The Salem Witch Trials was an important historical conflict. It pitted Puritans against
those they feared and otherwise disagreed with, oftentimes based on false accusations. They
began in 1692 and lasted until 1693. Over the course of one year, 141 people were imprisoned,
19 executed, and 2 killed. The Trials shook the foundations of families and Salem Village itself.
There are many modern day cases of “witch hunts” that can trace their origins to the Salem
Witch Trials. Thus, while the Salem Witch Trials ended with financial compensation, amnesty,
and apologies to the survivors, preventing further conflict there, it will not prevent all conflict
when certain elements of society disagree with or fear others.
A contributing factor to the start
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of the Salem Witch Trials was when the English Parliament passed the Toleration Act, which granted all Protestants the right to worship freely across British territory.
That meant that Puritan New England had to let Quakers and Anglicans 1
and other people they did not like worship freely. Prior to this act only people of specific
denominations got to vote in elections in most of the colonies, so the Toleration Act was a
political and religious issue. Essentially, there were a lot of Puritans in Massachusetts being
forced to accept the political rights of people they had previously rejected and the crown exerted
more influence over the colony.
In 1692, a witch was defined as anyone who performed “witchcraft.” Witchcraft ranged
from causing sickness and seizures to outright control over someone else and any other behavior
or act that was not liked or scared people. Many, if not all, accusations were completely false.
The most popular reason why someone was accused or convicted was because they were not
1
“Toleration Act” 2016
well liked or jealousy came into play. One person was even accused of witchcraft by another
because they were sarcastic. Clearly, ignorance influenced accusations. 2
As stated earlier, Salem Village was largely led by the Puritans. Salem Village was a very
religious place. Puritan children could not run, shout, or enjoy themselves, according to the
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diary of Samuel Sewall, a prominent judge at the time. They were submissive to their parents and 3 church was mandatory . Church service lasted the entire day. Non-Puritan children did not have 4 5 to abide by these rules, so the Puritan children were rather jealous. Some theories are that the 6 Puritan children started acting strangely because they were bored and wanted attention.7 The first Puritan girls to act strangely were Betty Parris and Abigail Williams.8 Specifically, they were convulsing on the floor making animal noises. Salem Village residents 9 accused Sarah Good, Sarah Osborne, and Tituba of “infecting” Betty and Abigail. An 10 interesting note was that the public was taught to view the accused as unhealthy, as shown in Edward Brentwall’s A Visit to the Witch. Proving that accusations were motivated out of self interest or reasons other than based on fact, these three women were not liked, as Good was homeless, Osborne did not attend church, and Tituba was a slave.11 2 “Toleration Act” 2016 3 Sewall 98 4 “A Life of Discipline” 2015 5 “A Life of Discipline” 2015 6 “Puritan Life” 2018 7 “A Life of Discipline” 2015 8 “Notable Persons of the Salem Witch Trials” 2002 9 Betty Parris: First Afflicted Girl of the Salem Witch Trials 10 Birnes and Martin 63 11 “Salem Witch Trials” 2011 Family feuds were also a cause of accusations. If one family was not liked by another, there was a good chance that they would be accused of witchcraft. For example, Rebecca Nurse was accused for being a witch by the Putnam family, resulting from a longstanding feud over their land boundaries. Clearly, Salem Village was not a good place to be for people with 12 differences. The trials were not fair in the slightest. The accused were largely ignored or not allowed to make their statements. Most trials were based on someone’s word or spectral evidence, such as a dream or vision. The trials included unfair tests to determine whether or not someone was a 13 witch. These included the touch test and dunking the “witch.” The touch test worked like this: the accused was blindfolded and tied up (as depicted in Howard Pyle’s Arresting a Witch) and laid their hands on a person having a seizure. If the fit stopped, then that meant the accused was a witch. This led to innocent people being arrested, because the fits were staged and the person 14 having the seizure could stop anytime that they wanted. The dunking test was also unfair. The 15 dunking test was fairly simple. The accused was bound to a chair attached to a fulcrum or had rocks secured to their feet, and were lowered into the water. If the person floated, they were a witch. If not, they were innocent. Many people were declared innocent, but died from drowning. Thomas Noble painted the famous Witch Hill, which showed a woman being prepared for the dunking test.16 12 “The Salem Witch Trials Victims: Who Were They?” 2015 13 “Court of Oyer and Terminer Dissolved” 2011 14 “Procedures of the Salem Witch Trials” 2003 15 “Procedures of the Salem Witch Trials” 2003 16 Noble, Thomas: Witch Hill 1869 Important people in the Salem Witch Trials included the judges and the ones who fought for fairness. Some of the judges included Samuel Sewall, who was a very prominent judge in these times, along with Giles Corey. Judges were often very unfair and prejudiced, contrary to what John Foster (A relative of a resident of Salem Village) received in a letter, titled “Salem Village Occurrences” about the judges and their procedures.
