Salem Witch Trial
Comparing Historical Events to Experiments
Summary of the Salem Witch Trial
The town believed the girls because they were put under the impression that they were bewitched. Another reason why reason why it was easy to believe was because citizens of the town had, "a strong belief in the devil" and there were several "accusations of witchcraft" (http://www.salemwitchmuseum.com/education/). These said witches were kept away from people and frowned upon. They were kept in prisons and soon prisons were filled with over 150 men and women and 7 died (http://www.history.com/topics/salem-witch-trials).
Soon after that, people started to get death penalties. The first person who got hanged was, Bridget Bishop, and after her, several others followed. (http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/a-brief-history-of-the-salem-witch-trials-175162489/?no-ist) A total of 19 people died by being hung, and 1 man was crushed to death. Many others lives were never the same. Multiple people's world changed because they were paranoid over the devil and witchcraft.
Milgram's Experiment
Stanford Prison Experiment
Connections
Milgram's Experiment works because there was an authority figure telling them it is required. I think most people wouldn't have gone all the way to the end if no one was there to tell them not to. Just like in the Salem Witch Trials. Reverend Samuel Parris of Salem Village was the father and uncle of two of the girls (http://www.salemwitchmuseum.com/education/). Therefor, he was all for the fact that they were bewitched so it wouldn't be there fault or his. He was looked upon as a very mature good man so when he said that the witches were bad, people believed him and when he abused the "witches" rights, so did everyone else. (http://www.history.com/topics/salem-witch-trials)