD’s prAyEr?
Think before you answer any
question; especially if you lived in
seventeenth century Salem. You
could face the gallows. One
might even wonder today-How this
could have happened?

2. In the book Witch-Hunt author Marc Aronson reveals, the possible truth of
why so many women were accused of Witchcraft
My Thesis statement:
In my opinion Marc Aronson's goal in writing this book was to
reveal new possible theories of what really led to the bizarre
happenings that inflicted the people of Salem.

3. The reader of this book will learn
• "Studies of the witchcraft cases in sixteenth-and seventeenth-century England for
which court records have survived show that 80 percent of those accused were
women" (Aronson, 10).
• The accused witch possessed the following qualities-”She was a woman who had
few or no children or was past her childbearing years, and yet owned property. She
was a person, in other words, who lived outside the pattern of life people
expected of a woman, in which her role and her assets were devoted to her family.
And she was especially suspect if she was outspoken, not modest and quiet”
(Aronson, 11).
• Why Goody Carrier-A women of low moral conduct according to the Puritans, was
accused of witchcraft. Quote in reference to Goody Carrier, “The accused is a
poor, unpopular woman from Andover, who had her first child before she was
married” (Aronson, 4).

4. One might be surprised to learn
• Possible Ergot poison my have led to hallucinations.
These hallucinations are similar to the affects of LSD
use.
• Encephalitis Lethargica could also be an assumption
which led to the symptoms of demonic behavior.
• The saddest realization, possible schizophrenic
conditions may have led to accusations of being a
witch.
This photo was found under a PBS web interview- Ergot
Poisoning – the cause of the Salem Witch Trials
PBS "Secrets of the Dead II" — Witches Curse

5. The following slides will share
details about key characters
from this book
Tituba-A Caribbean slave that admitted to witchcraft, Tituba's
performance in court made her story believable, and it saved her
life"(Aronson, 82). She alone was able to stir more fear in the
people of Salem with her descriptions of the devil from Aronson's
book, "The devil came to her in the form of a hog and also a giant
black dog. In his human guise the devil had a yellow bird that was
a kind of pet" (Aronson, 83). Tituba-1878 drawing on the next
slide.

6. Caption: "Tituba and the Children."
Description: Scene showing Tituba
performing acts of sorcery
acts for Betty Parris, Abigrail Williams,
and other children in the kitchen
of the Rev. Samuel Parris household.
Source: A Popular History
of the United States.
Vol. 2. By William Cullen Bryant,
New York: Charles
Scribner's Sons, 1878,
p. 457. Artist A. Fredericks

7. Cotton Mather was
a young minister that must
prove Glover is a witch.
Glover- an accused witch put
to death because of cultural
differences. She was Irish and
could not recite the Lord’s Prayer.
Also she had cloth dolls,
the Puritans perceived as demonic
devises, she used to cause fits
in the Goodwin children. Could she
have been schizophrenic?
Date c.
1700ourcehttp://www.columbia.edu/itc/law/w
itt/images/lect3/

8. My final thoughts about this
book:
Reading this book allowed me to see how
destructive forcing one's beliefs on others can
prove disastrous. Just as history shows, people
can destroy lives if they do not have a sensible
understanding of women's rights, religious
differences, cultural diversity and mental illness.
While reading this book my thoughts often
turned to Hitler and how his hatred for one
religion led to the Holocaust. He also lashed out
at others for differences and mental illness. Marc
Aronson's assumption sums up my feelings as
well, "There was simply too much danger of using
faith to destroy innocent people" (204).
Mary Hutchinson