He was told that the justices were
very fair minded.17
Judges also thought that the Salem Witch Trials were improving Salem
Village by flushing out the unclean and the unholy. Corey and his wife attended the pre-trial
examinations, but his wife started to see how unfair the trials were. She tried to keep Corey home
by “hiding his riding saddle so he could not attend. ” Rumors began circulating that Corey’s 18
wife was a witch. Giles Corey even testified against her, saying that their ox spontaneously 19
contracted an illness and she knelt in front of the fireplace late at night and did not say a word for
hours. These two statements prove how absurd and ridiculous most of the “evidence” was at the 20
time. Corey was then also accused of witchcraft. He refused to enter a plea of guilty or not 21
guilty. To get the truth out of him, large rock plates were laid on his chest to press the story out
of him. (According to Samuel Sewall’s diary entry on the 19th of September.) He died after three
days of torture. This shows that no one was safe from accusations of witchcraft, not even the
most prominent judges.
Another prominent man in these times was a minister named Cotton Mather. He was
well respected and was very influential over the course of the Salem Witch Trials. He was the most 17 “Salem Village Occurrences” Unknown 18 “The Curse of Giles Corey” 2011 19 “The Curse of Giles Corey” 2011 20 “The Curse of Giles Corey” 2011 21 “Notable Persons in the Salem Witch Trials” 2002 active minister and observed lots of suspected witchcraft. Without Cotton Mather, the trials could have carried on for far longer. Cotton Mather and his father, Increase Mather, met with other Massachusetts officials to call an end to the horrors. Increase and his son also implored the judges to not accept spectral evidence such as dreams and visions as that really proved nothing.22 The use of spectral evidence was also shown in Joseph Baker’s painting The Witch No. 1. Most judges ignored him and tried to carry on with the trials. An interesting fact about Cotton Mather, however, is that he originally accepted the trials. He was interested in the possession of people and even took a girl into his home to study her further. He wrote a book and letter, the letter 23 being accepted widely as his seal of approval of the trials. The book was written and published 24 after the final executions. However, Mather kept a diary that showed how uncertain he was 25 about the Trials. He explicitly states on page 9 through 10 of his personal diary, “What intends my Lord, to do with my soul? Why does He thus grind and break my heart, and at every turn, cast me into unutterable anguish? ” Mather is talking about how uncertain he is about the Trials 26 and the people that are being hurt from them. The Trials began to lose steam as 1692 shifted into 1693. The people of Salem Village realized that Cotton Mather’s idea held validation and refused to proceed with the Trials. William Phips, the governor of the colony, ordered an end to the Trials after his own wife was accused of witchcraft. With the end of the Trials, the survivors and their families received 27 compensation and amnesty from the governor and the town council. Ann Putnam, one of the 22 “Court of Oyer and Terminer Dissolved” 2011 23 “Cotton Mather, Written by Rachel Walker” 2001 24 Kennedy 55 25 Mather 67 26 Mather 9-10 27 “Governor, Sir William Phips” 2001 accusing girls who was responsible for the accusation of 62 people on the account of witchcraft, publicly apologized to the survivors in 1706. Due to differences, people accuse each other in 28 today’s world, just as villagers did in 1692, leading to the creation of “witch hunts.” Examples of modern day witch hunts include the Red Scare of the 1950’s, the internment of Japanese Americans in camps during the Second World War, and the more modern phenomenon internet trolling. In the 1950’s, Americans were scared of Communists living among them. They were accusing anyone of being Communist due to differences in beliefs or opinion, and not based on facts or evidence. Secondly, Japanese Americans were sent to camps in World War II due to 29 the believed affiliation with the enemy. The belief, not the evidence, led to conflict. A more 30 modern day example of differences inciting conflict is internet trolling. It is so widespread that most do not notice it, but having a different opinion or idea will lead to being “drowned” in negative comments. The Salem Witch Trials left a trail of destruction in its wake. It is an unforgettable historical event that showed that the combination of human nature, differences in ideas and opinions, and unfamiliarity causes unavoidable conflict. The Puritans and the Non-Puritans simply could not live together in peace until they learned through the Salem Witch Trials that their fears and accusations were wrong. There was no compromise in the Salem Witch Trials, it was only the two extremes; you were a witch, or you were not. The aftermath had apologies and compensation, from Abigail Williams and the Salem Jury (Letter of Apology From the Salem Jury and Abigail May Williams: Reformer and Philanthropist) but it did nothing to excuse the 28 “Governor, Sir William Phips” 2001 29 “American Witch Hunts” 2011 30 “American Witch Hunts” 2011 behavior of the accusers. There may never be another true witch trial, but there will always be people condemned for their unpopular beliefs or acts. It happened in Salem Village over 300 years ago, it happens in the modern world, and it will happen in the future.
