The girls were having a type of epileptic fit and would scream out . A lot was changing in colonial America at the time. We know not whether some remarkable affronts given to the Devils by our disbelieving those testimonies whose whole force and strength is from them alone, may not put a period unto the progress of the dreadful calamity begun upon us, in the accusations of so many persons, whereof some, we hope, are yet clear from the great transgression laid unto their charge. The witchcraft hysteria in Salem first began in January of 1692 when a group of young girls, who later came to be known as the afflicted girls, fell ill after playing a fortune-telling game and began behaving strangely. As chief justice, Stoughton believed that spectral evidence presented to the court that is, evidence gathered from dreams and visions would form a central plank of the prosecutions. They were a means of crowd control that gave way to changes in power structures. . How twisted is that? Think it was her kids. One of the most popular theories as to what could have caused the mass hysteria of Salem in 1692 is that of ergot poisoning. Very well done! Those who lived nearer to Salem Town engaged in commerce and were seen as a bit more worldly. The jail was a small wooden structure with a dungeon underneath. Native Americans and other religions represented threats by the Devil. This series of prosecutions and hangings of those accused of practicing witchcraft provoked a major backlash, and the event still haunts us today. In January 1692 Salem Village was dealing with a lot. Are there any other theories as to what may have caused the girls strange behavior? There were the ordinary stresses of 17th-century life in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The others were either found guilty but pardoned, found not guilty, were never indicted or simply evaded arrest or escaped from jail. They hanged the poor souls instead. 1. Often, in movies and television and books, the accusers in the Salem trials are portrayed as angsty teenage girls, but thats not completely true. There the accused were questioned by a judge in front of a jury, which decided whether or not to indict the accused on charges of witchcraft. Did you know they executed 2 dogs?! As a devout and strongly religious community living in near isolation in the mysterious New World, the community of Salem had a heightened sense of fear of the Devil and, as a result, it didnt take much to convince the villagers that there was evil among them. Her initial verdict was, in fact, not guilty, but upon hearing the verdict the afflicted girls began to have fits in the courtroom. The first of the girls to start experiencing symptoms was Betty Parris, followed by Abigail Williams, Ann Putnam Jr., Mary Walcott and Mercy Lewis. For years, Salem Village tried to separate itself politically from Salem Town. The Carringtons were indicted Feb. 20, 1651, and convicted and executed two weeks later, the only husband and wife to be accused, tried and hanged as witches. Do not lay more stress on pure spectral evidence than it will bear, he cautioned. The Examination of Sarah Good, March 1, 1692. I find the history interesting and would like to find more information on this matter. Salem Witch Trials from William A. Crafts Did the people really believe in witches? They were during the Colonial times. As the innocent women approached the gallows, in the last moments of their lives, they continued to protest their innocence. Chapter 145 of the resolves of 1957, Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Ergot contains lysergic acid, a precursor for synthesis of LSD; certainly the visions of shape-shifting devils reported by the afflicted might be consistent with the experiences of an acid trip. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. They feared many innocent people were being executed. Went to the library to look for my family history but came across my friends families name. what is a secondary source in this salem witch trail! Wow. Massachusetts State Archives. Is there any credence to this theory? Ever since those dark days ended, the trials have become synonymous with mass hysteria and scapegoating. hope you in joy it was really helpful to my students and i, Thankyou this helpedme a lot for my 3 page essay in english 11 class. Theres always a lot of discussion in the Pagan community about theso-called Burning Times, which is the term used to describe the witch hunts of early modern Europe. When it came to religion, Salem Village was as devout as any other settlement in the area; one visitor observed that the residents of New England could neither drive a bargain, nor make a jest, without a text of Scripture at the end of it. Essex County Court Archives, vol. This was a dark time but it is good to see the court system advance. There were many critics of the witch hunt, such as a local farmer John Proctor, who scoffed at the idea of witchcraft in Salem and called the young girls scam artists. How many people (male and female) were killed in the Trials? Here are some of our favorite Salem attractions: Salem Witch Museum Your first stop should be the Salem Witch Museum. An elderly woman accused of witchcraft is taken to the courthouse by an officer of the law. