Effects Of The Salem Witch Trials

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The Salem Witch Trials, had a very large effect on the community Salem, Massachusetts. At least more than 15 people died in the whole event, being falsely accused of course. And after 200-400 years people are still speculating the events, as if it happened yesterday, and how this event could have impacted the many emotions of the people of Salem and other other colonies in the New World. The town of Salem started out as a small Puritan settlement. In 1641, England made witchcraft a capital crime that was punishable by death. On 1692, a girl by the name of Betty Parris began to experience spasms, this was accompanied by high fevers and bodily pain. It was also reported that she would “run/dash about” and “hide underneath furniture”. Local physician, Doctor Griggs, said that Betty may have been practicing witchcraft. According to Griggs, this may have caused Betty’s strange behavior. And with the few weeks to come, Griggs had began to see similar behaviors in other young women in Salem. One of the girls was Elizabeth Hubbard. And by February, church clergymen and the townspeople had become involved and pressured the 12-year old Elizabeth to confess who had caused her to behave so strangely. Elizabeth blamed Tituba, the local Indian slave from Barbados. She also had accused Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne of practicing witchcraft with them. And on February 29, 1692, arrest warrants were issued for Tituba, Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne. The number of accused people began to rise, and the Governor saw a need to recreate the court just for the handling of the witch trials. Five judges were appointed. Though many of them had no witnesses to obliged to the actions they were accused of, every single one of them were sentenced to hanging... ... middle of paper ... ...on by Giles, others argue that he was not acting on behalf of his heirs by refusing to stand trial. But rather, he chose this fate to serve as a protest against the witch trials and the methods of the court. Whatever his reason may be, Giles Corey chose death over standing trial for witchcraft. Many people felt the accusations and trials were getting out of control.And as of October, judges and numerous of other people and authority figures believed that the trials claimed innocent lives. People were beginning to ignore those accused and went with their day. The rage of the witch trials had died down, and the last witch trial was held in January 1693. The Governor had than ended the witch trials when he pardoned the remaining accused in May 1693. With this, the Salem witch trials, resulted in nineteen hangings and a death by crushing rocks, was finally concluded.

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