The Witchcraft Trials And The Trials Of The Salem Witch Trials

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Introduction From 1692 to 1693 in Boston Massachusetts many people were accused of practicing witchcraft. In this year close to 200 people were accused of practicing the “devils magic” and they were put on trial with the possibility of the final verdict of either life or death. This dark magic was commonly associated with random outburst, screaming, and certain positions foreign to those around them, and other things people found were out of the norm and unnatural. During this time people lived a puritan lifestyle, the devil was made very real, and this conservative and rigid lifestyle gave way to a strong belief in the devil. A total of nineteen people were hung During the Salem Witch Trials because of their conformation with the devil and their practice of witchcraft.” June 10th; Bidget Bishop, July 19th; Rebecca Nurse, Sarah Good, Susannah Martin, Elizabeth Howe, Sarah Wildes, August 19th; George Burroughs, Martha Carrier, John Willard, George Jacobs, Sr, John Proctor, September 22nd; Martha Corey, Mary Eastey, Ann Pudeator, Alice Parker Wilmott Redd, Margaret Scott, Samuel Wardwell.” Those accuses in Salem, Boston Massachusetts, were believed to be seduced by the devils magic. Those accused, regardless of being guilty or not were brought into court and were pushed through the legal process. The court held each person to the same accountability, guilty until proven innocent. Each person was taken to jail, later to be asked series of questions by the magistrate to determine their confrontation with the devil and the many things that the devil influenced. In the government of today’s society the same process is given to those that are accused of a crime, then having the evidence go to a grand jury, there deciding whether there ... ... middle of paper ... ... the town of its evil, or the guilty, those that disturb the peace of our society, but in doing so they have not protected the innocent. During the Salem witch trials there were three things that were vital during the trail of finding a witch or wizard, “confession, testimony of two eye witnesses to acts of witches, and spectral evidence.” The process in which people are out on trial today are based upon five pieces of evidence; faulty eye witness of identification, false confessions, jail house informant testimony, perjury, prosecutorial misconduct. The Salem Witch trials had faith in this system believing all it took to find the guilty was were solely these pieces of evidence. Society and the citizens of today have the same trust in the judicial system today that it will protect. The system of the United States, aims to protect the innocent and lock up the guilty,

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