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Nor can we esteem alterations made in the sufferers, by a look or touch of the accused, to be an infallible evidence of guilt, but frequently liable to be abused by the Devil's legerdemains. This legal tactic was known as peine forte et dure which means strong and harsh punishment.. Despite its power as a cautionary tale, Salem remains an enigma that continues to fascinate and beguile more than three centuries later. Since some of the law enforcement involved in the Salem Witch Trials were being sued by some of the surviving victims, the bill also stated: no sheriff, constable, goaler or other officer shall be liable to any prosecution in the law for anything they then legally did in the execution of their respective offices.. Most of the accused really had nowhere else to go and many of them didnt have the money to leave even if they wanted to. im doing a huge assessment in my language arts class called national history day and i love how into detail this went! Luckily ann putnum jr lived to apologize. Hope that helps with your bibliography. The Salem Witch Trials: Facts & History. The Salem Witch Trials: Facts & History. This was a special type of court in English law established specifically to hear cases that are extraordinary and serious in nature. 126. The story is about Susannah English, daughter of accused witches Phillip and Mary English and friend of Ann Putnam, Jr. Twenty people were put to death in Salem for the crime of witchcraft. Second, everyone got their food from the same place, so symptoms would have occurred in every household, not just a select few. i would like to know more about the salem witch trials. what was the ratio of men to women. Add in the numerous films and television series that reference Salem, and things get even more distorted. i need it for my bibliography, do you have any websites that could help me to find the secondary source? Alden spent 15 weeks in jail before friends helped break him out and he escaped to New York. The Story of the Salem Witch Trials is a history of that event. I really enjoy reading your blog! Kisses and xoxo It all began in 1692 and 1693 when Salem in the United States . Here are 10 facts about the witch trials that will surely send chills down your spine. By the end of May, more than 60 people were in custody; the vast majority were women, but a handful of men were also detained. One freezing day in January of 1692, something strange happened inside the Parris household of Salem Village, Massachusetts. A Break With Charity: A Story About the Salem Witch Trials by Ann Rinaldi. People wanted to protect themselves, so they ratted out their own friends, neighbors or anyone they didn't like. How should I cite this? Getting the right to vote didn't come easy for women. Although the witch hunt started in Salem Village, it quickly spread to the neighboring towns, including Amesbury, Andover, Salisbury, Topsfield, Ipswich and Gloucester, and numerous residents of those towns were brought to Salem and put on trial. Nineteen were hanged, and oneelderly Giles Coreypressed to death. Get ready to pull out your history books as we bring you the most DISTURBING facts about the Salem Witch Trials. William Stoughton is an ancestor of mine, sorry to say. Hoffer, Peter Charles. I know that the accusers, at least some of them were aligned with the Putnam family who was known to have land disputes with several of the villagers. Only the intervention of Cotton Mather whonappeased the crowd with the observation that the devil had often been transformed into the Angel of Light ensured that the hangings continued as scheduled. Was there some sort of compromise at the end? What is the legacy of the Salem witch trials? 