Salem Witch Trials Research Paper

Salem Witch Trials: The witch trials were a series of hearings, and prosecutions of people being accused of witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts between February 1692, through May 1693. The primary source of the trials is unknown, but it was most recognized when a group of young girls, from the village Salem, started to speak of the devil invading their home and try to take over through his “minions” that he persuaded to write in his book. This group of girls accused over 200 people for working for the devil, or being witches, and

The Salem Witch Trials, also know as the Salem Witchcraft Trials were legal proceedings which took place of course in the Salem Village of Massachusetts. These trials began during the spring of 1692, after a group of young girls in the village, claimed to be possessed by the devil accusing several local women of practicing the craft. Victims were prosecuted and executed for reputedly practicing witchcraft, when little to no evidence of the act itself existed. This historical period resulted in twenty people, mostly women, being hung for black magic conspiracies. Neighbors accused neighbors; even church members accused other church members of witchcraft. Others were accused, but fled the area before they could be arrested. During this time

The Salem witch trials were a difficult time for the citizens of the Massachusetts Colony in the late seventeenth century. They were accused of practicing the Devil’s magic, which many believed to be real; so real that people were being imprisoned and executed for it. Between the years 1692 and 1693 there were over two hundred accusations and about 20 people and two dogs were killed altogether.

The Salem Witch Trials started in 1692 when a group of young girls claimed to be possessed by the Devil, Which was essentially being a witch. The punishment of being a witch was death. After the girls trials were done they were all hung at the Salem gallows. After That 150 women and children were accused. But in the end only 18 people were killed by the state of Massachusetts.

Salem Witch Trials, one of the worst times in history, many people were killed by hanging, and pressing. There was only one person to be killed by getting crushed, it was 81 year old Giles Cory, they put a board on top of him, and people interrogated him, trying to make him testify against his wife Martha, whenever he refused to testify against her they put a pile of rocks on top of the board, eventually getting to the point where he couldn’t take the pressure of all the rocks and died, 3 days later his wife was accused and hung.

How many deaths and arrests could a few young christian girls possibly cause in a small colonial town? The town of Salem is located north of Boston on the coast of the North Atlantic. This was an ideal location for puritan and quaker immigrants to escape persecution for their beliefs. They were mostly persecuted by the Roman Catholics in Europe. Hard life styles, constant work, and disputes led to hard feelings between the settlers of Salem. Soon, girls started acting strange and accusing witches afflicting them. This led to over two hundred accusations, ninety unjust arrests, and claimed the lives of twenty four victims.

In 1692, the Salem Witch Trials started due to mass hysteria (Miller, 1124). The witch trials took place in Salem, Massachusetts, when a group of girls were caught dancing in the woods (Miller,1124). In the Puritan society, both dancing and spending time in the woods were considered to be sinful (Miller,1124). They believed that if someone sinned, the devil could enter their life (Witchcraft in Salem [Us History.org].). Witches were the work of the devil, therefore, the Puritans developed tests to determine if they were indeed witches (Witchcraft in Salem [Us History.org].). The tests included repeating the Lord’s Prayer, marks on the body, water tests and confessions (Witchcraft in Salem [Us History.org].). However, once a person was

The first victim was Bridget Bishop, as she was tried for witchcraft some years prior, but was acquitted. She didn’t get as lucky as she was to be the first person executed in the Trials for witchcraft. Bishop was executed on June 10th, 1692 and more soon followed after her. George Burroughs was brought up to the gallows and then recited The Lord’s Prayer, much to the astonishment of the town. Cotton Mather would have let Burroughs down but then said that George wasn’t a preacher at all, and all hell, and the Trials broke loose and Mather left Burroughs hanging, pun intended. It seemed as if people would randomly be called out and not even days later they would hang or in Giles Corey’s case, be pressed to death for witchcraft. It was at a point that the trials got way out of hand and the ones that were still in prison were let go, but their reputation would still be permanently damaged for being called out as a witch months

One of the accused was an old beggar woman named Sarah Good, another was an adulterous woman named Sarah Osbourne and the third was an Indian slave named Titube. However, the accusations did not stop there. Over one-hundred and fifty people were arrested and put on trial for practicing witchcraft. The trials were extremely unfair. Since most of the accused refused to confess, the court relied on spectral evidence. Spectral evidence consisted of Satan or some other supernatural being appearing in the form of an accused witch. It was impossible for one of the accused to be found not guilty (Bailey,1). The first to be hanged was Bridget Bishop. In the month to follow eighteen others were hanged and Giles Cory was pressed to death when he refused to plead guilty. In 1692twenty innocent people were executed in and around Salem. What started as a few adolescent girls writhing and convulsing soon metalized into dozens of victims, hundreds accused, and committees torn

In 1692, in Salem Village, a doctor, William Griggs, diagnosed two girls saying that they were bewitched by witches in the village. Panic filled Salem and a witch hunt began. Nineteen people were killed and one person was crushed by rocks after refusing to admit. This event in history has inspired people not to make the same mistakes and has improved the information doctor’s use when diagnosing patients. This event in history was an effect of many years of fear of witchcraft. This paper will describe the events, causes, and conclusion of the Salem Witchcraft Trials.

The Salem witch trials were start after several young girls said they were possessed and blamed several local women for witchcraft in Salem Village, Massachusetts (2011). During the Salem Witch Trials a lot of people were wrongly accused of practicing witchcraft and some of them were hanged or put in jail. During the Salem Witch Trials eight people were hanged and seven of them

Many weeks later after running out of reasons for their strange behavior, all of their symptoms seemed to lead to one belief, “ The evil hand is upon them”, that states they were possessed by the Devil (History of Massachusetts). After more and more children became victims

This started the hysterical beginning of the Salem Witch trials, which resulted in many women, men, and children being accused of practicing witchcraft. Out of the one hundred fifty people accused in Salem, twenty of them were executed as witches, while others rotted away and died in jail. The people of Salem did not discriminate who they executed or who they sent to jail so the result was a diverse range of citizens being accused.

Imagine yourself in Salem, Massachusetts, sometime in 1692. What are you imagining? Small houses, one-room schools, or maybe starving people trying to survive a harsh winter? Both of those scenarios probably happened. But I’m focusing on something else, something much more dire. Because in Salem, Massachusetts, 1692, witch accusations were happening, and for over a year. Approximately 200 people were accused of being witches. Roughly 20 were killed and about five more died in prison. This is the cruelty I will be explaining, the cruelty of the Salem witch hunts, trials and executions. Would you have been a suspect? What about the trials or tests? Were witches really burnt at the stake? Discover all of this and more in the five following

An estimated total of about 40,000-60,000 people were executed during the witch trials, the most notable of these trials being the North Berwick witch trials, Torsåker witch trials, and the most famous of all, the Salem witch trials.