Salem Witch Trials Research Paper

In that time frame more than two hundred people were accused of Witchcraft, and twenty people were executed based on the claims of others that they were using the Devil’s Magic. The whole scenario began in 1689, in the aftermath of King William’s War when refugees were funneled down into Salem creating a strain on the people and the economy in the town. This began the belief that all of the problems they were facing was the work of the devil. One key person is Reverend Samuel Parris, whose daughter Elizabeth, was one of the first accused of witchcraft, along with his niece, Abigail, and later Ann Putnam. All three girls experienced fits and a doctor blamed the supernatural for them. On February 29, 1692 the girls pointed their fingers to Tituba, the Parris’ Caribbean slave, Sarah Good, and Sarah Osborne. Following these three claims was another woman, who was part of the church, Martha Corey. Once she was accused the idea was spread that anyone could be a witch, and the hunt began. In May of 1692, Governor William Phipps established a special court, The Court of Oyer, that people were to be tried in for witchcraft. The first woman who was brought to the court was Bridget Bishop, who claimed her

By the spring of 1692, Salem Village, Massachusetts the infamous witch hunt began. It all started by several girls diagnosed by a doctor who claimed they were possessed by the devil. The girls later claimed they were bewitched by some local women and saw these women in their dreams, torment them. Sarah Good, a beggar and described by the people of Salem as bad tempered, filthy, strangely detached from the community, happened to be one of the first three individuals who were accused. The girls claimed they were pinched, nibbled or injured by three women including Sarah Good. Good’s examination began in March 1, 1692. The examination was reported by Ezekiell Chevers.

Confused on what was going on, the village turned to the doctors in which said that it was a form of witchcraft. The Reverend asked the girls who was behind all of this, thinking that the girls couldn't do this on their own. Three names came up in the conversation with the girls. On February 29, 1692, three arrests were made. One was Sarah Good who denied the accusations and blamed it on the other woman, Sarah Osbourne, who also denied the whole thing. During the trial of the three women, the other one accused, a slave of Reverend Parris named Tituba, had admitted to being a witch. She claimed that four women and a man had claimed that if she did not hurt the children then they would hurt her. The hunt went on to find more witches that were responsible in which led them to a respected church member Reverend George Burroughs, a former minister in Maine. The villagers went to Maine and brought him back to Salem to be tried for witchcraft.

Seeking religious refuge, the Puritans were Protestant Christians that believed in predestination. They were fundamentalists who believed in a literal translation of the bible and took their religion very serious. Based on the religious text, the mentioning of devils and witches caused speculations and even hysteria in Salem in 1692. It was thought that the devil would enter a normal person’s body using it to carry out sinful and outlandish actions. A witch might cause a faithful husband to commit adultery or a young girl to cry out in church. Admission of guilt, unusual powers or physical traits, anger followed by mischief, and spectral evidence (evidence that a victim was “visited” by a demon) were all signs that a person was a witch. Starting off in New England, the Salem witch trial hysteria of 1692 was born through the accusations of people practicing witchcraft.

The Salem Witch Trial hysteria of 1692 caused 20 people to be hung or pressed to death and 4 perished in jail. In addition, 200 people in Salem were accused of being witches. On June 10 of 1692, Bridget Bishop was charged with practicing witchcraft and she was also accused of bewitching her husband to death. The result of her not confessing was that she was hung to her death. All of this frenzy started in the house of Samuel Parris. His daughters were consumed by the bizarre tales told by their Indian slave, Tituba. Over the next several months, the girls array strange behavior. After arriving at court, the young girls accused two white women and Tituba of practicing witchcraft. After this strange incident, the people of Salem started to

The Salem Witch Trials, which occurred in colonial Massachusetts, were an act of mass hysteria leading to the deaths of twenty citizens. In late 1691 a young group of girls, including Betty Parris and Abigail Williams who lived with Revered Samuel Parris, began asking an African American, or possibly Native American, slave named Tituba about witchcraft. They soon began acting abnormally and were diagnosed as being bewitched. In April of 1692, Ann Putman accused the first three people, Tituba, Sarah Good, and Sarah Osburne, as being witches. The next month, Governor William Phips established the Court of Oyer and Terminer to handle any cases involving witchcraft. Bridget Bishop was the first accused witch to be hung in June 1692, followed by

Due to these women's status as social outcasts, people had no trouble believing that they were in fact involved with witchcraft. When the three so called "witches" were arrested and examined on March 1st, Tituba confessed that she, Sarah Good, and Sarah Osbourn were approached by Satan and they had agreed to do his bidding. This shocking confession was the "trigger" that led to more witch hunts and ensured that the Devil had penetrated the religious town of Salem. That March alone, the young girls of Salem had accused four more women of controlling them with witchcraft. Many historians believe that even though the afflicted girls had mainly acted alone, some of the accusations had been brought on because their parents encouraged them to accuse people that they did not personally like. A special court of eight judges called the Court of Oyer and Terminer was created strictly for the witch trials because it became necessary as the number of cases were rapidly increasing. By May of 1692 over thirty people had been arrested, and by June the accusations declined but still continued

Among the accused were two very influential women in the church, Martha Corey and Rebecca Nurse. Another of the accused was the four year old daughter of Sarah Good. After Tituba’s “confession” the Village of Salem went into a state of panic, the new Prime Minister William Phips order that a special Court of Oyer and Terminer(hear and decide) the the witch cases of Salem. Bridget Bishop was the first to be condemned on July 2 and was hung soon thereafter.