62, No. A prolific pamphleteer railing against the spread of witchcraft (or molestations from the invisible world), Mather was nonetheless keen for due diligence to occur inside the courtroom. If you want to learn more about the Salem Witch Trials, check out this article on the best Salem Witch Trials books. The trials only lasted three months, but they managed to leave a perpetual dark mark on the town's history. It has so many details that I need. Thank for the site it is so helpful for my project! in journalism. The courthouse was torn down in 1760 but a plaque dedicated to the courthouse can still be seen today on the wall of the Masonic Temple on Washington Street. During Titubas examination, she made a shocking confession that she had been approached by Satan, along with Sarah Good and Sarah Osburn, and they had all agreed to do his bidding as witches. The Salem witch trials of the late 17th century were a formative episode in America's early history, and have remained at the forefront of the national consciousness ever since. Other victims include two dogs who were shot or killed after being suspected of witchcraft. TDR / The Drama Review, 2018, Vol. 1982)]. This really helped with my homework on the salem witch trials cause soon we are going to do an essay on this very soon. The court didnt believe them, and found all three women guilty of practicing witchcraft. The theory first came to prominence in the 1970s, when Linnda R. Caporael wrote Ergotism: The Satan Loosed in Salem? The best way to get people's attention is to start spreading sensational and fake news. It means that even though supernatural evidence might seem sketchy to us in this day and age, for people like Cotton Mather and the rest of Salem, it was perfectly acceptable in cases of necessity. Soon, prisons were filled with more than 150 men and women from towns surrounding Salem; their names had been cried out by tormented young girls as the cause of their pain. The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts between February 1692 and May 1693. In pre-echoes of what would later occur in Salem, panic took hold of the local community, with accusations flying in all directions. Dr Griggs was a relative through my grandmother. Of course, remembering the events of 1692 can still act as a brake when contemporary events take a sinister downturn. I need to cite this for my reference sheet. They accused other townspeople of torturing them, and a few of the so-called witches on trial even named others as witches. I read a paper several years ago that attributed much of the Salem Witch Trials to classism and arguments over land and land rights several years ago, but cant seem to remember its authors or publisher. Everything we know now about the trials comes from just a handful of primary sources of the Salem Witch Trials. Get 6 issues for 19.99 and receive a 10 gift card* PLUS free access to HistoryExtra.com, Save 70% on the shop price when you subscribe today - Get 13 issues for just $49.99 + FREE access to HistoryExtra.com. The two communities were three hours apart, by foot, which was the most common method of transportation at the time. this helped a lot on my social studies project. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. These three women were social outcasts and easy targets for the accusation of witchcraft. As the years went by, the colonists felt ashamed and remorseful for what had happened during the Salem Witch Trials. There are many theories that explain why the witch trials began in Medieval Europe. When was this last edited? Before we get into the interesting facts about Salem and the Witch Trials, let's do a brief history of the Salem Witch Trials. Not that the prosecutions were concluded even then. Curious to know the Publisher of this article. This helped me a lot with an assignment i had to do for school, but i cant find the publisher sadly. Now that spectral evidence was not allowed, most of the remaining prisoners were found not guilty or released due to a lack of real evidence. Proctors wife managed to escape execution because she was pregnant, but Proctor was hanged on August 19 along with five other people. Critics such as Proctor were quickly accused of witchcraft themselves, under the assumption that anyone who denied the existence of witches or defended the accused must be one of them, and were brought to trial. harvnb error: no target: CITEREFRobinson2001 (. Europe, on the other hand, was super into dramatic flames. Many modern theories suggest the girls were suffering from epilepsy, boredom, child abuse, mental illness or even a disease brought on by eating rye infected with fungus. To complicate matters further, within Salem Village itself, there were two separate social groups. 5 Facts About the Salem Trials. Corey still refused to offer a plea and paid with his life. On December 17, 1697, Governor Stoughton issued a proclamation in hopes of making amends with God. Corbis/VCG via Getty Images / Getty Images. The Salem Witch Trials began in spring 1692 and lasted for seven months, during which more than 150 people where arrested, 19 were hanged and one was tortured to death. 