the afflicted girls

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Witchcraft and witches have been spoken of for centuries. The first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word 'which' could be fictional stories of black magic and ugly creatures riding around on broomsticks, however, to the people of Salem, Massachusetts in 1690 witches were no more fictional than you and I.
In the 1690's in Salem, MA a group of young girls accused a young indian slave by the name of Tituba of being a witch and using witchcraft to pinch the girls. Tituba was one of the first accused witches out of around two hundred accused, according to the Smithsonian. Out of all these people nineteen were hanged ,one was pressed to death, and five died in prison ,as well as that many more were locked away in prison. These accusations, and death were brought upon by Ann Putnam, Jr. who played a crucial role in the witchcraft trials. She was twelve years old at the time, and she was one of the first to join Betty Parris and Abigail Williams as an "afflicted child". Though she is easily criticized for her role as one of the most persistent accusers in the trials, i...

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