Thank you for the kind comments. The Absolutely True Tale of Disaster in Salem by Rosalyn Schnauzer. Not that the prosecutions were concluded even then. The witchcraft hysteria in Salem first began in January of 1692 when a group of young girls, who later came to be known as the afflicted girls, fell ill after playing a fortune-telling game and began behaving strangely. Second, everyone got their food from the same place, so symptoms would have occurred in every household, not just a select few. His death was gruesome and cruel and strengthened the growing opposition to the Salem Witch Trials. Three Salem Women: The Stories of Alice Parker, Ann Pudeator and Bridget Bishop, Salem Witch Trials Weekly, produced by the Salem Witch Museum, Bewitchment in Salem, produced by the Salem Witch Museum in conjunction with SATV, The Salem Witch Trials: A Day-by-Day Chronicle of a Community Under Siegeby Marilynne K. Roach (Jul 22, 2004), Cry Innocent: The People vs. Bridget Bishop, The Salem Witch Trials: Reckoning and Reclaiming at the Peabody Essex Museum. Although spectral evidence, evidence based on dreams and visions, wasnt the only evidence used in court during the Salem Witch Trails, it was the most common evidence and the easiest evidence for accusers to fake. Thirty people were found guilty, 19 of whom were executed by hanging (14 women and five men). Also, In 17th century Massachusetts, people often feared that the Devil was constantly trying to find ways to infiltrate and destroy Christians and their communities. Just as true today as it was a few centuries ago, fearmongering really accelerated the accusations. "5 Facts About the Salem Trials." I edit the site in general pretty much every day. http://www.easybib.com/cite/view. Not many people fled Salem, only a handful did, because Salem was their home and had been for a long time. One freezing day in January of 1692, something strange happened inside the Parris household of Salem Village, Massachusetts. Bridget was accused by five of the afflicted girls, Abigail Williams, Ann Putnam Jr., Mercy Lewis, Mary Walcott and Elizabeth Hubbard, who stated she had physically hurt them and tried to make them sign a pact with the devil. i would like to know more about the salem witch trials. They were said to have helped witches and were referred to as their familiars. The Puritan way of life was strict, and even small differences in behavior made people suspicious. The first to be tried wasBridget Bishopof Salem who was found guilty and was hanged on June 10. When was this site last edited? I am as innocent as the child unborn. Other medical explanations have included encephalitis lethargica, a disease carried by birds and animals, and Lyme disease, an infection that produces skin rashes similar to those believed to have been administered by the Salem witches. The Trials Salem had become a hotbed for accusations of witchcraft. Thank-you for the great info you have shared. In mid-January 1692, Elizabeth "Betty" Parris, the 9-year-old daughter of the local Reverend Samuel Parris, and. Chapter 145 of the resolves of 1957, Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Of course, remembering the events of 1692 can still act as a brake when contemporary events take a sinister downturn. Having initially set up the Court of Oyer and Terminer, Governor William Phips having returned from fighting in King Philips War in Maine voiced concerns about what danger some of [his] innocent subjects might be exposed to and dissolved the court, in the process pardoning those remaining in custody. Oh and sorry for talking a lot but if you need a website for your bibliographys heres an awesome sight I use it for school a lot and its supper easy use. (1977). Spanos and Gottlieb argue. The Salem Witch Trials began in spring 1692 and lasted for seven months, during which more than 150 people where arrested, 19 were hanged and one was tortured to death. An elderly woman accused of witchcraft is taken to the courthouse by an officer of the law. Robbins, Rossell Hope. The persecutors had to come up with a whole irrational legal system in order to justify this insanity. One person was pressed to death, and over 150 others were jailed, where still others died. The people had been so determined upon hunting out and destroying witches that they had neglected everything else. Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. I was wondering if there was a written document or agreement signed that ended the trials. Since some families of the victims did not want their family member listed, not every victim was named. "The Salem Witchcraft Trials: A Legal History". The pair had been bewitched. There were complex political, religious, and racial issues under the crisis. my question for the project was what was the history of the salem witch trials. All witches are women, but not every woman is a witch. With a 1562 act now permitting the death penalty for acts of witchcraft, they were hanged. One of the most popular theories as to what could have caused the mass hysteria of Salem is that of ergot poisoning, but recent scholars have questioned this idea. Bad weather isn't the only reason why the witch hype began. Unlike some of the more notorious cases in Europe and England, such as that of the Pendle witch trial, there was no one among Salems accused who was known as a local witch or healer, with one exception. One of them was shot but I dont know how the other one died. The bibliography at the bottom of this article list a number of secondary sources. Some (incredibly mean) people devoted their time to making a science out of witchcraft. An illustration shows a quiet street in the center of Salem, Massachusetts. I last updated this article on March 26, 2016. Two days before the court convened, a Puritan minister from Boston named Cotton Mather wrote to one of the judges expressing his concern over the admissibility of such evidence. 