The Devil, the Witches and the Victims of Salem

The Devil, the Witches and the Victims of Salem

Nineteen were hanged, seventeen died in prison, 150 were imprisoned

and one was crushed to death. All of them were accused, by a group of

seemingly innocent young girls, of witchcraft and wizardry.

The cry of witchcraft all began in the January of 1692 in the town of

Salem. Then, almost as soon as it had begun, the hysteria, that swept

through Puritan Massachusetts ended. The Reverend Parris speculated

that witchcraft had aroused after the strange illness and behaviour of

his daughter, Betty and niece, Abigail.

Salem was already a god-fearing town, they had the stresses of

everyday life in the 17th Century and witchcraft was a good excuse to

use.

By the summer of 1692, the Salem witch trails began. After the poor

evidence and lies were given, a total of thirteen women and five men

were hanged. One was even crushed to death. All were innocent. The

spectres, that the "supposed victims" claimed to see, were all the

court needed to charge someone with witchcraft. Later into the trials,

the Superior Court of Judicature replaced the current Oyer and

Terminer court and ruled out the spectres as hard solid proof. It was

not until then, that the trials stopped and the truth was revealed.

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Salem witch trial

The girls that accused the innocent were the actual witches

themselves. Story goes, that it was the Reverend Parris' slave Tituba,

from the West Indies, was responsible for indoctrinating the young

girl's minds with spells and rituals.

The question I like to answer is, why did these girls accuse others of

witchcraft and lost the lives of many? Some say it's because the girls

had eaten bread, which was contaminated with a fungus and could've

given the girls hallucinations. Others say it is because the girls

were seeking revenge from other townsfolk over past jealousies. Others

say it is because the girls were adolescents seeking attention. The

girls might have enjoyed all the attention and benefits.