Mass hysteria is a frenzy that has the potential to effect an entire community, state or possibly even country or nation. "[It is] a condition where a group of people dash about wildly, screaming and sometimes talking as if another person is in them; experiencing rapid breathing, spasms of extremities or even fainting"(Ha

In the Salem Witch Trials, the "existing difficulties" that led up to the witchcraft theory were ordinary stresses of seventeenth century life in Massachusetts. These include "a strong belief in the devil, factions among Salem Village fanatics and rivalry with nearby Salem Town, a recent small pox epidemic and the threat of attack by warring tribes"(D'Amario 1). All these issues led to rising fear and suspicion. "Soon prisons were filled with more that 150 men surrounding Salem; their names had been 'cried out' by tormented young girls as the cause of their pain. All would await trial for a crime punishable by death, the practice of witchcraft"(D'Amario 1). Many theories exist as to why these girls behaved as they did and caused the witchcraft hysteria. One theory states: "they had eaten bread contaminated with a hallucinogenic fungus"(TWHSTSV 2), which supposedly caused them to act as they did. Another says: "they were bored and got caught up in the sudden attention they were receiving and the power they were exe

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Approximate Word count = 692
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)