SALEM WITCH TRIALS

SALEM WITCH TRIALSDaniel SHIELDS

The Salem Witch trials in 1692-1693 is a dark time in American History.Innocent people being put to death over something that was not fullyUnderstood. It was said to be a sickness not witchcraft that caused theseColonist a reaction that would cost too many their lives. Even animals were put To death over this. Religion was the main catalyst for the trials that caused massHysteria.

The Salem Witch trials were a series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraftIn colonial Massachusetts February 1662 and May 1663. The trials resulted in the execution of twenty people.

This is one Colonial Americas most notorious cases of mass hysteria and is often used in political rhetoricAs a reminder of what the dangers of isolationism and religious extremism.

Fanciful representation of the Salem witch trials,lithographfrom 1892

A Haunted history clip from a documentary at History.com

The events which led to theSalem witch trialsbegan when Parris' daughterBetty and her cousin,Abigail Williams, accused Parris' slaveTitubaofwitchcraft. Parris beat Tituba until she confessed herself a witch, and John Indian, her husband, began accusing others. The delusion spread, many were apprehended, most of whom were imprisoned.

The deposition of Abigail Williams v. George Jacobs, Sr.

This 19th-century representation of "Tituba and the Children" by Alfred Fredericks, originally appeared inA Popular History of the United States, Vol. 2, byWilliam Cullen Bryant(1878)

Like Tituba, several accused witches confessed and named still others, and the trials soon began to overwhelm the local justice system. In May 1692, the newly appointed governor of Massachusetts, William Phips, ordered the establishment of a special Court of Oyer (to hear) and Terminer (to decide) on witchcraft cases

William Phips

the court handed down its first conviction, against Bridget Bishop, on June 2; she was hanged eight days later on what would become known as Gallows Hill in Salem Town. Five more people were hanged that July; five in August and eight more in September. In addition, seven other accused witches died in jail, while the elderly Giles Corey (Marthas husband) was pressed to death by stones after he refused to enter a plea at his

Bridget Bishop

Giles Coreywas pressed to death during the Salem witch trials in the 1690s

Theparsonage in Salem Village, as photographed in the late 19th century

Belief in the supernatural and the devil believing to give some certain humans powers to harmOthers was in Europe as early as the 14th century. Then was spread to the colonies in New England.

Life was not easy at the time they were recovery from the British war with France,A small pox epidemic, and fears from attack of Native Americans.

The present-day archaeological site of the Salem Village parsonage

The Salem Witch Trials Memorial Park in Salem

The three accused witches were brought before the magistrates Jonathan Corwin and John Hathorne and questioned, even as their accusers appeared in the courtroom in a grand display of spasms, contortions, screaming and writhing. Though Good and Osborn denied their guilt, Tituba confessed. Likely seeking to save herself from certain conviction by acting as an informer, she claimed there were other witches acting alongside her in service of the devil against the Puritans. As hysteria spread through the community and beyond into the rest of Massachusetts, a number of others were accused, including Martha Corey and Rebecca Nurseboth regarded as upstanding members of church and communityand the four-year-old daughter of Sarah Good.

Salem 1692

Prior to the constitutional turmoil of the 1680s, Massachusetts government had been dominated by Puritansecular leaders. Influenced byCalvinism, Puritans had opposed many of the traditions of theProtestant Church of England, including use of theBook of Common Prayer, the use of priestly vestments (cap and gown) during services, the use of the Holy Cross duringbaptism, and kneeling during the sacrament, all of which they believed constitutedpoper. KingCharles I was hostile to this point of view, and Anglican church officials tried to repress these dissenting views during the 1620s and 1630s. This resulted in some Puritans and other religious minorities seeking refuge in the Netherlands, but ultimately many made amajor migrationto colonial North America.

King Charles I

Cotton Mather warned of the lack of actual evidence for these crimes. HeWas a respected minister at the time, dreams and visions were being taken As evidence. He was later joined by his father the president of Harvard college That it needs to be like any other crime, but it went largely unheard.

Cotton Mather

In January 1697, the Massachusetts General Court declared a day of fasting for the tragedy of the Salem witch trials; the court later deemed the trials unlawful, and the leading justice Samuel Sewall publicly apologized for his role in the process. The damage to the community lingered, however, even after Massachusetts Colony passed legislation restoring the good names of the condemned and providing financial restitution to their heirs in 1711. Indeed, the vivid and painful legacy of the Salem witch trials endured well into the 20th century, when Arthur Miller dramatized the events of 1692 in his play The Crucible (1953), using them as an allegory for the anti-Communist witch hunts led by Senator Joseph McCarthy in the 1950s.

Samuel Sewall

Religion was a big part of everyday life in the colonys. So much so that it went too farIn killing people that were sick but because of what people thought was the devil hung as witches.

One reason why this is unique to America is because even today there really isnt an answerTo why this even happen it was an isolated event that has so many unanswered questions. Was it small pox? Or some other illness?

If I lived in the time of the Salem witch trials as a African American I would be scared. The first one accused was the slave Tituba of teaching young girls black magic. It seems the ones with little to no rights( woman and slaves) were the only ones punished.

Tituba

Today and from now on I believe religion will always play a part in law and rules inOur society. Terrorist claim that their actions are for god and are just. And even today people useReligion to scare and intimidate for their beliefs. As far as witchcraft goes today it is mostly justMake-believe and in movies like The Witch that just came out. I will attach the trailer below I hear it is quite good.

A few interesting things I learn is that even two dogs were killed during the trials.They believed that dogs and other animals such as cats, mice, frogs were helping the witches do their bidding and aiding In the devils work. Also some were accused because they had freckles or moles.This was believed to be a place where evil spirits could be maintained.

When push came to shove, the Salem witch trials were less about witchcraft and more about the state of Christianity. People were being sentenced to death because of heresy, which meant that they were showing a outward denial of the demanded Christian beliefs of the time. It was a crime so heinous that colonial law allowed all other laws to be superseded to deal with the threat. In modern terms, Salem declared martial law to deal with religious heresy.

In conclusion the mass hysteria in Salem seemed to be tied to religion,It has been said by historians really to be a sickness maybe found in their Wheat or rye. This community was very religious and strict when it cameTo rules of god. It was defiantly token to a whole new level when animalsWere even to blame and were killed along with 20 accused people. I dont Think faith is a bad thing at all, it can be wonderful if used in the right way but As in many other cases in history it can go down a dark path.

Adams, G. (2009),The Specter of Salem: Remembering the Witch Trials in Nineteenth-Century America, University of Chicago Press

SourcesLasky, Kathryn.Beyond the Burning Time. Point: New York, NY 1994Robbins, Rossell Hope. The Encyclopedia of Witchcraft and Demonology. Crown Publishers IncRosenthal, Bernard.Salem Story: Reading the Witch Trials of 1692. Cambridge University Press: New York. 1993.Wilson, Lori Lee.The Salem Witch Trials. How History Is Invented series. Lerner: Minneapolis. 1997.Hill, Frances.A Delusion of Satan: The Full Story of the Salem Witch Trials. Doubleday: New York. 1995A24 Studio, Director Robert Eggers The Witch 2016History.com, Haunted History, 2013