According to Giles Corey, any book is strange and the idea of a woman wanting to read books makes it stranger. Whenever Giles Corey mentioned this, it lead to an accusation that his wife is a witch. Giles instantly regrets telling the court this because he knows his wife is innocent of witchcraft. Whoever was accused of witchcraft was hung, meanwhile Giles dies a serious death. Giles Corey died a brave man. Giles Corey tried to get the court to see how ridiculous their accusations were about the people of Salem. In the film, if you give a man's name to the court, the man will be arrested and questioned of witchcraft.Therefore, Giles showed acts of being brave whenever he refuses to give the name of the man who overheard Mr. Putnam claim his daughter had "given him a fair gift of land." Giles Corey states, "I will not give you no name. I mentioned my wife's name once and I'll burn in hell long enough for that. I stand mute." In conclusion, Judge Thomas Danforth arrests Corey Giles for contempt of court, and still Corey Giles will not sacrifice his informant to save
In the textbook, religion is portrayed as the main cause of Salem’s witch hysteria. In America Possessed, however, the main reason is told to be a result of social conflicts and a power struggle between the main groups of Salem. Although the textbook addresses different causes, as does Salem Possessed, there is never a mention of the two most influential groups of Salem having an impact on the witch trials. Perhaps this is due to a time limitation of the book, as including that much detail would require the textbook and course to be much
Most of the accusations were made against innocent people for reasons of economic conditions, teenage boredom, and personal jealousies. Of course there was also the fact that people weren’t aware of the certain mental illnesses caused by their environment. For example the one of the first people to be accused of witchcraft was a young girl named Betty Paris who one day became very ill with convulsive erogtism. Ergot is a fungus that invades growing kernels of rye, so it is very likely that she got sick from simply eating bread. Since people were scientifically unable to explain her sudden seizures and hallucinations she was accused of witchcraft.
The Salem Trials took place between the 10th of June and the 22nd of 1692 and in this time nineteen people. In addition to this one man was pressed to death and over 150 people where sent to jail where four adult and one infant died. Although when compared to other witch-hunts in the Western world, it was ‘a small incident in the history of a great superstition,’ but has never lost its grip on our imagination’ . It’s because of this that over the last three centuries many historians have analysed the remaining records of the trials in order to work out what the causes and events were that led to them.
They also were forced into admission of guilt by torture, fear, or the hope for lighter punishment. “Most witches work by night, are capable of covering long distances very rapidly, temporarily assume an animal form and have the ability to fly.... ... middle of paper ... ...
...destroyed, people being quickly judged from the false accusations, and the imprisonment of innocent people. As you can tell throughout time people have had the same instances with lies which wrongly accuse people. For as long as man is on this Earth they will lie about what others do to destroy their reputations. From the instances of John Proctor being accused of using witchcraft, to people in the U.S. during the Cold War being falsley accused of communism people will always blame others for their lies. Nobody was safe during these times, anybody could be accused, for any reason, at any time, even dogs were accused of witchcraft during the Salem Witch Trials.
During the time of the Salem Witchcraft Trials of 1692, more than twenty people died in innocent death. All of those innocent people were accused of one thing, witchcraft. During 1692, in the small town of Salem, Massachusetts, many terrible events happened. A group of Puritans lived in Salem during this time. They had come from England, where they were prosecuted because of their religious beliefs.
