Salem Witch Trials
Here is my report on the Salem Witch Trials, should anyone wish to read it.
Thanks,
Lisa Adams
American history is filled with dark times. The Salem Witch Trials is one of the darkest. It is a time filled with hysteria, suspicion, and death. A time when the word of a few young women could mean a death sentence for you, and if you spoke up against them, your name could be the next one they spoke. It is also, in America's history, the only time until the rise of the woman’s right movement in the nineteenth century that women take center stage, as both the instigators and victims of this horrid, public spectacle they called justice.
The Salem trials in 1692, while well known, were not the first witch trails held in New England. There were actually 20 previously convicted witches, 16 of which were executed PRIOR to 1692. Except that before the Salem witch trials, the hysteria was not present. The mindset of the puritans were that the knew there were witches, just as people use to know the world was flat, or that the sun went around the world. If a doctor could not figure out what was wrong with a person, the easy, and accepted answer was that they were bewitched! There are certain elements that happened in Salem that make it so different from the trials that previously happened, as well as things lost to history and time. The previous witch trials, 1688 in Boston as well as 1662 in Bury St. Edmunds, were also used as a guideline by the Salem judges, such as use of spectral evidence and the touch test as admissible evidence, especially since the cases were very similar... right down to how the young girls threw their fits.
Literature on witch trials was a very popular thing to read about, as were writings on astrology and fortune telling. Increase Mathers wrote a book called “Remarkable Providences”, which was made widely available after 1684, detailing things such as possessions, fits, and the ever popular 'Satan's book'. The winter of 1691/92 was a very cold, very hard winter, and the threat of fighting from King Williams' War was ever present. The government was in shambles, having just lost their charter and being ruled by an ad hoc government. The new minister was not completely liked, and his family knew his job was in jeopardy. All these things combined to make a perfect storm for the witch trials to take place in the puritan society of Salem.
What exactly started the Salem trials is a point of debate between many scholars. From the research I have done, I have come to believe that the daughter and niece of Samuel Parris were seeking attention. Acting was unheard of in their society. Therefore, when one, and then the other (there is a bit of debate on who started the fits, though it is generally agreed that Betty Parris, Samuel Parris' daughter was the first to fall into these fits) began to have these mysterious fits in early 1692, the concerned father and guardian called in the village doctor, one William Griggs. As he could see no cause for the fits, he declared the cause to be witchcraft. The girls were questioned as to who was causing these grievous acts... the attention they were receiving was glorious.
The girls held out, not answering the questions and continuing their fits. Soon a few others joined them in their fits, and the first of the accused were named. The girls were smart... they chose three women who it could easily be believed were witches. A homeless woman, Sarah Good. An elderly, sick woman who hadn't been attended church, Sarah Osborne. And Samuel Parris' own Indian slave, Tituba. But the unthinkable happened. Tituba confessed to being a witch, pointing fingers at the others, and joining in with the young girls and their fits. The girls start to coordinate their efforts as they threw their fits, and started planning their next targets. Ann Putnam Jr. really becomes the main accuser towards this point, taking the lime-light. Betty Parris also seems to disappear from all of the records around this time. Is it possible that her father wanted to shelter her in case there was fallout from future accusations? Considering the next two accusations were upstanding citizens of the village, it's very possible.
Rebecca Nurse and Martha Corey were respected members of the church. Unfortunately they had both had some argument with the family of the growing number of afflicted girls. Martha Corey openly stated her disbelief. Rebecca Nurse had a small land dispute years back with non other than Ann Putnam Sr. Unfortunately it seems that with the growing hysteria, memories were very good. Even with sworn statements of other villagers and townsfolk, it was not enough to free Rebecca Nurse. Martha Corey's own husband, Giles Corey, testified against her. Though he later regretted it as he was also accused. He refused to testify and received the sentence of peine forte et dure - a punishment by English law that has actual exact procedures, though it is unlikely it was followed to the letter in Salem and he was just crushed with weight. Incidental, the final words that Giles Corey is said to have said are, “More weight” as he still refused to plea.
