Salem Witch Trials

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In 1692 there were 17 known witch trials. People were accused of witchcraft because of many different things, such as skin blemishes, unusual pain, if they had brooms or pointy hats, and if the owned one or more black cats. They were also accused because most practiced fortune telling and used voodoo dolls. In the salem witch trials there were 10 witch tests that were known of as well as a handful of clues to tell if they are witches or not.
First the story of Betty Parris. In the winter of 1692, Betty Parris was around 12 years old and she became strangely sick. She ran around, hid under furniture, and complained of pain and fever. “The cause of her symptoms may have been some combination of stress, depression, asthma, guilt, boredom, child abuse, epilepsy, and delusional psychosis” (The Salem Witchcraft Trials of 1692).
Throughout the seventeenth century, there were many trials due to curious beliefs of witchcraft. A lot of town folk accused some of the residents of witchcraft due to hatred and they also wanted to do away with the people that were accused wrongly. “Other assumptions would be because of strange behavior such as screaming, getting seizures, trance-like states, and mysterious spells.” Within a short time, several other Salem girls began to demonstrate similar behavior. The doctors could not determine any physical cause for the symptoms. The doctors had told the townspeople that they were influenced by Satan.
To follow up with this idea the town held trials. The Royal Governor, the prosecutors, the accused, and many pedestrians would attend the trial . Several tests would be performed before the trial.
Some of these are the floating test, a test where the midwives would check the "witch’ for any black marks on ...

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... known stories and a handful of clues to tell if they are witches of not. People were accused of witchcraft because of skin blemishes, unusual pain, if they and brooms or pointy hats, if the owned one or many black cats. they were also accused because most practiced fortune telling and used voodoo dolls. In 1692 there were 17 known witch trials.

References
Corbett, S. (1985). Witch hunt. Boston: Atlantic Monthly Press.
The Salem Witchcraft Trials of 1692. (n.d.). The Salem Witchcraft Trials of 1692. Retrieved from http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/salem/salem.htm
Schanzer, R. (2011). Witches!: The absolutely true tale of disaster in Salem. Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society.
10 Tests For Guilt at the Salem Witch Trials. (n.d.). Listverse. Retrieved from http://listverse.com/2012/07/27/10-tests-for-guilt-used-at-the-salem-witch-trials/

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