1 Most of the accused were women but men were accusedand executedtoo. 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. By the way, thank you so much for this wonderful website; its really thorough and cool. An Account of the Life, Character, & C., of the Rev. Check them out below. This article was last updated on Nov 22, 2015. A large proportion of the case against Bishop also focused on her lifestyle, especially her rumoured promiscuity and un-Puritan ways. Published in 1992, this novel is a fictionalized account of the afflicted girls of Salem Village. Hi William, thats really cool that you are a descendant of Mary Easty. Bad weather isn't the only reason why the witch hype began. Heinrich Kramer wrote a whole book on why witches should be all exterminated and how to do that. 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. Crown Publishers Inc., 1959. Before we get into the interesting facts about Salem and the Witch Trials, let's do a brief history of the Salem Witch Trials. Great post, this helped a lot with my Witch Trials report for history class! Salem Village began that slow decay which eventually erased its houses and walls, but never its name and memory.. Kisses and xoxo Encyclopdia Britannica, and create and manage the relationships between them. The European witch trials took place in the 15th century. Warrants were issued by the dozen, sometimes for the arrest of the most unlikely suspects. The Salem Witch Trials of 1692 were a dark time in American history. Oh well, live n learn, Its sad when you can pick out names of your relatives in every list. The Salem Witch Trials: Facts & History. The Salem Witch Trials: Facts & History. There are many theories that explain why the witch trials began in Medieval Europe. 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. Essex County Court Archives, vol. and good job rebbeca! 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. Thank for the site it is so helpful for my project! 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. Nige Tassell explains how hysteria in the village of Salem, Massachusets, gave rise to a horror that bedazzled the world Published: June 10, 2020 at 4:45 pm Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. The Salem Witch Trials were not a positive section of American history but have been used as a learning tool for the United States. Im using this for my History project. The other two accused women, Sarah Good and Sarah Osbourne, werent well liked by the community either. Cant wait to visit this place! When a young Lancastrian woman called Alison Device asked for a pin from a travelling peddler but was denied, the peddler apparently became immediately paralysed down his left side. How did this conflict impact the trials? 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. The Salem Witch Trials were one of the best documented trials of colonial times. The best way to get people's attention is to start spreading sensational and fake news. In effect, theSalem Witch Trialswere over. A child pointed to a dog and said it bewitched me and shot the dog immediately. A Brief History of the Salem Witch Trials. Smithsonian Magazine, Smithsonian Institute, 23 Oct. 2007, www.smithsonianmag.com/history/a-brief-history-of-the-salem-witch-trials-175162489/. The heat was stifling on a July day in 1692, as five dishevelled and bound women are paraded on a wooden cart through the streets of Salem village in the colony of Massachusetts Bay. Web. In November of 1991, Salem town officials announced plans for a Salem Witch Trials Memorial in Salem. The Absolutely True Tale of Disaster in Salem. One of them was shot but I dont know how the other one died. They were during the Colonial times. 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. 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. "Essay IV Against modern Sadducism in the matter of Witches and Apparitions" in Essay on several important subjects in philosophy and religion, 2nd Ed, London; printed for John Baker and H. Mortlock, 1676, pp. Seemed like there was alot of hate towards one another just for being different. (Eds.). On 2 June, the specially convened Court of Oyer and Terminer (oyer meaning to hear, terminer meaning to decide) sat for the first time, presided over by William Stoughton, the newly appointed lieutenant governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay. The Salem Witch Trials. The theory first came to prominence in the 1970s, when Linnda R. Caporael wrote Ergotism: The Satan Loosed in Salem? On March 1st, Tituba, Sarah Good and Sarah Osburn were arrested and examined. The primary sources of the Salem Witch Trials offer a wealth of information on these infamous trials. While sympathy, and certainly empathy, are always good things to have, its also important that we dont let emotions color the facts. His death was gruesome and cruel and strengthened the growing opposition to the Salem Witch Trials. Thank you for making this blog post! These spirits could inhabit any human or any creature. Well, Sharis, the Salem Witch Trials are quite complicated and cant be accurately summed up in a short article. The ages of the accused ranged from 12 to 72 years old, with the average age being 41. Of course, remembering the events of 1692 can still act as a brake when