5 Things Everyone Gets Wrong About the Salem Witch Hunts [View all]

Much of it Was About Money and Petty In-Fighting: Anyone that comes up to you and tells you that they have the singular answer to what caused the 100,000 deaths in witch hunts across multiple countries and over the course of centuries is lying to you. Anti-Semitism, hallucinogenic fungus, misogyny, a plot by the church to instill fear and cement control, suppression of indigenous faiths, and dozens of other theories are thrown around. They are just factors, though, differently weighted parts of the strange and terrifying algorithm that resulted in a particularly dark and gruesome chapter of western history.

One of those factors largely overlooked is that of money. Witch hunts were big business. The accused, innocent or not, were billed for their trial, detention, and all aspects of the legal proceedings against them. Repent of your wickedness and you were allowed a more humane death, but your property was forfeited to the church. It was a wish to leave his heirs with something that led Giles Corey to his grisly death by pressing.

http://blogs.houstonpress.com/artattack/2014/02/salem_witch_hunts.php?page=2