123 School Work

Salem Witch Trials

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  Alan Woolf from the Massachusetts Poison Control System, wrote an article entitled "Witchcraft or Mycotoxin? The Salem Witch Trials." In this article, Woolf states that "When the evidence is weighed carefully both pro and con, it seems unlikely that ergotism explains much of what went on in colonial Salem" (1). Woolf clearly states the pros and cons of why the evidence can/cannot support that the afflicted girls were actually poisoned with ergot. Finally, he gives his reasoning about why he thinks that these strange events were not caused by ergot, and that they were possibly a result of jealousy and/or revenge.
       There are several arguments that suggest ergotism was the cause of the outbreaks of witchery accusations. The first argument is that "1691 was a cold winter; the following spring and summer were humid. These are conditions ripe for ergot contamination of rye grain" (5). Secondly, "A crop failure forced the Puritans to eat freshly harvested, infested rye" (5). Thomas Putnam was colonial Salem's main provider of rye flour...