What Caused the Salem Witch-Hunt?

Unsolved Mysteries of American History, by Paul Aron, Barnes and Noble, New York, 1997.
The Salem Witch Trials as they are known, resulted in twenty executions, fourteen woman.  Also five people died while imprisoned, including two children.  What Caused the Salem Witch-Hunt?  This is a question with many answers.  What is known for sure is that an area was effected with mass hysteria.  Some made accusations to free themselves.  It started when two girls had attacks which were not contributed to epilepsy.  Their Black servant who dabbled in voo-doo provided an excellent excuse, which then resulted in more and more accusations.  Upwards of fifty persons spent time in prison.  There was a preexisting feud going on between the Putnams and the Porters.  The Putnams being the second wife, and her son, who inherited a very large estate, which the descendants of the first wife thought should belong to them.  Joseph Putnam, of the second wife, married a bride of considerable wealth, a Porter.  The Putnams were among the accusers.  The daughter of Thomas Putnam was one of those who had fits blamed on witchcraft.  The Porters and their friends were often named as witches.  However the Porter side of the family remained rich, while the Putnam side remained poor, and most of them moved away.  In addition to the feud, there were other motives.  The magistrate who carried out the arrests benefited greatly.  One of the priest, who wasn’t fully drawn to the idea, prospered when a rival priest was accused.  The judges also may have been in on the profiteering.