What are the events that brought about the infamous Salem Witch Trials?

Economic troubles, a difficult climate, resentment between neighbors, and a few children with a possible fungal infection led to mass hysteria.
Salem was divided into two classes: the Puritan families, who relied on agriculture to survive, and the wealthy merchants on the other side of town.
The world’s climate had been colder than usual for some time. A “little ice age” that lasted from the fourteenth through eighteenth centuries brought particularly cool temperatures in 1680, which led to poor crops and food shortages (Oster 216). The farmers were barely scraping by, while the merchants were relatively unaffected.
Other stressful conditions in Salem included smallpox, fear of the indigenous people, and English and French troops battling in the American colonies. The entire community was on edge; at this point, it wouldn’t have taken much to incite violence.
Accusations of witchcraft had been common in Europe for a long time—roughly a million people had been tried and executed as witches since the thirteenth century. People accused of witchcraft were convenient scapegoats, and for many Salem citizens in that time period, it was reasonable to assume that dark magic was responsible for their misfortune.
In 1692, when two young girls began suffering from terrifying fits of screaming and seizures, the doctor declared them to be victims of witchcraft. The finger-pointing began, and the hysteria mounted. It took about a year for the people to come to their senses, and by then, nineteen people (and two dogs!) had been tried and executed as witches.
Interestingly, modern historians suggest that the girls may have been infected by the ergot fungus or encephalitis lethargica (inflamed brain tissue), both of which could have caused their symptoms (Saxon).
WORKS CITED
Oster, Emily. “Witchcraft, Weather and Economic Growth in Renaissance Europe.” Journal of Economic Perspectives, Vol. 18, no. 1, 2004, pp. 215-228. JSTOR.
Saxon, Vicki. “What Caused the Salem Witch Trials?” JSTOR Daily, 27 October, 2015. https://daily.jstor.org/caused-salem-witch-trials/ Accessed 8 December 2017.
https://daily.jstor.org/caused-salem-witch-trials/