9, 17181718, Chap. Thanks for sharing, it really helped me with an article I am currently writing! Sources:Upham, Charles W. Salem Witchcraft: With an Account of Salem Village and a History of Opinions on Witchcraft. Found Guilty and Executed:Bridget Bishop (June 10, 1692)Sarah Good (July 19, 1692)Elizabeth Howe (July 19, 1692)Susannah Martin (July 19, 1692)Rebecca Nurse (July 19, 1692)Sarah Wildes (July 19, 1692)George Burroughs (August 19, 1692)Martha Carrier (August 19, 1692)John Willard (August 19, 1692)George Jacobs, Sr (August 19, 1692)John Proctor (August 19, 1692)Alice Parker (September 22, 1692)Mary Parker (September 22, 1692)Ann Pudeator (September 22, 1692)Wilmot Redd (September 22, 1692)Margaret Scott (September 22, 1692)Samuel Wardwell (September 22, 1692)Martha Corey (September 22, 1692)Mary Easty (September 22, 1692), Refused to enter a plea and tortured to death:Giles Corey (September 19th, 1692), Found Guilty and Pardoned:Elizabeth ProctorAbigail Faulkner SrMary PostSarah WardwellElizabeth Johnson JrDorcas Hoar, Pled Guilty and Pardoned:Rebecca EamesAbigail HobbsMary Lacy SrMary Osgood, Died in Prison:Sarah OsburnRoger ToothakerAnn FosterLydia Dustin, Escaped from Prison:John Alden Jr.Edward Bishop Jr.Sarah BishopMary BradburyWilliam Barker Sr.Andrew CarrierKatherine CaryPhillip EnglishMary EnglishEdward Farrington, Never Indicted:Sarah BassettMary BlackBethiah Carter, JrBethiah Carter, SrSarah CloyceElizabeth HartWilliam HobbsThomas Farrer, SrWilliam ProctorSarah ProctorSusannah RootsAnn SearsTituba, Evaded Arrest:George Jacobs JrDaniel Andrews. I think in some forms that witches still exist in hidden arenas. The link can be found in the section of this article titled Salem Witch Trial Victims. And particularly, as I was a chief instrument of accusing of Goodwife Nurse and her two sisters, I desire to lie in the dust, and to be humbled for it, in that I was a cause, with others, of so sad a calamity to them and their families; for which cause I desire to lie in the dust, and earnestly beg forgiveness of God, and from all those unto whom I have given just cause of sorrow and offence, whose relations were taken away or accused.. According to USLegal.com, Spectral evidence refers to a witness testimony that the accused person's spirit or spectral shape appeared to him/her witness in a dream at the time the accused person's physical body was at another location. Hi Indigo, Im assuming you mean eyewitness accounts. By May 1693 . By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica. 135, p. 112, No. In May, as the number of cases grew, Governor William Phips set up a special court, known as the Court of Oyer and Terminer (which translate to hear and determine) to hear the cases. They did so in order to gather the observations of the colonys most senior ministers, to hear their reflections upon the state of things as they then stood. Acts and Resolves, Public and Private, of the Province of Massachusetts Bay, vol. Device reportedly admitted an act of bewitchment, as well as accusing another woman of undertaking similar practices. See, the concept of fake news is nothing new. I see that you told someone quite a while ago but I dont think that is up to date. thank u. They were soft, obvious targets for a mistrustful, God-fearing populace living along strictly defined lines. Check them out below. The Salem witch trials started with two girls having unexplainable fits. There wasnt really any one document or agreement that ended the trials. Since the accused witches were considered dangerous prisoners, they were kept in the dungeon and were chained to the walls because jail officials believed this would prevent their spirits from fleeing the jail and tormenting their victims. The Absolutely True Tale of Disaster in Salem. A flurry of accusations from girls with afflictions similar to those of Betty Parris and Abigail Williams resulted in an avalanche of arrests and prosecutions. In August of 1992, on the 300th anniversary of the trials, the Salem Witch Trials Memorial was unveiled and dedicated by Nobel Laureate Eli Wiesel. During her trial, Bishop repeatedly defended herself, stating I am innocent, I know nothing of it, I have done no witchcraft . Many of the accusers were adults and more than a few of them were people who had themselves been accused. An allegory of the intolerant McCarthyism discolouring the nation at the time Miller would himself be called before the Committee on Un-American Activities three years later the parallels were undeniable. There is actually a compilation of all of the primary sources on the Salem Witch Trials. Corey was accused of witchcraft in April during his wifes examination. When asked who it was that had afflicted them, they named Good a homeless woman who had fallen destitute after denying the inheritance of her wealthy fathers estate as one of the three culprits. HI there! 