143159, This page was last edited on 4 March 2023, at 02:44. Salem Witchcraft and Cotton Mather: A Reply. The parallels between the Salem Witch Trials and more modem examples ofwitch huntinglike the McCarthy hearings of the 1950s, are remarkable. In 1813, the wooden structure of the jail was remodeled into a Victorian home and in 1956 the home was razed. Ergot is a fungus found in bread, and has the same effect as hallucinogenic drugs. What was this witchery actually about and how did it all start? Salem witch trials, (June 1692-May 1693), in American history, a series of investigations and persecutions that caused 19 convicted "witches" to be hanged and many other suspects to be imprisoned in Salem Village in the Massachusetts Bay Colony (now Danvers, Massachusetts). This is like the only website i found most helpful on Salem Witch Trial. On September 22, eight people were hanged. More than 200 people were accused of practicing witchcraft and 20 were killed during the hysteria. His grandfather is a Putnam. Im trying to get my family to visit there- Id even give up my beach trip for it! The English laws against witchcraft were repealed in 1736, after which incidents of suspected bewitchment, by now very isolated, were dealt with by mob rule rather than by a clear legal framework. Critics such as Proctor were quickly accused of witchcraft themselves, under the assumption that anyone who denied the existence of witches or defended the accused must be one of them, and were brought to trial. On March 1st, Tituba, Sarah Good and Sarah Osburn were arrested and examined. Over 150 people were arrested for allegedly using witchcraft to inflict harm on their fellow townspeople, resulting in the executions of 20 people and the prison deaths of five more. ", What does that mean, in laymans terms? I need a bibliography for my class report. If the accused was indicted, they were not allowed a lawyer and they had to decide to plead guilty or not guilty with no legal counsel to guide them. The Salem Witch Trials officially began in February of 1692, when the afflicted girls accused the first three victims, Tituba, Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne, of witchcraft and ended in May of 1693, when the remaining victims were released from jail. Fresh witchcraft cases continued to come before the new Superior Court of Judicature that, while again presided over by William Stoughton, was ordered not to accept spectral evidence. Very interesting article; Im glad I came across it! Many of the accusers were adults and more than a few of them were people who had themselves been accused. Some of the suggested theories are: conversion disorder, epilepsy, ergot poisoning, Encephalitis, Lyme disease, unusually cold weather, factionalism, socio-economic hardships, family rivalries and fraud. Learn Religions. How should I cite this? "Maleus Maleficarum Part I.". There the accused were questioned by a judge in front of a jury, which decided whether or not to indict the accused on charges of witchcraft. One major factor was that in 1684, King Charles II revoked the Massachusetts Bay Colonys royal charter, a legal document granting the colonists permission to colonize the area. At the time, Salem Village was a small New England town populated mostly by Puritans, or religious individuals with a belief in the devil. The following are some facts about the Salem Witch Trials: The Salem Witch Trials were a series of witchcraft cases brought before local magistrates in a settlement called Salem which was a part of the Massachusetts Bay colony in the 17th century. I find the history interesting and would like to find more information on this matter. You never know what you will find when you start researching your family tree! Brooks, Rebecca Beatrice. Children were also accused of witchcraft. I need to do a bibliography, and I have this page on it. A secondary source would be a book, journal or article written long after the event by someone who didnt experience it first hand. . In Salem, they actually didn't do any burning at all. She is the author of Daily Spellbook for the Good Witch, Wicca Practical Magic and The Daily Spell Journal. While many modern-day Pagans cite the Salem trials as an example of religious intolerance, at the time, witchcraft was not seen as a religion at all. Salem Village was populated mostly by poor farmers, and Salem Town was a prosperous port full of middle-class and wealthy merchants. Or maybe it was the 1711 bill that cleared the names of the accused witches. This was no more notable than when playwright Arthur Miller chose to dramatise the trials in his 1953 play The Crucible. Was there some sort of compromise at the end? And, of