contemporary events take a sinister downturn. At the same time, the accused would be denied legal representation. thank you for the bibliography it helps a lot! Court of Oyer and Terminer Judges:Jonathan CorwinBartholomew GedneyJohn HathorneJohn RichardsWilliam Stoughton, Chief MagistrateSamuel SewallNathaniel SaltonstallPeter SergeantWaitstill Winthrop, The number of people accused and arrested in May surged to over 30 people:Sarah DustinAnn SearsArthur AbbottBethiah Carter SrBethiah Carter JrMary WitheridgeGeorge Jacobs SrMargaret JacobsRebecca JacobsJohn WillardAlice ParkerAnn PudeatorAbigail SoamesSarah BuckelyElizabeth ColsonElizabeth HartThomas Farrar SrRoger ToothakerMary ToothakerMargaret ToothakerSarah ProctorMary DeRichSarah BassettSusannah RootsElizabeth CarySarah PeaseMartha CarrierElizabeth FosdickWilmot ReddElizabeth HoweSarah RiceJohn Alden JrWilliam ProctorJohn Flood. The Untold Story of the Salem Witch Trials Welcome back to Unfolding History!While the Salem Witch Trials of 1692 are often remembered as a dark period of. Finally, many of the symptoms described by witnesses stopped and began again based on external circumstances, and that simply doesnt happen with physiological illness. Salem was . i would like to know more about the salem witch trials. It was not difficult for the people of Salem to believe they were involved in witchcraft. 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. I have all the other bibliographies from some other websites but I still need one from this one and I cant find it could you help me?? what was the ratio of men to women. The two communities were three hours apart, by foot, which was the most common method of transportation at the time. We also have kept good records of everything. This series of prosecutions and hangings of those accused of practicing witchcraft provoked a major backlash, and the event still haunts us today. Another notable person who was accused of witchcraft was Captain John Alden Jr., the son of the Mayflower crew member John Alden. im doing a huge assessment in my language arts class called national history day and i love how into detail this went! First, there are a number of ergot poisoning symptoms which were not reported by those who claimed to be afflicted by witchcraft. A total of 19 accused witches were hanged at Proctors Ledge, near Gallows Hill, during the witch trials. Random House, 1956Fowler, Samuel Page. Now I know it is not only there that it existed. Corey still refused to offer a plea and paid with his life. I mean the whole cause was a wheat bacteria/fungi called ergot. I just found this out. Think it was her kids. Good had been among the first local women to be arrested, after several young girls from the village had experienced mysterious afflictions the previous February. 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. Three days earlier, the death of another of the accused had occurred. When she is not traveling, you will find her reading, drinking coffee and chatting away with her many international friends. Abigail Williams: The Mysterious Afflicted Girl. Local clergymen began speaking out against the witch hunt and tried to persuade officials to stop the trials. North Wind Picture Archives, Alamy Stock Photo. How Rye Bread May Have Caused the Salem Witch Trials, Order in the Court: 10 Trials of the Century, https://www.britannica.com/facts/Salem-witch-trials. what is a secondary source in this salem witch trail! Do not lay more stress on pure spectral evidence than it will bear, he cautioned. Hi Sarah, 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. Even Sarah Goods four-year-old daughter Dorothy was arrested and interrogated by the magistrates. I am no more a witch than you are a wizard. Many of the accusers were adults and more than a few of them were people who had themselves been accused. Get FREE access to HistoryExtra.com. Thank you for this amazing article! How could so many people believe the afflicted girls without no real evidence. Preston, VK. How were the 2 dogs killed during the salem witch trials? His diagnosis of bewitchment put into motion the forces that would ultimately result in the hanging deaths of 19 men and women. Massachusetts Archives, Vol. It was viewed as a sin against God, the church, and the Crown, and thus was treated as a crime. When asked who had done this to them, Betty and Abigail blamed three townswomen, including Tituba, a Native American slave who worked in the Parris household. History of the Salem Witch Trials. History of Massachusetts Blog, 18 Aug. 2011, historyofmassachusetts.org/the-salem-witch-trials. One of the most popular theories as to what could have caused the mass hysteria of Salem in 1692 is that of ergot poisoning. Wrong. 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. The Encyclopedia of Witchcraft and Demonology. Lines going back to Salem and Colonial New England in general are usually well documented. However, in the more than three centuries since then, the historical waters have gotten a bit muddied, and many modern Pagans find themselves sympathetic towards Salems accused. in journalism. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. 