Salem Witch Trials

There are many different theories as to why the Salem Witch Trial’s took place. The most unconvincing reason tries to assure people that men and women who were accused or did the accusing had medical problems. In a website set up by the television station, PBS an article was written on this theory, “Secrets of the Dead” talks about a researcher that hypothesized the reason for the trials was caused by Ergot. Ergot is fungus in grain that was highly common. The article states “ Caporael, now a behavioral psychologist at New York’s Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, soon noticed a link between the strange symptoms reported by Salem’s accusers, chiefly eight young women, and the hallucinogenic effects of drugs like LSD. LSD is a derivative of ergot, a fungus that affects rye grain. Ergotism-- ergot poisoning—has indeed been implicated in other outbreaks of bizarre behavior” (1). Linda Caporael found this grain while researching and determined it to be the cause of th...