course, theres the theory that it was all down to good old fashioned spite. Finally, many of the symptoms described by witnesses stopped and began again based on external circumstances, and that simply doesnt happen with physiological illness. Knowing that if he was convicted his large estate would be confiscated and wouldnt be passed down to his children, Corey brought his trial to a halt by refusing to enter a plea. Boston, MA. thanks, mike turner, The 1692 Salem Village map can now be purchased on zazzle: http://www.zazzle.com/salem_village_map_poster-228789587972988887?rf=238784808055391622. Rebecca Nurses execution was a pivotal moment in the Salem Witch Trials. The primary sources of the Salem Witch Trials offer a wealth of information on these infamous trials. Awesome Article. Samuel Parris of Salem Village. Tried and found guilty within the course of a single day, Bishop was hanged a week later on 10 June, the first execution of the trials. Hi Julanii, I am the writer and publisher of this article. Seemed like there was alot of hate towards one another just for being different. Does that mean they couldnt have been practicing witchcraft? The Salem Witch Trials. How did this conflict impact the trials? Twenty-four people died during the Salem witch trials, though many more were accused of witchcraft. The new court released those awaiting trial and pardoned those awaiting execution. Do not lay more stress on pure spectral evidence than it will bear, he cautioned. Letters of Governor Phips to the Home Government, 16921693, "Woman condemned in Salem witch trials on verge of pardon 328 years later", "Indictment of Sarah Good for Afflicting Sarah Vibber", "Indictment of Abigail Hobbs for Covenanting", "The Devil's Specter: Spectral Evidence and the Salem Witchcraft Crisis", Narratives of the Witchcraft Trials, p. 342, "Role of skin lesions in the Salem witchcraft trials", "329 years later, last Salem 'witch' who wasn't is pardoned", Cornell University Library Witchcraft Collection, Salem Massachusetts Salem Witch Trials The Stones: July 10 and July 19, 1692, Salem Village Witchcraft Victims' Memorial, etext.virginia.edu, Chapter 122 of the Acts of 2001, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, "Actual Site Of Salem Witch Hangings Discovered", "The Real Salem Witch Hanging Site Was Located", Salem Witchcraft Trials: The Perception Of Women In History, Literature And Culture, Salem Witch Trials Documentary Archive and Transcription Project, SalemWitchTrials.com Essays, biographies of the accused and afflicted, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Salem_witch_trials&oldid=1142737002. Giles Corey, the husband of Martha Corey, refused to enter a plea and was subjected to a particularly gruesome form of torture where the accused is crushed under heavy stones until they either respond or die a tactic known as peine forte et dure, (until he either answered or died). We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. If these individuals had never written these books or helped record the proceedings, we wouldnt know half of what we know about the witch trials. Do you have a version number for this site? Maybe it's the influence of pop culture or maybe it's because it's theatrical, but a lot of people assume that witches were burned at the stake. How could so many people believe the afflicted girls without no real evidence. The preacher sad they could not kill the devil by shooting the dog but did anyway. The Salem witch trials began because a group of girls claimed they were possessed by the devil. Through the loss of 20 lives, the episode continues to warn of the dangers of insularity and isolationism, of intolerance, of religious extremism. Warrants were issued by the dozen, sometimes for the arrest of the most unlikely suspects. Here are some of our favorite Salem attractions: Salem Witch Museum Your first stop should be the Salem Witch Museum. Many people lived in a constant state of fear, tension, and paranoia. Yet another crucial moment during the Salem Witch Trials was the public torture and death of Giles Corey. Other diagnoses have focused more on the mental wellbeing of the Salem girls. Hysteria was from little girls facin threat of death by torture. propably in like 1-3 weeks away. Glanvill, Joseph. As a devout and strongly religious community living in near isolation in the mysterious New World, the community of Salem had a heightened sense of fear of the Devil and, as a result, it didnt take much to convince the villagers that there was evil among them. Theres always a lot of discussion in the Pagan community about theso-called Burning Times, which is the term used to describe the witch hunts of early modern Europe. If you want to learn more about the Salem Witch Trials, check out this article on the best Salem Witch Trials books. Many modern theories suggest the girls were suffering from epilepsy, boredom, child abuse, mental illness or even a disease brought on by eating rye infected with fungus. Other evidence used in the trials included confessions of the accused, possession of certain items such as poppets, ointments or books on the occult, as well as the presence of an alleged witchs teat, which was a strange mole or blemish, on the accused persons body.
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