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. Dr Griggs was a relative through my grandmother. During that time, 19 people were hanged and one person was pressed to death. And insularity bred paranoia, as Schiff sharply explains. Puritans walk through the snow-covered woods to get to church. Oh and sorry for talking a lot but if you need a website for your bibliographys heres an awesome sight I use it for school a lot and its supper easy use. The people had been so determined upon hunting out and destroying witches that they had neglected everything else. One bitterly cold evening, Betty Parris and Abigail Williams the daughter and niece of the local Puritan minister Samuel Parris began displaying disturbing behaviour described as being beyond the power of epileptic fits or natural disease to effect. The story is about Susannah English, daughter of accused witches Phillip and Mary English and friend of Ann Putnam, Jr. In an insular society like Salem, where anyone straying from the norm was immediately criticised or condemned, accusations of witchcraft were a method of self-defence, of keeping the more undesirable elements of the local community at arms length, if not removing them completely. 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. They took place in a number of cities in Massachusetts Bay Colony in the years 1692 and 1693, but primarily in the town of Salem. Please be respectful of copyright. Thats where spectral evidence comes in, and it played a significant role in the Salem trials. Patti Wigington is a pagan author, educator, and licensed clergy. One other man, Giles Corey, was pressed to death after refusing to enter a plea, and at least five people . It is pretty sad. Through the loss of 20 lives, the episode continues to warn of the dangers of insularity and isolationism, of intolerance, of religious extremism. Ever since those dark days ended, the trials have become synonymous with mass hysteria and scapegoating. Is there any credence to this theory? i need it for my bibliography, do you have any websites that could help me to find the secondary source? In Salem, they actually didn't do any burning at all. 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. In Germany alone, thousands of women died horrible deaths. You can check out my article on books about the Salem Witch Trials here:https://historyofmassachusetts.org/best-books-about-salem-witch-trials/ or you could search the court records online on the University of Virginia website. I think they where viewed in an horrible way, because the people who where accused where not really witches. A fear-ridden society always finds scapegoats. Thank you, using this as a source! . They left an 11-year-old son, John Jr . Did the Salem Witch Trials have any affect on the way that the American court systems were designed once the United States became a country? His diagnosis of bewitchment put into motion the forces that would ultimately result in the hanging deaths of 19 men and women. Knowing that if he was convicted his large estate would be confiscated and wouldnt be passed down to his children, Corey brought his trial to a halt by refusing to enter a plea. Afflicted Girls:Elizabeth BoothElizabeth HubbardMercy LewisBetty ParrisAnn Putnam, Jr.Susannah SheldonAbigail WilliamsMary WalcottMary Warren. Letters of Governor Phips to the Home Government, 16921693, "Woman condemned in Salem witch trials on verge of pardon 328 years later", "Indictment of Sarah Good for Afflicting Sarah Vibber", "Indictment of Abigail Hobbs for Covenanting", "The Devil's Specter: Spectral Evidence and the Salem Witchcraft Crisis", Narratives of the Witchcraft Trials, p. 342, "Role of skin lesions in the Salem witchcraft trials", "329 years later, last Salem 'witch' who wasn't is pardoned", Cornell University Library Witchcraft Collection, Salem Massachusetts Salem Witch Trials The Stones: July 10 and July 19, 1692, Salem Village Witchcraft Victims' Memorial, etext.virginia.edu, Chapter 122 of the Acts of 2001, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, "Actual Site Of Salem Witch Hangings Discovered", "The Real Salem Witch Hanging Site Was Located", Salem Witchcraft Trials: The Perception Of Women In History, Literature And Culture, Salem Witch Trials Documentary Archive and Transcription Project, SalemWitchTrials.com Essays, biographies of the accused and afflicted, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Salem_witch_trials&oldid=1142737002. Although I just found it, it has helped me with what I needed on my Salem Witch Trials report for History. What is the legacy of the Salem witch trials? 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. Nobecause certainly there are some Christians who dobut theres no historical evidence that anyone was really working any kind of magic in Salem. Bridget Bishop - The First to Die in Salem Witch Trials, 8 Famous Witches From Mythology and Folklore, Salem, Massachusetts, and the famous trial in 1692, witchcraft was not seen as a religion at all. This website uses cookies to improve your experience. I need to do a bibliography, and I have this page on it. The Salem Village hangings were the last executions of accused witches in the United States. 