With such upstanding members of the church being “influenced by the Devil”, the people in Essex county (for the Salem witch trials covered much more than just Salem village and town) now felt no one was safe. The afflicted continued naming names, people who expressed disbelief such as John and Elizabeth Proctor, people who were related to those who were already accused, such as Sarah Cloyse, or those women who were just strong willed and considered too forward thinking, such as Bridget Bishop. Even the reverend George Burroughs, the former minister of Salem village was accused and found guilty. All of them were thrown into the jails, while the government continued to wait for the charter to be signed, and the court system to be up and running. Soon, the jails were overflowing with nearly 200 people accused at the height of the frenzy, but conditions were deplorable. Sarah Good had given birth, but the child did not survive but a few days.
Governor Phips decided to put together the Court of Oyer and Terminer (to hear and decide or determine) in June of 1692. The judges, as if to test to see if they could get a conviction from the jury, decided to try someone they knew would be an easy conviction. Bridget Bishop was the first to be tried. She was found guilty on June 2, and hanged on June 10. With one conviction, the court moved forward, using spectral evidence, the touch test (the afflicted instantly calming when the accused touched them, supposedly taking the curse away temporarily), and other unfounded evidence to convict the innocent. At this time in our history, people were guilty until proven innocent. The afflicted girls made sure to put on their best shows, having now had months to practice their fits.
The next to be tried were Rebecca Nurse, Sarah Good, Sarah Wilds, Susannah Martin and Elizabeth Howe. All were tried between June 28-July 2, all were hanged on July 19. Rebecca Nurse was found innocent, but the jury was urged to reconsider, and the verdict was returned guilty. When Sarah Good was about to die, Reverend Noyce still tried to get a confession from her. She told him, “I am no more a witch than you are a wizard; and , if you take my life away, God will give you blood to drink!” This was paraphrasing a passage in Revelations pertaining to people who persecute the innocent. It is said that her prediction came true, as in 1717 Reverend Noyce died of an internal hemorrhage, which caused him to bleed profusely from the mouth, causing him to choke to death on his own blood.
June 30 - August 5 brought the trials for John and Elizabeth Proctor, Reverend George Burroughs, George Jacobs Sr., John Willard and Martha Carrier. Elizabeth Proctor was lucky enough to get a reprieve for being pregnant. On August 19, before being hanged, the Reverend George Burroughs recited the Lord's prayer letter perfect from start to finish. This is significant because it was believed that a witch was unable to perform this task. This started to shake the people of Essex county's faith in the witch trials more than a little.
Giles Corey was pressed on September 19 for refusing to plea.
Martha Corey, Mary Easty, Alice Parker, Ann Pudeator, Wilmot Reed, Margaret Scott, Samuel Wardell and Mary Parker were tried between August 4 and September 16. These 8 people were the last to hang at Gallows Hill on September 22, though they were not the last to be tried. Support for the afflicted was waning. The girls were beginning to overreach themselves, accusing people who were of greater and greater influence. People were seeing through their act. When Reverend John Hale's wife was accused, a woman known for her virtues far and wide, then the afflicted girls completely lost support.
On October 29, 1692 the Court of Oyer and Terminer was terminated. Governor Phips realized the witch hunt had gone too far. Spectral evidence was no longer accepted as viable evidence to convict a person as a witch. Only 3 more people were convicted as witches after the Court of Oyer and Terminer was disbanded, and even they were given a reprieve by Governor Phips.
In the time that followed, people began to regret their actions. Reverend John Hale wrote “A Modest Inquiry into the Nature of Witchcraft”, which contains a public and potent apology. The jury also wrote a public apology for their part in the trials. Samuel Sewall has the distinction of being the only Judge to apologize for his actions in the witch trials, and in 1706, Ann Putnam Jr. became the only one of the afflicted to apologized for her actions as well. Ann claimed she was in the 'Devil's Snare'.
Eventually the Commonwealth of Massachusetts granted reversals of judgments to all of the convicted in Salem, though the final few reversals did not happen until 1957.