The Salem witch trials began in colonial Massachusetts between 1692 and 1693. Over 200 people were accused of practicing the devil’s magic, twenty of which were executed. Suspicions of witchcraft started when a group of young girls began acting bizarre, as they became ill, suffering from epileptic fits, their bodies contorted involuntary to odd positions as well as causing them to utter unusual sounds. Only when they went to a doctor did the man declare it was a matter of the supernatural. This caused an epidemic among the area in which numerous people were accused of the craft. Previously, in 1689 the English rulers William and Mary began a war with France among the American colonies. Spreading through the regions of upstate New York, Nova

The Salem Witch Trials of 1692 was a tragic time in New England that was caused by the choas of mass hysteria. The inciting incident that started this event was in January 1692, when two young girls were afflicted with convulsions and halleucionations, and witchcraft was apointed the blame. Most of the accused were women a generation above the accusers, who were young women ages 11-20. The accused were also linked to 'socially unaccepted behavior.' The onslaught of accusations made it clear action needed to be taken, so Governor William Phips created a court so that the precedings were as fair and as close to the law as possible. However, the judges had contrasting views, one believing whole-heartedly that witchcraft had torn the town apart, the other doubting the entire crisis. Also, the court accepted spectral evidence,

Parris had a slave from the Caribbean named TITUBA. Several of the town's teenage girls began to gather in the kitchen with Tituba early in 1692. As winter turned to spring the townspeople were aghast at the behaviors exhibited by Tituba's young followers. They were believed to have danced a black magic dance in the nearby woods. Several of the girls would fall to the floor and scream hysterically. Soon this behavior began to spread across Salem. Ministers from nearby communities came to Salem to lend their sage advice. The talk turned to identifying the parties responsible for this

The search for commies and witches happened at different points in time but had many similarities with very few differences. George Santayana said that, "Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it." this quote I feel directly goes along with McCarthyism and the Salem Witch Trials.

Tituba, an Indian, was accused of bewitching the two girls. This saw a number of many other witches arrested in 1691 with many people condemning witchcraft. Concerns about witchcraft were often muffled under the pillow until Elizabeth Parris became strangely ill. Children were discouraged from playing and generally living a social life among the Puritans. They were the least valued.

The witch trials began when nine girls, known as the afflicted girls, experienced strange symptoms. In the beginning, there were only five afflicted girls: Betty Parris, Abigail Williams, Ann Putnam Jr., Mary Walcott, and Mercy Lewis. Elizabeth Hubbard, Susannah Sheldon, Mary Warren, and Elizabeth Booth later began experiencing the symptoms, which involved strange fits, irregular body contortions, and fevers. Although the symptoms seem phenomenal, modern theories suggest that the children were merely bored, abused, or had epilepsy, a mental illness, or a disease that was obtained from eating rye bread infected with a fungus. Reverend Samuel Parris, Betty Parris’ father, asked Dr. William Griggs to deduce the problem, and Dr. Griggs concluded that they were bewitched. The group of girls accused three women of causing their unnatural behaviors: Sarah Good, Sarah Osborne, and Tituba, a slave owned by Samuel Parris. The women were easy targets for the girls because they were outcasts (Brooks). Sarah Good was a beggar, Sarah

Magistrates John Hathorne and Jonathan Corwin examined Tituba, Sarah Good, and Sarah Osborne in the meeting house in Salem Village. Tituba confessed. The magistrates told Tituba that Abigail and Betty saw her in their visions, and that she pricked and pinched them. It was impossible to tall is she was telling the truth or not, but that was not what mattered, there had been a confession, and that was what mattered (Hill 27). "The devil came to me and bid me serve him", she stated in her confession (National Geographic). Over the next few weeks, many other townspeople came forward to testify that they had also been afflicted or seen strange occurrences. As the hunt continued, many different types of people began to be accused. Most of the women accused were those whose economic situations were poor and they had social problems. Also, some had previous records of criminal activity, but still others were faithful churchgoers and people of high standing respect. "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour" (1 Peter 5:8). Many of the women who were examined only to see if they would be brought to trial. Yet mostly everyone examined, went to trial (Hill 42). The Magistrates would often question the accused in such a way that whatever they said,