What was the cause of the Salem trials?

Answer 1

Sometime toward the end of January, 1692, Betty Parris, nine year-old daughter of the Reverend Samuel Parris, became ill. She suffered from convulsions that contorted her body. At times she would cry out and cower under chairs as if frightened of something. Soon her thirteen-year-old orphaned cousin, Abigail, who also lived in the Parris household, showed the same symptoms. Reverend Parris and his wife did not recognize the malady and had the girls examined by several doctors. The physicians could find nothing wrong with the girls and by mid-February Dr. William Griggs declared that he thought "the evil hand is upon them." After that the word spread quickly through the tiny community of Salem Village: "There are witches among us."

Answer:The cause of the panic that lead ot the trials in Salem was the affliction of girls in Essex County. The cause of the affliction is unknown. Theories include Ergotism, Encephalitis and mental illness.