Imagine a man accused of a crime he didn't commit, but his punishment, whether he did it or not, is death. Once again, imagine a world where accusations of 13-year-old girls are taken seriously in court. Absurd, ridiculous and beyond question are some of the words most people would use to describe such situations. Between being pressed against large rocks for a confession or being thrown into the river to test for witchcraft, the people of Salem were in the grip of mass hysteria. Unfortunately, these were exactly the type of situations that occurred in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1692. Rejection of the abnormal, government corruption, and ignorance are the sparks the town of Salem needed to ignite the Panic of mass known as the Salem Witch Trials. Bridget Bishop, almost sixty years old, was the first “witch” killed in the Witch Trials. She was hung from a tree on June 10, 1692, signifying the beginning of the dark times that were the Salem witch trials. The Salem witch trials were started by a couple of bratty women who decided it would be fun to accuse someone of being a witch, and then contort their bodies and act distressed whenever that person came near. Unfortunately, these girls' accusations were taken very seriously by the judge and adults in Salem. People were convicted of witchcraft simply because they had irregular moles or blemishes on their faces. Yes, the people of Salem were in the grip of mass hysteria, filling the prisons with “witches” to the point that the prisons reached capacity and could no longer fit any more people. They were able to blame these people through mob mentality, puritanical culture and forced conformity. One of the causes of the Salem witch trials can easily be defined as "mob mentality... middle of paper... old from being accused of witchcraft. The book Complete Salem Witch Trials says: "Dorcas Good, daughter of four years old Sarah Good, became the first child to be accused of witchcraft when three of the girls complained of being bitten by Dorcas' ghost. Dorcas spent nine months in prison, torn from her family and seeing her mother also accused of the same thing The people of Salem were in a frenzy, hanging and crushing living human beings based on verbal accusations. Between the killing of innocents, the ignorance of the obvious truth and the incarceration of the undeserving, the witch trials of. Salem were the epitome of reckless decision making. The people of Salem were deceived by teenagers who were simply having fun. Even as the modern world mocks the inhabitants of Salem, unfounded accusations have resurfaced. I