Salem Witch Trials Research Paper

From 1692 to 1693, twenty people were executed after being accused of witchcraft in Salem Village, Massachusetts, many more died in jail, and around 200 people total were accused of witchcraft during the Salem Witch Trials. Records from the event indicate that the Salem Witch Trials started when a group of young girls began acting strange, claiming they had been possessed by the Devil and bewitched by local villagers. The Salem Witch Trials is a much debated event; historians argue over the motivation and causes behind the trials and executions, not over the proceedings. Each historian approached the Salem Witch Trials with their own brand of logic and interpretation building off of and criticizing the interpretations of their predecessors. No one historical theory can conclusively explain the cause of the Salem Witch Trials because there were too many variables and motivations among the villagers. These historians used the best of their abilities to examine the events of the Salem Witch Trials and the mere fact that there are so many interpretations means there are not certainties when it comes to this historical event. However, a combination of their theories could provide a better picture of the Salem Witch story and the many aspects in determining the outcome of the Salem Witch Trials.

Sarah Cloyce felt that superstitions and Samuel Parris’ greed stirred by ancient quarrels were the cause of the Salem Witch Hysteria of 1692. The primary reason for witch hysteria was due to the boredom of the girls involved and superstitions of the times. What started off as innocent games between children changed when girls, such as Ann Putnam and Abigail Williams, enjoyed the attention they were given too much. Perhaps the greatest reason for the accusations of witchcraft was the long standing feuds between families like the Putnam and the Porters. Another reason was the appointing of Reverend Samuel Parris as minister of Salem Village. There were those towns people that opposed his appointing and those that supported him. Sarah believed all these factors contributed to the accusations of witchcraft.

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 largest outbreak of witchcraft in America took place in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. A group of girls, including the Parris’s Indian slave Tituba, gathered in the Salem village and were attempting to see the future by decoding “messages”. Shortly after this gathering the girls started showing signs of the possessed (pg. 73). To this day people all over America are still amazed with the events that took place in this time. But why is that? The fear of the village fell heavily onto the judicial system, which later made people focus on the proper separation of government and religious beliefs. Mass hysteria broke out amongst the village and many people were being accused, therefore leading to many innocent deaths. Although there could be many theories as to the reason the witch trials in Salem began, there are two points of view that are very commonly shared amongst people. Some believe that the Salem witch trials were women unconsciously searching for power, whereas others believe it was an encephalitis epidemic.

The first women to be accused of witchcraft in Salem were seen as different and as social outcasts: Tituba, a slave; Sarah Good, a homeless beggar; and Sarah Osborne, a sickly old woman who married her servant. These women were unpopular and it was easy to point fingers at them. Gossips and rumors were enough to accuse them. Tituba[3] was a dark skinned slave who lived in the household of the Reverend Samuel Parris. She was familiar with the West Indian Voodoo and practicing magic.

The infamous Salem Witchcraft Trials began in early 1692, in Salem, Massachusetts. It all began as a childlike game of a fortune teller to discover the future of the young girls. The Salem Witchcraft Trials began January of 1692, when two girls, Betty Paris (nine) and Abigail Williams (seventeen) , began to have fits and convulsions. They were seen by doctor William Griggs, and the only reasonable diagnosis he knew of was bewitchment. By the end of February, two other girls, Ann Putnam and Elizabeth Hubbard, became ill. All together, there were 10 girls that were afflicted. Ann Putnam and Elizabeth Hubbard accused Sarah Good, Tituba, and Sarah Osborne 's spirits of hurting them. Tituba, Reverend Parris 's slave, had

The result was much unexpected as it was revealed that preparation of the witchcake had taken place. The other girls, already frightened by the previous symptoms displayed by Betty and their involvement in the occult games, would become even more frightened with the knowledge of the counter-magic. They too would start to experience such symptoms that would become even more violent than those presented before to include hallucinations; the witchcake did not relieve but instead intensified their hysteria as well as the town’s fears and fantasies of evil among them. The girls would soon confirm the town’s suspicions of evil implications by identifying two women, Sarah Goode (38), and Sarah Osborne (49), who they believed were witches tormenting them, those women also accused Tituba (between 25-30 years old). Warrants of arrest were prepared for the three women on February 29 and Tituba’s testimonies would proceed from March 1-5, resulting in the commencement of the greatest-known witch hunt of all time.