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.. The 52 remaining people in jail were tried in a new court, the Superior Court of Judicature, the following winter. In 1706, afflicted girl Ann Putnam, Jr., also issued a public apology for her role in the Salem Witch Trials, particularly in the case against her neighbor Rebecca Nurse. This really helped me on my essay, thank you so much. In 1957, the state of Massachusetts officially apologized for the Salem Witch Trials and cleared the name ofsome of the remaining victims not listed in the 1711 law, stating: One Ann Pudeator and certain other persons yet did not list the other victims names. How should I cite this? What was this witchery actually about and how did it all start? Here's how they got it done. TDR / The Drama Review, 2018, Vol. Thirty people were found guilty, 19 of whom were executed by hanging (14 women and five men). The infamous Salem witch trials lasted for approximately one year. Susannah Martin was my 10th great grandmother and John Proctor was my 11th great uncle. The slave Tituba, because of her background in the Caribbean (or possibly the West Indies), could have practiced some form of folk magic, but that has never been confirmed. since we stared this topic in my 11th grade ap english class i have been very intregted. In Salem for example, the first significant victim of the witch trials was Tituba, a slave from the Caribbean. This was the name that was given to the evil spirits that were supposedly floating around the witches while they practiced their dark arts. You never know what you will find when you start researching your family tree! According to Plouffe, Jr., the trials were the largest of . Massachusetts was an outpost of Gods chosen people in a hostile wilderness in the 17th century. Five more people were hanged in July, one of which was Rebecca Nurse. Indeed, as Stacy Schiff explains in The Witches, her history of the witch trials, It would have been difficult to find more than a few souls to whom the supernatural was not eminently real, part and parcel of the culture, as was the devil himself. The accused was thrown into a river and if they made it out alive, it was because they were a witch. As if the lonely and misunderstood didn't have a hard enough life on its own, they seemed the most suspicious to the crowds. 6 The Role Of Religion In Witch Trials More than 200 people were accused of practicing witchcraft and 20 were killed during the hysteria. The state amended the 1957 apology on the exact date i was born. An illustration shows a quiet street in the center of Salem, Massachusetts. The following are some facts about the Salem Witch Trials: The Story of the Salem Witch Trials is a history of that event. Salem Witchcraft and Cotton Mather. When Nurse was first arrested, many members of the community signed a petition asking for her release. Sources:Upham, Charles W. Salem Witchcraft: With an Account of Salem Village and a History of Opinions on Witchcraft. 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. The Salem witch trials, which resulted in several deaths in 1692 in the small town of Salem, Massachusetts, have never been adequately explained. The pair had been bewitched. The Salem witch trials began because a group of girls claimed they were possessed by the devil. The Salem jail was located at the corner of Federal Street and St. Peter Street. Next: Spooky Places: 10 Destinations For Fans Of Witches. 9, 17181718, Chap. Well, most of the people accused lived in the part of Salem Village that was full of businesses and shops. Its a common myth that the Salem Witch Trials victims were burned at the stake. Witch hunts Salem Witchcraft and Cotton Mather: A Reply. 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. These unsettling facts will shed light. The history (both good and bad) is something we should all know about. Although spectral evidence, evidence based on dreams and visions, wasnt the only evidence used in court during the Salem Witch Trails, it was the most common evidence and the easiest evidence for accusers to fake. The exact cause of the Salem Witch Trials is unknown but they were probably a number of causes. This belief in the power of the accused to use their invisible shapes or spectres to torture their victims had sealed the fates of those tried by the Court of Oyer and Terminer. I think this was a great site and I also recommend the book the witches -salem, 1962 by stacey schiff. Awesome Article. 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. An elderly woman accused of witchcraft is taken to the courthouse by an officer of the law. Hi Julanii, I am the writer and publisher of this article. Among those detained in March 1692 were Martha Corey and Rebecca Nurse, upstanding members of the local churches in Salem Village and Salem Town respectively. As sleet and snow heaped higher outside their door, Betty Parris and her cousin Abigail began to twitch and twist their bodies into strange shapes, speaking in words that made no sense. 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. I hope ill get the chance to read it some day! The trials were held in the Salem courthouse, which was located in the center of Washington Street about 100 feet south of Lynde Street, opposite of where the Masonic Temple now stands. "The Salem Witchcraft Trials: A Legal History". The bibliography at the bottom of this article list a number of secondary sources. 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.