10. If you are looking for more info on the victims themselves, you can check out the article I wrote specifically about them titled The Salem Witch Trials Victims: Who Were They? Great post, this helped a lot with my Witch Trials report for history class! The state amended the 1957 apology on the exact date i was born. Proctors entire family was accused, including all of his children, his pregnant wife Elizabeth, and sister-in-law. A week later, the jury changed their minds and declared Nurse guilty. They left an 11-year-old son, John Jr . The Salem witch trials began because a group of girls claimed they were possessed by the devil. Visit this site's About page to find out more about Rebecca. We judge that, in the prosecution of these and all such witchcrafts, there is need of a very critical and exquisite caution, lest by too much credulity for things received only upon the Devil's authority, there be a door opened for a long train of miserable consequences, and Satan get an advantage over us; for we should not be ignorant of his devices. In mid-January 1692, Elizabeth "Betty" Parris, the 9-year-old daughter of the local Reverend Samuel Parris, and. If the accused was indicted, they were not allowed a lawyer and they had to decide to plead guilty or not guilty with no legal counsel to guide them. The trials are believed to have been the reason why the US constitution recognizes witchcraft as a legal religion. One major factor was that in 1684, King Charles II revoked the Massachusetts Bay Colonys royal charter, a legal document granting the colonists permission to colonize the area. The persecutors had to come up with a whole irrational legal system in order to justify this insanity. Perhaps this question has something to do with the closure of the court of Oyer and Terminer, which was the special court established to hear the trials. A strong belief in the devil, factions amongSalem Village familiesand rivalry with nearby Salem Town combined with a recent small pox epidemic and the threat of attack by warring tribes created a fertile ground for fear and suspicion. Around the end of September, the use of spectral evidence was finally declared inadmissible, thus marking the beginning of the end of the Salem Witch Trials. European Witch trials started at a similar time as Protestantism. Some of the suggested theories are: conversion disorder, epilepsy, ergot poisoning, Encephalitis, Lyme disease, unusually cold weather, factionalism, socio-economic hardships, family rivalries and fraud. This created a rift between the two groups in Salem Village. Massachusetts Archives, Vol. Smithsonia, 8 Sept. 2013. The new court was presided over by William Stoughton, Thomas Danforth, John Richards, Waitstill Winthrop and Samuel Sewall. Well, most of the people accused lived in the part of Salem Village that was full of businesses and shops. Afflicted Girls:Elizabeth BoothElizabeth HubbardMercy LewisBetty ParrisAnn Putnam, Jr.Susannah SheldonAbigail WilliamsMary WalcottMary Warren. Due to overcrowding in the jails, the accused witches were kept in multiple jails in Salem town, Ipswich and Boston. Yet another crucial moment during the Salem Witch Trials was the public torture and death of Giles Corey. Some of these women were actually witches, though they were entirely innocent of the crimes of which they were convicted. Thank you for this amazing article! Presided over by William Stoughton . Presumptions whereupon persons may be committed, and, much more, convictions whereupon persons may be condemned as guilty of witchcrafts, ought certainly to be more considerable than barely the accused person's being represented by a specter unto the afflicted; inasmuch as it is an undoubted and notorious thing, that a demon may, by God's permission, appear, even to ill purposes, in the shape of an innocent, yea, and a virtuous man. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. All rights reserved. But the particular brand of paranoia that was rife in Salem Village fed by a rivalry with neighbouring Salem Town, ongoing family feuds and attacks by Native Americans developed into mass hysteria. Does anyone know who was the last one to be accused of witchcraft and died , all she did was healing and someone who she knew turned her in. His grandfather is a Putnam. When we think of witches today, we think of girls with crystals and hats who like to listen to Stevie Nicks.
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