The Trials Of Salem Witch Trials

In 1629 Salem was settled. In 1641 Salem makes a law saying witchcraft is a capital crime. The year of 1692 was a major event for Salem, Massachusetts. There are still many questions as to why men and women were killed during these trials. The Salem witch trials started the spring of 1692, in the village of Salem, Massachusetts (History.com Staff. "Salem Witch Trials). It was a series of hangings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft. Many participating Christians and other religions, believed that the devil could give people certain powers to harm others in return for their loyalty (Blumberg, J, A brief his…). The trials consisted of a complaint made to the magistrate about a suspected witch. The magistrate then makes an arrest warrant for the accused person. The accused person is taken in and examined by two or more magistrate, and then the accused person states their testimony and awaits trial.("Procedure Used in the Salem

The Salem Witch Trials of 1692 were a series of prosecutions of people who were accused of acts of witchcraft or of being a witch in Salem, Massachusetts through the time period of February 1692 through May 1693. This was a dark time in history as more than 200 prosecutions took place and at least 20 people were killed during this time of fear and hysteria. The accusations began as three girls Tituba, Sarah Good, and Sarah Osborne were accused of witchcraft from other young girls in the community. During this time period, fear of the Devil was common as people in Salem were very devoted to their religion and religious practices. As one of the accused girls, Tituba, confessed to working for the Devil and admitting to being a witch, this caused panic and hysteria as a massive witch hunt took place to find more of these witches. This confession was the main reason behind months and months of fear and mass panic as it triggered more accusations.

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

In January 1692, when a group of juvenile girls began to display bizarre behavior, the tight-knit Puritan community of Salem, Massachusetts couldn’t explain the unusual afflictions and came to a conclusion. Witches had invaded Salem. This was the beginning of a period of mass hysteria known as The Salem Witch Trials. Hundreds of people were falsely accused of witchcraft and many paid the ultimate price of death. Nineteen people were hung, one was pressed to death, and as many as thirteen more died in prison. One of the accused Elizabeth Bassett Proctor, a faithful wife and mother, endured her fictitious accusation with honor and integrity.

The conflict of the trials continued for months with no compromise in sight. The people of Salem needed to find more witches, so they used spectral evidence. If someone had a dream or vision of a certain person it was enough, and that person was accused as a witch (Fasting; Mather 74 80). Many people started to oppose these trials, and didn’t believe in spectral evidence, people opposed the witch trials, but they would say nothing because they may be the next one accused (Latson; Brooks). No one wanted to be accused, so they would do things to convince people that they were not witches. For example, people would put on a show at the trials of the witches (Kinchlow). Afflicted girls would have fits, and people would scream and yell at the accused. The trials were very strange, the judge and jury would act strange just like the people of Salem. The jury consisted of 12 men who decided the fate of the “witches” (Magoon 56; Roach 16). The judges were very lenient toward the people and didn’t really care what the accused had to say, if they listened to the accused they themselves may be accused. Five judges would hear the

The Salem Witch Trials officially began in February 1692 when the “afflicted girls” accused Tituba, Ms. Good and Ms. Osborne of witchcraft. Tituba confessed to witchcraft. Not only did she confess, she also said there were many others who were working for Satan. This triggered the beginning and that is when the fears of the Salem colonists were realized.

== = The Salem Witchcraft trials started in 1692 resulting in 19 executions and 150 accusations of witchcraft. This was the biggest outbreak of witchcraft hysteria in colonial New England. The trials began because three young girls, Betty Parris, Abigail Williams and Ann Putnam began having hysterical fits, convulsions and terrifying visions after being caught engaging in forbidden fortune telling[1].

During the seventeenth century, many Puritans became fed up with the Church of England and its devilish ways. They wanted to break free from it, and make changes elsewhere. They got permission to set up a colony in Massachusetts Bay, and soon after that, over twenty-thousand Puritans fled from England to America. They decided to base their colony on the word of God, and believed God would protect them if they followed his commandments. This meant that if anyone were to sin, “they didn’t want God to protect them because they already worshiped the devil,” and “anyone who worshipped the devil was a witch who used witchcraft to possess others.” Because of this theory, many people were accused of being witches and using witchcraft. The most notorious series of hearings and prosecutions for those accused of witchcraft took place in Salem Village, Massachusetts, known as the Salem Witch Trials.

The Salem witch trials began during the spring of 1692, after a group of young girls in Salem Village, Massachusetts, claimed to be possessed by the devil and accused several local women of witchcraft. As a wave of hysteria spread throughout colonial Massachusetts, a special court convened in Salem to hear the cases; the first convicted witch, Bridget Bishop, was hanged that June. By September 1692, the hysteria had begun to spread and public opinion turned against the trials. Though the Massachusetts General Court later annulled guilty verdicts against accused witches and granted indemnities to their families, bitterness lingered in the community, and the painful legacy of the Salem witch trials would endure for centuries.

The Salem Witch trials began in January 1692 and lasted for about six months, during that time over one hundred people were imprisoned for being accused of witchcraft (Louis-Jacques). It began when two girls started screaming uncontrollably and having fits; soon a doctor came and diagnosed them with witchcraft (History.com). The family accused an enslaved person named Tituba who was taken to court and then accused other women in the town (History.com). During the trials, denial of witchcraft was seen as a sign of guilt (Louis-Jacques), but confession

The Salem Witch Trials was a damaging event that occurred from June through September of 1692. During that time 19 men and women had been accused of witchcraft. The victims were then taken to Gallows Hills for hanging.

Even before the occurrence of the 1692 witch trials, citizens of Salem would often describe the town as quarrelsome, as a result of certain families holding power within the community; the Putnam’s and the Nurse’s (Jenrette 214). In addition to this tension, Salem would often quarrel with the neighboring town, further adding to an unsettling stress in the community. Because of the tension between Salem and its neighboring town regarding how to run the church and how to conduct its faith, it eventually broke off from the town and created its own church, separate from the other town’s. Pastors were hard to come by, and Salem was often between pastors, unable to keep one for more than a few years. One man, Reverend Samuel Parris, accepted the pastoral position in Salem in

Life in the New England colonies during the 1600’s proved to be harsh with the constant fear of Native American attacks, scarce food, freezing winters, and conflicting opinions about religion. From this perpetual state of distress, the Salem Witch Trials were birthed, causing a wave of hysteria in Salem Village and Salem Town. Though the exact day and month is uncertain, historians can claim that the trials emerged in early 1692 and came to a close in 1693. The Salem Witch Trials started in 1692 with more than one hundred fifty people being accused of practicing witchcraft, and the trials finally ended with the courts declaring there was no evidence in the cases being tried, and the Governor stopped the trials because his wife was accused.

The Salem Witch Trials transpired from 1692 to 1693 resulting with many imprisonments; yet, only twenty deaths. The witch frenzy materialized from the allegations of a group of young girls claiming to be possessed by supernatural forces. Yet, the people accused of being witches in Salem, Massachusetts did not practice witchcraft. The Puritans were falsely accused of sorcery which can be proven through many theories and the false credibility of legal evidence.

The Salem Witchcraft trials began during the spring of 1692. A group of young girls in Salem Village, Massachusetts, claimed to be possessed by the devil and accused several local women of witchcraft. Witchcraft, by definition, is the practice of magic, especially black magic or the use of spells and the invocation of spirits. By the end of the trials, there were twenty executions total. 14 Of them were women and all but one were by hanging. Even a minister and