First, the Puritan values and expectations were strict, and those who had defied their teachings would have been at a much higher chance of being accused as a witch. Second, economic struggles within Salem Town and Village had further divided the two, by crop failure and livestock death. Ultimately causing economic damages. Third, personal opinions and disputes had contributed to the trials and accusations. The law system was unfair during the trials, so when or if someone was accused the court would side with the accuser, unless of course, they were a witch themselves. In conclusion, the people who died and who were accused of witchcraft were not really witches, Salem and it’s inhabitants were under the influence of mass hysteria, personal beliefs and grudges that eventually became the chaos of the Salem witch hunts of
Once the accusations began, many innocent people in the community were taken away. They were then either forced to admit that they were witches, to free themselves from a public hanging, or deny that they were witches, saving their integrity, but subjecting themselves to an unjust public hanging.
At that time, Salem was a small town or village; it was a farming community that was only 550 of population. Their goal was that they want to be a model society on the hills. Not all of them were puritans because there were people that want a better life and want to live in a society out of England; their life in England were difficult. There were two groups in the village: those who were separatists and others that were puritans (those who believe in predetermination and follow the rules). Samuel Parris was a reverend that was the minister of the group of the separatist. He helped divide these two groups. The reverend Parris and his wife had 2 children living with them, who were Betty and Abigail. These two girls were the motive that the trials started. These girls screamed, rolled their eyes back into their heads, shook, twist...
This trial was held in Salem but people all around Salem who were accused of witchcraft were bought to Salem for trial. The Salem Witch Trial was a trial for people being accused of associating with witch craft. Over 100 men and women majority of them being women were in this trial. The trial had a 3 step process first was a confession then a testimony of two eyewitnesses to the act of witchcraft and a rare ‘’spectral evidence’’ where most of these witches didn’t make it too. A spectral evidence is when the accused person’s spirit or spectral appeared in a testimony dream when the accused witch was at another location. During a trial if you could recite the ‘’Lord’s prayer’’ you were not a witch and you could indeed be let go during trial just for reciting the prayer (Louis-Jacques, Lyonette. "Http://news.lib.uchicago.edu/blog/2012/10/29/the-salem-witch-trials-a-legal-bibliography-for-halloween/." The University of Chicago Library News. 29 Oct. 2012). The trial was during the Puritan times so people believe during trial, these witches could harm anyone in the court houses (Purdy, Sean. ‘’Conjuring History: The many interpretations of The Salem Witch Trials.’’ Reviver Academic Journal, vol. 3, no. 1, 2007, pp. 2.). At the end of the trial 19 men and women were hanged at Gallows
The Salem Witchcraft Trials of 1692 were the largest outbreak of witch hunting in colonial New England up to that time. Although it was the largest outbreak, it was not something that was new. Witch-hunting had been a part of colonial New England since the formation of the colonies. Between the years 1648 to 1663, approximately 15 witches were executed. During the winter of 1692 to February of 1693, approximately 150 citizens were accused of being witches and about 25 of those died, either by hanging or while in custody. There is no one clear-cut answer to explain why this plague of accusations happened but rather several that must be examined and tied together. First, at the same time the trials took place, King William's War was raging in present day Maine between the colonists and the Wabanaki Indians with the help of the French. Within this war, many brutal massacres took place on both sides, leaving orphaned children due to the war that had endured very traumatic experiences. Second, many of the witch accusations were based on spectral evidence, most of which were encounters of the accused appearing before the victim and "hurting" them. There were rampant "visions" among the colonies' citizens, which can only be explained as hallucinations due to psychological or medical conditions by virtue of disease, or poisoning.
Trials regarding the witchcraft began at the dawn of 1692, after a group of young girls in Salem Village, Massachusetts, were said to be bewitched. Salem, a village that homes nearly 2,000 people, was surrounded by paranoia. Inhabitants were confined to their home during the winter
... Other people who were convicted had their land confiscated, leaving families broke and homeless. During the witch trials, many people in Salem left their houses unattended and didn’t do their chores. The trials also affected the planting season. All of this led to severe crop failures and epidemics in Salem in the time after the trials ended.
The Salem Witch Trials took place in the summer and into the fall of the year 1692, and during this dark time of American history, over 200 people had been accused of witchcraft and put in jail. Twenty of these accused were executed; nineteen of them were found guilty and were put to death by hanging. One refused to plead guilty, so the villagers tortured him by pressing him with large stones until he died. The Salem Witch Trials was an infamous, scary time period in American history that exhibited the amount of fear people had of the devil and the supernatural; the people of this time period accused, arrested, and executed many innocent people because of this fear, and there are several theories as to why the trials happened (Brooks).