facts about the salem witch trials

It has so many details that I need. In 1957, the state of Massachusetts officially apologized for the Salem Witch Trials and cleared the name ofsome of the remaining victims not listed in the 1711 law, stating: One Ann Pudeator and certain other persons yet did not list the other victims names. 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. The girls accusation was that Good had performed witchcraft on them. The first case brought before the grand jury was that of Bridget Bishop, a woman around the age of 60 who faced a plethora of accusations: that she could pass through doors and windows without opening them; that she had made holes in the road suddenly open up, into which carts would fall before the holes would instantly disappear; that she had summoned a black pig with the body of a monkey and the feet of a cockerel. To understand the events of theSalem Witch Trials, it is necessary to examine the times in which accusations of witchcraft occurred. Nige Tassell explains how hysteria in the village of Salem, Massachusets, gave rise to a horror that bedazzled the world Published: June 10, 2020 at 4:45 pm According to the official Salem website, the trials were shorter than most people believe, but they were still deadly. The trials only lasted three months, but they managed to leave a perpetual dark mark on the town's history. King William's War (war in the America colonies against the French) ended with many people having to be relocated so there were many strangers moving into town. Was there some sort of compromise at the end? As in complaints upon witchcrafts, there may be matters of inquiry which do not amount unto matters of presumption, and there may be matters of presumption which yet may not be matters of conviction, so it is necessary, that all proceedings thereabout be managed with an exceeding tenderness towards those that may be complained of, especially if they have been persons formerly of an unblemished reputation. I need to make a bibliography for my English report. A week later, the jury changed their minds and declared Nurse guilty. Salem witch trials (1692-93), 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. Keeping to yourself and minding your own business seemed suspicious. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. On October 31, 2001, the state amended the 1957 apology and cleared the names of the remaining unnamed victims, stating: Chapter 145 of the resolves of 1957 is hereby amended by striking out, in line 1, the words One Ann Pudeator and certain other persons and inserting in place thereof the following words:- Ann Pudeator, Bridget Bishop, Susannah Martin, Alice Parker, Margaret Scott and Wilmot Redd.. Since the accused witches were considered dangerous prisoners, they were kept in the dungeon and were chained to the walls because jail officials believed this would prevent their spirits from fleeing the jail and tormenting their victims. How did this conflict impact the trials? Children were also accused of witchcraft. The first witch trial occurred because the daughter (Betty Parris) and niece (Abigail Williams) of the local Salem Reverend had become violently ill. On October 29, Phips dismissed the Court of Oyer and Terminer. Shortly after, two of the girls named the women they believed were bewitching them. 121, p. 108. Rebecca Nurses execution was a pivotal moment in the Salem Witch Trials. Only the intervention of Cotton Mather whonappeased the crowd with the observation that the devil had often been transformed into the Angel of Light ensured that the hangings continued as scheduled. His diagnosis of bewitchment put into motion the forces that would ultimately result in the hanging deaths of 19 men and women. 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. Perhaps this question has something to do with the closure of the court of Oyer and Terminer, which was the special court established to hear the trials. When was this site last edited? Seemed like there was alot of hate towards one another just for being different. The other two accused women, Sarah Good and Sarah Osbourne, werent well liked by the community either. Hi Indigo, Im assuming you mean eyewitness accounts. If you are looking for more info on the victims themselves, you can check out the article I wrote specifically about them titled The Salem Witch Trials Victims: Who Were They? How inhumane! Ergot is a fungus found in bread, and has the same effect as hallucinogenic drugs. Im just going to use Smithsonian, ARe you the editor/author of this site @Rebecca Beatrice Brooks, Hi Gigi, yes Im the editor/author of this site, thanks so much I needed that for my homework, Where can I get a copy of the Salem 1692 map that you posted? Nige Tassell is a freelance journalist specialising in history, This content first appeared in the January 2016 issue of BBC History Revealed, Save up to 49% AND your choice of gift card worth 10* when you subscribe BBC History Magazine or BBC History Revealed PLUS! Also, when was his last updated? Thank for the site it is so helpful for my project! Thanks so much for this! The charter was revoked because the colonists had violated several of the charters rules, which included basing laws on religious beliefs and discriminating against Anglicans. Psychosomatic disorders have been suggested as the root of the hysteria, most notably the societal strains placed on them in a strict, deeply religious adult world that made no contingency for the developmental needs of children. Europe, on the other hand, was super into dramatic flames. More than 200 people were accused of practicing witchcraftthe devil's magic and 20 were executed . The bibliography at the bottom of this article list a number of secondary sources. A 1976 study, printed in the journal Science, attributed the girls hysterical and possibly hallucinogenic behaviour to the ingestion of rye bread made with grain infected with ergot of rye. Between 1692 and 1693, more than two hundred people were accused. Salem was . "Examination and Evidence of Some the Accused Witches in Salem, 1692. Three days earlier, the death of another of the accused had occurred. Not that the prosecutions were concluded even then. Boston, MA. 