It was the wheat, not the water. Watched a special on this, and a small flooding in most of the wheat crops made them mold. The people didn't think much of it and when baked the wheat produced something close to LSD and people began freaking out. The older ladies, not being able to farm and got by on sewing and other means, were then targeted and blamed because they showed no symptoms. Which is why witches were always portrayed as old and frail in the stories afterword.
While this is all true, a great deal of the witch hysteria in Salem, a great deal of it was an extreme case of twelve year olds being bratty and jealous and hating each other for stupid reasons. They took advantage of the fact that both sections of Salem (Salem village and Salem town) and the aspects of life were controlled by religion and superstition. Pastor Parris, who was the Puritan Pastor at the time, listened to the group of girls claiming they were bewitched and brought the accused to court. The girls would then roll about and shriek and pretend they were possessed by the "witch"; a great deal of those they accused were other girls, slaves, or anyone that appeared troublesome. The leader of this group was named Ann Putnam, who, literally, was twelve.
Well, I knew it was somewhat accurate, I just didn't think it was completely accurate. I also had a sub when we read The Crucible because my teacher was on maternity leave and we were just assigned pages.
Yeah, I'm not a dumbass. Jeez. It was a question because I haven't read The Crucible in awhile.
The education system sucks, but there are some really amazing teachers out there, so no need to be so overly dramatic.
The education system sucks, but there are some really amazing teachers out there, so no need to be so overly dramatic.