“The contagion would engulf at least twenty-two Massachusetts villages, culminating in the arrest of over one hundred and fifty people. Fifty-nine were tried, thirty–one convicted, and nineteen hanged (Foulds vi-vii).” Women were the majority of the accused, because in that time witchcraft was mostly a female perversity. The over one-hundred and fifty accused in 1692 were from all backgrounds, ages and genders. “Persons who scoffed at accusations of witchcraft risked becoming targets of accusations themselves (Linder).” Documents tracing the origins of the witch hunt have led to one individual, Elizabeth “Betty” Parris, daughter of Reverend Samuel Parris. After giving one of his spirited sermons, Betty and her cousin Abigail Williams, began to act strangely.
Salem Witch Trials: Elizabeth Hubbard The Salem Witch trials were a series of trials that accused many people, especially women, of witchcraft. The witchcraft trials went on for years. One trial many people know of is the trial of the six girls who began having witch like behavior, and accused many of being witches. Elizabeth Hubbard played a huge role in the Salem Witch Trials by being one of the six girls to have been the victim of the devil like behavior. Shortly after two girls were “touched by an evil hand,” Elizabeth Hubbard, also began to experience fits linked to witchcraft (Nichols par.
About 30 years prior to the start of the Salem Witch Trial in 1662 another witch hunt hysteria swept through another New England village, Hartford, Connecticut. Parents to a little girl were convinced she had been possessed and took ill after spending time with her neighbor. Soon after the little girls death, accusations and finger pointing were aimed at several of the village people thus starting the first witch hysteria. In that same time there was a reported 100 plus cases of witchcraft. Of those reported cases, fifteen had ended in execution.
These girls were asked by many people if they had came in contact with the devil. If you were accused of doing witchcraft you had to go to trial. If you don't confess that you have done or you do witchcraft you will be hung. At the end of May there were more than 60 people that were accused of doing witchcraft. The Salem Witch Trials was the biggest American witch hunt ever.
Twenty people executed, two hundred or more jailed, and the whole town of Salem in hysteria. Lasting two years, the Salem Witch Trials not only tore families apart, but killed many along the way as well. People were jailed from the reasoning of the court with no legitimate evidence. This historical time, in 1692-1693 was one of the most insane and violent periods that people living in small towns and villages experienced. In both Arthur Miller’s The Crucible and Lisa Rowe Fraustino’s I Walk in Dread, hysteria, the Salem Witch Trials, and Mccarthyism are featured as main topics that create a similarity of themes.
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.
The events that took place in Salem in 1692 are a part of a greater pattern throughout our history to persecute innocent people, especially women, as "witches." According to the history channel there was a story where three young women were accused of witchcraft. They were brought in front of the magistrates Jonathan Corwin and John Hathorne who questioned them. on the day of the trial the accusers were screaming and withering in pain yet two of the three withes pled not guilty . While the last women pled guilty likely thinking that she would save herself from conviction by ratting out the other people.
Several centuries ago, many practicing Christians and people of other religions strongly believed that the Devil could give a few people known as witches the power to cause harm to others for their loyalty. In the 1600s, a Reverend’s daughter and niece started having “fits”; they would scream, throw things, make weird noises, and put themselves into strange positions. Claiming that they were being “bewitched” by other townspeople, these young girls caused one of the most controversial court cases ever to be considered: the Salem Witch Trials. Some of the witches were tortured and thrown into jail; they had to pay for their food and many other things. They also had to pay for the chains they were held in; many of them died in these very chains.
How did the Salem witch trials begin? The Salem witch trials began during the spring of 1692, after a group of young girls in Salem Village, Massachusetts, claimed to be possessed or controlled by the devil. The group of girls accused three other local women who were so called possessing them. The three women were put on trial for practicing witchcraft. A special court was convened in Salem to hear the cases.
As one can see, the chaotic Salem Witchcraft Trials of 1692 were caused by superstition, the strict puritan lifestyle, religious beliefs, and hysteria. Puritan Lifestyle was one ... ... middle of paper ... ...in their family to become sick and possibly die. Many people were accused of witchcraft. More than twenty people died all together. One person was flattened to death because he was accused of witchcraft.