The Trial Of The Salem Witch Trials

In January of 1692, in the town of Salem, Massachusetts, a witch hunt began. This was the start of a very dark time in the colony’s history. Salem was a very religious village and so thoughts about people conversing with the devil was just as bad to them as saying the church was wrong. By the end of the trials there were at least twenty-four “witches” that history has recorded. Of those twenty-four; nineteen were hanged, four died in prison and one man was crushed to death between two large stone slabs.

“In three hundred years, we have not adequately penetrated nine months of Massachusetts history.If we knew more about Salem, we might attend to it less, a conundrum that touches on something of what propelled the witch panic in the first place” (5).

In January of 1692, two girls became ill, the daughter and niece of Reverend Samuel Parris. When their state did not improve the doctor, William Griggs, was called in to help. In June of 1692, the special court of Oyer and Terminer sat in Salem to hear the cases of witchcraft. Presided over by Chief Justice William Stoughton, the court was made up of magistrates and jurors.

The hysteria of the Salem Witch Trials commenced in the spring of 1692 when, the daughter of Reverend Parris, Elizabeth Parris, the niece of Reverend Parris, Abigail Williams and Ann Putnam a girl who associated herself with Elizabeth and Abigail and began to act strange and have bizarre fits. This was nowhere near ordinary to the villagers and the word began to spread through the village. After a doctor visited the girls to see the reasons for their strange attitudes, he concluded that the reason behind all of it was due to something unnatural. The doctor determined that the girls were being bewitched by someone. Soon after recovery the girls began to blame women of witchcraft causing an uproar in the village (1).

Witchcraft was a highly widespread phenomenon in the sixteenth and seventeenth century, where in many places people accused of witchery were executed. One specific time period in the late seventeenth century -- in Salem, Massachusetts -- plays as a great example of the harshness in these witch persecutions. As in many cases, some layer, or layers, of political or religious power takes a role in leading to successful execution of accused witches in Salem. Taking a look at Salem, persecutions took place in Salem village, where society was shaped around the ministry of Samuel Parris. This is evident as people supported independence for “Salem village and its church [emphasis mine]” from the town of Salem.

The Salem witch trails were in an age of superstition. There were great tensions with the fact that some individuals were changing religions, or they were leaving to gain different religious opinions. Although the Massachusetts colony was under a lot of stress and tension that did not give them the right to hang or burn individuals because they were witches. Now, some of the members of this colony that participated in the Salem witch trial might have had a psychological and issues, but that still did not give them the right to hang innocent people.

Today if one was called a “witch,” most of us would take offense, yell, scream, or simply just ignore it and walk away, but over 300 years ago that was not the case. The 1600’s were full of controversy and uncertainty that led to cruel consequences due to even the simplest claim of witchcraft. By the time 1692 came around not much had changed, in fact, it was much worse. The town of Salem, Massachusetts became the spot of the most infamous witch trials of all: the Salem Witch Trials.

The Salem Witch Trials began during the spring of 1692 after a group of young girls in Salem Village, MA, said they were being possessed by the devil and accused local women of witchcraft. With chaos running around the village, the special court began taking on cases. Bridget Bishop, the first convicted witch, was hung that June month. Many people of the Salem community had major consequences including death and harrassment. Belief that the devil could give certain humans, or witches, power to harm others in return for their loyalty emerged throughout europe as early as the 14th century. All of this chaos and phenomenon led to a pointing fingers game of who is guilty. Chaos also brought up the question of why it happened, malice, spite, or

1. What kind of book is this? List three evidences of this. There are a lot of genres for this kind of book. Drama, because there is a lot of disagreement that causes all the fighting.

Elizabeth Bassett was born in Lynn, Massachusetts, some 5 miles away from Salem. Her official birth date happens to be unknown. However, it is believed she was born sometime around 1650. It is also known that she was the first child of twelve born to William Bassett and Sarah Burt Bassett. William Bassett, survived so much: his father’s demise, being brought to America, and wars against Indians. Only then did he live to see his children, the third generation, destroyed by the Salem Witchcraft Hysteria of 1692. “Three of William and Sarah’s twelve children were touched by the Salem Witch Hysteria prosecution” (“Bassett Family Genealogy” 6). Additionally, Elizabeth’s grandmother, Ann Holland Bassett Burt, was a Quaker, a midwife and an accused witch.

Between the 1300s and 1600s, there had been an uprising of witch accusations in Europe. When it finally died down, the craze soon followed into the colony of Massachusetts Bay. While in the 1690s, the Salem Witch Trials threatened New England’s freedom of religion and conservative beliefs; the evil entity as well threatened the country’s political and economic system, giving the government a reason to get involved. Because Massachusetts Bay was filled with religious refugees from England, a lot of tension formed between the colonies, England, and France. The King Williams War between France and the English colonies had put a tremendous strain on the Salem resources and its people. The colony was barely able to support itself and when more refugees fled to Salem from sounding areas, it came close to collapsing. Within the Puritan community, there had been a lot of hardship and strenuous issues mainly due to the shift between the people in society at the time. The Salem Witch Trials were not influenced by the presence of witchcraft but rather the exhausting hardships, the societal changes and the desire for complete control of the Puritan community.

First, we will cover some context of the narrative. This story is based off of the dark time of the Salem Witch Trials (1692-1693). The Salem Witch Trials were a series of hearings that began when three young girls by the names of Betty Paris, Abigail Williams, and Anne Putnam Jr. were suspected of performing witchcraft, due to their strange mannerisms and behavior (Jerra, Melvin, Piper, Schaef 2012). This series of trials resulted in the death or imprisonment of several young girls in Massachusetts due to suspect behavior (Jerra, Melvin, Piper, Schaef 2012). Nathaniel Hawthorne, now centuries later,

The idea of witches was certainly real in the sixteenth and seventeenth century, as witchcraft became widespread throughout various areas of the world. It was known that witchcraft had a tremendous presence in Europe, in areas such as England and Germany. Witchcraft also took place in parts of America, such as--more notably-- Salem, Massachusetts. In this piece, we will examine the common portrayals of witchcraft and how well they fit the characteristics of witch trials in Salem.

The Salem witchcraft trials provide a great insight into the evolution of early evidence presented in court and the impact public ideology can have on such evidence. From January of 1692 to May of 1693, hundreds were accused, nineteen men and women were hanged, and one was pressed to death by stones. Most haunting of all, all of those convicted were found guilty through the presentation of spectral evidence. In order to fully understand the tragedy of these trials, we must take many factors into account.

Beginning in February 1692, the trials would go on for over a year. The first accusations took place in Salem Village, Massachusetts, but would later also take place in Salem Town, Ipswich, and Andover, which are also located in Massachusetts. It started with two young girls, who were also cousins. Abigail Williams (age 11) and Betty Parris (age 9). Betty was the daughter of Reverend Samuel Parris, the local Puritan Minister. The girls started to throw fits, moved their bodies into unusual positions, and created unnatural sounds. Similar behavior occurred with