WILLIAM PHIPS Shawn MusialMs. DelGrego
English 3
BORN/DEATH Born: February 2, 1651
Town: Kennebec, Main
Died: February 16, 1693
CHILDHOOD One of twenty six other children
Education was rare in rural Main
Unable to read until he moved to Boston, Massachusetts in order to study
Learned ship-carpentry trade form father
FAMILY Father-
co-owned and operated a trading post plantation involved in the trade of fur and weapons.
Wife- Name: Mary Spencer Hull Married in 1637
CAREER When he moved to Boston,
Massachusetts, he became captain of a supply ship that would travel towards Haiti and recover treasure from sunken ships.
Eventually became governor of Massachusetts
PHIPS'S EXPEDITION Traveled to London to seek funds for his
expedition to explore sunken Spanish ships in the Caribbean for treasure
After receiving the funding he needed, Phips and his crew went on exploring
They discovered the remains of the Spanish ship Conception where he and his men took about 205,000 to 210,000 English pounds
Phips then gave ten percent to the king and queen
THE KNIGHTING OF PHIPS After giving some of the money to the
Crown Phips was called to Windsor Castle
King James II knighted Phips on June 28th, 1687
A great achievement considering Phips did not have a royal background
RELIGIOUS PRACTICES
Befriended Increase Mather and his son Cotton Mather
Baptized in 1689 a Cotton Mather’s Church after making a profession of faith
BECOMING A GOVERNOR
Phips petitioned for the Massachusetts Charter with Increase Mather
When the charter was passed, Increase Mather used his influence to nominate Phips to be the first Royal Governor
ROLE AS GOVERNOR Phips returned to Massachusetts on May
14, two months after the accusations in Salem began
He ordered that those accused be put in jail
Created Court of Oyer and Terminer in order to determine the witch cases and placed lieutenant governor William Stroughton in charge of it
Court of Oyer and Terminer
DOWNFALL The court was later deemed illegal to
avoid lawsuits (however it was legal due to it being created by a legitimate Royal Governor)
People were being convicted and executed on little to no evidence what-so-ever
Phips eventually realized the false accusations and became aware of the mistakes his court was making…
CHANGE OF HEART Phips pardoned eight people who were
sentenced to death
Tried to end the court
Couldn’t control the court, therefore more executions occurred
Eventually the court was ended
BIBLIOGRAPHYBaker, Emerson W. and John G. Reid. The New
England Knight, Sir William Phips 1651-1695,1998.
Miller, Perry. "The Judgment of the Witches," in The New England Mind: From Colony to Province, 1953.
Phips, Governor, Sir William. Letters of Governor Phips to the Home Government, 1692-1693, 1693. In George L. Burr, Narratives of the Witchcraft Cases, 1648 - 1706, 1914.
Rosenthal, Bernard. Salem Story, Reading the Witch Trials of 1692,1993.
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