Salem was first settled in 1626 by Puritans who were seeking a safe place to practice their strict religious beliefs (Source 1). Over time, Salem grew in size, both increasing their boundaries and population over 500%. As Salem spread, rumors began to emerge, and darkness covered Salem. In February of 1692, three woman were accused of witchcraft, Tituba, Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne, by girls who were supposedly affected by witches (Source 4).

colonies alone there were over 100 witchcraft trials alone, were 40 percent of the accused

In the 1680’s and 1690’s there was mass hysteria in New England over supposed witchcraft. The most famous outbreak was in Salem, Massachusetts, hence the name Salem Witch Trials. In Salem, there were young girls who started acting strangely, and they leveled accusations of witchcraft against some of the West Indian servants who were immersed in voodoo tradition. Most of the accusations were against women, and soon the accusations started to shift to the substantial and prominent women. Neighbors accused other neighbors, husbands accused their wives, etc. and it kept going on for a while. There was this nature of evil and the trials didn’t end until nineteen Salem residents were put to death in 1692, more importantly before the girls

As a child, Tituba was taken captive and sold into slavery. She was between the ages of 12 and 17 when she became a slave in the Parris house.("Tituba") Tituba married another Indian slave, John, in 1689. She also had a daughter, Violet, that lived in the Parris's house with her. According to law2.unmkc.edu, "Tituba made herself a likely target for witchcraft accusations when shortly after Parris's daughter, Betty, began having strange fits and symptoms, she participated in the preparation of a 'witchcake' (a mixture of rye and Betty's urine, cooked and fed to a dog, in the belief that the dog would then reveal the identity of Betty's afflicter." Samuel Parris, Tituba's employer, was extremely angry when he found out about Tituba making the cake, so he beat her until she confessed to being a witch. Tituba was the first Salem witch to confess and she most likely confessed to avoid punishment. In her confession, Tituba named several other witches, which managed to help her avoid going to trial. During the trials, a Tituba tried to recant her earlier confession. This attempted recantation angered Samuel Parris and he refused to get her out of prison. After spending over a year in jail Tituba was bought by an unknown person. It is also unknown what happened to Tituba after she began her new life.

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

Betty’s cousin, Abigail, has a similar sickness. Betty’s parents call for a doctor to diagnose her. The Doctor’s diagnoses is witchcraft. Reverend Parris, her father, agrees that the diagnoses is correct. But Betty’s aunt, Elizabeth, and uncle, Joseph,

According to Arthur Miller, Reverend Parris is against the theory that his daughter (Betty) has been bewitched because it can ruin the reputation of both himself and his niece Abigail. In the beginning of act 1, Parris is in a sorrow state and is interrupted by his niece Abigail. He then interrogates Abigail, asking questions the night Abigail and Betty were dancing in the forest;Betty reassures him that all they did was dancing. Parris then says, “But if you trafficked with spirits in the forest I must know it for now, for surely my enemies will, and they will ruin me with it” (Miller 10). Parris mentions his enemies, as this event can cause such damage to his name as the Minister of Salem.

The play opened with the girls doing something considered taboo in Puritan society, dancing in the woods. The girls involved in this were Abigail Williams, Betty Parris, Mary Warren, Ruth Putnam, and a few others. Tituba, Reverend Parris’s slave from Barbados was also with them. All of the girls involved were caught by Reverend Samuel Parris, the minister of Salem. When Reverend Parris catches the girls dancing in the woods, his daughter Betty Parris becomes