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. As the years went by, the colonists felt ashamed and remorseful for what had happened during the Salem Witch Trials. I was wondering if there was a written document or agreement signed that ended the trials. Legal Legacy of the Salem Witch Trials. In pre-echoes of what would later occur in Salem, panic took hold of the local community, with accusations flying in all directions. The Examination of Sarah Good, March 1, 1692. More than 200 people were a.. Read the article free on Booksie. The day of prayer and fasting was held on January 15, 1698, and was known as the Day of Official Humiliation. At the announcement ceremony, playwright Arthur Miller made a speech and read from the last act of his 1953 play, The Crucible, which was inspired by the Salem Witch Trials. When you visit this site, it may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. Most of the accusers were Puritans who lived on the farms. thank you for the bibliography it helps a lot! Within minutes theyre led, hoods drawn over their heads, towards a rudimentary set of gallows, and their imminent executions. I guarantee Im not related to any putnum. In January of 2016, the site where the Salem Witch Trials hangings took place was officially identified as Proctors Ledge, which is a small wooded area in between Proctor Street and Pope Street in Salem. The Superior Court of Judicature, formed to replace the witchcraft court, did not allow spectral evidence. Estimates suggest that over 200 women were executed during this period as a direct result of the investigations of Hopkins and his associates. On July 23, John Proctor wrote to the clergy in Boston. The 17th century Salem has nothing on witch hunts that went down in Europe. Massachusetts Archives Collection, vol. And this was for a people who saw themselves as ordered by God to build their shining City on a Hill. Random House, 1956Fowler, Samuel Page. What is the legacy of the Salem witch trials? Being burned at the stake was an occasionally used method of execution in Europe, when one was convicted of witchcraft, but was generally reserved for those who refused to repent of their sins. Get ready to pull out your history books as we bring you the most DISTURBING facts about the Salem Witch Trials. 10. Afflicted Girls:Elizabeth BoothElizabeth HubbardMercy LewisBetty ParrisAnn Putnam, Jr.Susannah SheldonAbigail WilliamsMary WalcottMary Warren. 1, pp. Through the loss of 20 lives, the episode continues to warn of the dangers of insularity and isolationism, of intolerance, of religious extremism. On 2 June, the specially convened Court of Oyer and Terminer (oyer meaning to hear, terminer meaning to decide) sat for the first time, presided over by William Stoughton, the newly appointed lieutenant governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay. Titubas confession was the trigger that sparked the mass hysteria and the hunt for more witches in Salem. Daily chores, business matters and other activities were neglected during the chaos of the witch trials, causing many problems in the colony for years to come, according to the book The Witchcraft of Salem Village: The whole colony, moreover, had suffered. In January 1692 Salem Village was dealing with a lot. thank u. Do you know if their are any reports from some of the people in the villiage? This really helped with my homework on the salem witch trials cause soon we are going to do an essay on this very soon. I mean the whole cause was a wheat bacteria/fungi called ergot. One of the greatest tragedies of the Salem Witch Trials was the concept of the familiars. Even poor animals were not safe and they could actually get accused and executed as well. 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. 126. Unauthorized use is prohibited. How many people (male and female) were killed in the Trials? The number of accusations and arrests began to decline in June but still continued and soon the local jails held more than 200 accused witches. More significant were admissions of attending a witches meeting on Pendle Hill. Although the witch hunt started in Salem Village, it quickly spread to the neighboring towns, including Amesbury, Andover, Salisbury, Topsfield, Ipswich and Gloucester, and numerous residents of those towns were brought to Salem and put on trial. The parallels between the Salem Witch Trials and more modem examples ofwitch huntinglike the McCarthy hearings of the 1950s, are remarkable. Her son Richard is one of my 8th great grandfathers and I keep waiting for a DNA match to pop up with one of his other descendants. I needed this a lot but was having trouble with it. Twenty people were put to death in Salem for the crime of witchcraft. "The Salem Witchcraft Trials: A Legal History". These unsettling facts will shed light. When we think of witches today, we think of girls with crystals and hats who like to listen to Stevie Nicks. Five more people were hanged in July, one of which was Rebecca Nurse. In addition to this constant sense of fear, Salem residents were also under a great deal of stress during this period due to a number of factors. I think that maybe they thought they were bewitched. It also silenced any opposition to the idea that the Devil had infiltrated Salem. The courthouse was torn down in 1760 but a plaque dedicated to the courthouse can still be seen today on the wall of the Masonic Temple on Washington Street. Wiggin and Lunt, 1867.Crewe, Sabrina and Michael V. Uschan. I last updated this article on March 26, 2016. 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). Did the Putnams purchase any of the land from those who were accused and killed? I think this was a great site and I also recommend the book the witches -salem, 1962 by stacey schiff. DHowlett1692, who blogs regularly about all things Salem, cites a 1977 article by Nicholas P. Spanos and Jack Gottlieb that disputes Caporaels ergotism study. Another notable person who was accused of witchcraft was Captain John Alden Jr., the son of the Mayflower crew member John Alden. Bernard Rosenthal, "Medievalism and the Salem Witch Trials," in: Protests against early modern witch trials, Learn how and when to remove this template message, Cultural depictions of the Salem witch trials, Medical and psychological explanations of bewitchment, List of wrongful convictions in the United States, "Six Victims of 1692 Salem Witch Trials "Cleared" by Massachusetts", "Massachusetts Clears 5 From Salem Witch Trials", "Salem may pardon accused witches of 1692", "On 325th anniversary, city dedicates Proctor's Ledge memorial to Salem Witch Trials victims", "Memorable Providence, Relating to Witchcraft and Possessions", "Examination of Dorothy Good, As Told by Deodat Lawson", "Religiosity and the political economy of the Salem witch trials", Virginia.edu Salem witch trials (archives), "Massachusetts Archives: Superior Court of Judicature Witchcraft Trials (JanuaryMay 1693), Cases Heard". Rebecca, how long did this take you? Of course, remembering the events of 1692 can still act as a brake when contemporary events take a sinister downturn. You have been so helpful! Is this a homework question? Rebecca Beatrice Brooks is the author and publisher of the History of Massachusetts Blog. Bishop had been accused of witchcraft years before but was cleared of the crime. 135, no. The Salem witch trials occurred in colonial Massachusetts between early 1692 and mid-1693. While sympathy, and certainly empathy, are always good things to have, its also important that we dont let emotions color the facts. The Salem Witch Trials of 1692 were a dark time in American history. Find out what started the witch hunt of 1692. Thats where spectral evidence comes in, and it played a significant role in the Salem trials. This site is not a part of the Smithsonian website. People wanted to protect themselves, so they ratted out their own friends, neighbors or anyone they didn't like. To identify witches, authorities used the "touching test", in which victims of witchcraft would become calm upon touching the culprit. The eight-point response, penned by Cotton Mather, advised prudence when it came to procedure, cautioning that hastiness shouldnt overwhelm lawfulness. Heavy stones were loaded onto the board and the weight was gradually increased until the prison either entered a plea or died. We've rounded up some interesting facts about Salem so you can enjoy it from home this season. In mid-September, a further group went to the gallows Eight Firebrands of Hell in the words of Rev Noyes. Those who lived nearer to Salem Town engaged in commerce and were seen as a bit more worldly. This is really great. While the Salem of today is a thriving metropolitan area, in 1692 it was a remote settlement on the edge of the frontier. I am the author and publisher of this blog. The persecutors had to come up with a whole irrational legal system in order to justify this insanity. Upon hearing about the Parris girls behavior, much of the Puritan community agreed that the duo had been victims of witchcraft. Its entirely possible that much of the blame placed upon Tituba during the trials was based on her racial and social class. this helped me sooo much. The history (both good and bad) is something we should all know about. I need to cite this for my reference sheet. As the trials and executions continued, colonists began to doubt that so many people could actually be guilty of this crime. The Salem Witch Trials. Salem Witch Trials from William A. Crafts Did the people really believe in witches? On March 1st, Tituba, Sarah Good and Sarah Osburn were arrested and examined. Among those detained in March 1692 were Martha Corey and Rebecca Nurse, upstanding members of the local churches in Salem Village and Salem Town respectively. How should I cite this? It was not difficult for the people of Salem to believe they were involved in witchcraft. Thanks! The slave Tituba, because of her background in the Caribbean (or possibly the West Indies), could have practiced some form of folk magic, but that has never been confirmed. 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. Often, in movies and television and books, the accusers in the Salem trials are portrayed as angsty teenage girls, but thats not completely true. 618619. It is pretty sad. According to Plouffe, Jr., the trials were the largest of . But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. Another five were executed exactly a month later on 19 August, four of whom were men. If people were to run away from it, theyll only be hunted down and thats worst then sitting in court. Kinda sad after reading everything. In 2017, on the 325th anniversary of the Salem Witch Trials, the newly built Proctors Ledge Memorial was unveiled at the base of the ledge on Pope Street. Wow. The Salem witch trials of the late 17th century were a formative episode in America's early history, and have remained at the forefront of the national consciousness ever since. This illustration shows him speaking at Witches Hill, the site of his execution. History of the Salem Witch Trials. History of Massachusetts Blog, 18 Aug. 2011, historyofmassachusetts.org/the-salem-witch-trials. When asked who it was that had afflicted them, they named Good a homeless woman who had fallen destitute after denying the inheritance of her wealthy fathers estate as one of the three culprits.