These individuals who were put to death died not for being actual witches, but because they refused to bend their beliefs. They refused to lie, or break their faith with their own God in order to appease someone else. That kind of strength of character is absolutely amazing. All they had to do is say they were a witch, and their lives would have been spared, but instead they faced down their accusers and died for their beliefs. Died because some young girls wanted some attention and pointed a finger at them! It doesn't matter what god or goddess you follow, that kind of faith has to be respected, and I truly respect each and every one of those people for not breaking their faith.
Thanks,
Lisa Adams
American history is filled with dark times. The Salem Witch Trials is one of the darkest. It is a time filled with hysteria, suspicion, and death. A time when the word of a few young women could mean a death sentence for you, and if you spoke up against them, your name could be the next one they spoke. It is also, in America's history, the only time until the rise of the woman’s right movement in the nineteenth century that women take center stage, as both the instigators and victims of this horrid, public spectacle they called justice.
The Salem trials in 1692, while well known, were not the first witch trails held in New England. There were actually 20 previously convicted witches, 16 of which were executed PRIOR to 1692. Except that before the Salem witch trials, the hysteria was not present. The mindset of the puritans were that the knew there were witches, just as people use to know the world was flat, or that the sun went around the world. If a doctor could not figure out what was wrong with a person, the easy, and accepted answer was that they were bewitched! There are certain elements that happened in Salem that make it so different from the trials that previously happened, as well as things lost to history and time. The previous witch trials, 1688 in Boston as well as 1662 in Bury St. Edmunds, were also used as a guideline by the Salem judges, such as use of spectral evidence and the touch test as admissible evidence, especially since the cases were very similar... right down to how the young girls threw their fits.
Literature on witch trials was a very popular thing to read about, as were writings on astrology and fortune telling. Increase Mathers wrote a book called “Remarkable Providences”, which was made widely available after 1684, detailing things such as possessions, fits, and the ever popular 'Satan's book'. The winter of 1691/92 was a very cold, very hard winter, and the threat of fighting from King Williams' War was ever present. The government was in shambles, having just lost their charter and being ruled by an ad hoc government. The new minister was not completely liked, and his family knew his job was in jeopardy. All these things combined to make a perfect storm for the witch trials to take place in the puritan society of Salem.
What exactly started the Salem trials is a point of debate between many scholars. From the research I have done, I have come to believe that the daughter and niece of Samuel Parris were seeking attention. Acting was unheard of in their society. Therefore, when one, and then the other (there is a bit of debate on who started the fits, though it is generally agreed that Betty Parris, Samuel Parris' daughter was the first to fall into these fits) began to have these mysterious fits in early 1692, the concerned father and guardian called in the village doctor, one William Griggs. As he could see no cause for the fits, he declared the cause to be witchcraft. The girls were questioned as to who was causing these grievous acts... the attention they were receiving was glorious.
The girls held out, not answering the questions and continuing their fits. Soon a few others joined them in their fits, and the first of the accused were named. The girls were smart... they chose three women who it could easily be believed were witches. A homeless woman, Sarah Good. An elderly, sick woman who hadn't been attended church, Sarah Osborne. And Samuel Parris' own Indian slave, Tituba. But the unthinkable happened. Tituba confessed to being a witch, pointing fingers at the others, and joining in with the young girls and their fits. The girls start to coordinate their efforts as they threw their fits, and started planning their next targets. Ann Putnam Jr. really becomes the main accuser towards this point, taking the lime-light. Betty Parris also seems to disappear from all of the records around this time. Is it possible that her father wanted to shelter her in case there was fallout from future accusations? Considering the next two accusations were upstanding citizens of the village, it's very possible.
Rebecca Nurse and Martha Corey were respected members of the church. Unfortunately they had both had some argument with the family of the growing number of afflicted girls. Martha Corey openly stated her disbelief. Rebecca Nurse had a small land dispute years back with non other than Ann Putnam Sr. Unfortunately it seems that with the growing hysteria, memories were very good. Even with sworn statements of other villagers and townsfolk, it was not enough to free Rebecca Nurse. Martha Corey's own husband, Giles Corey, testified against her. Though he later regretted it as he was also accused. He refused to testify and received the sentence of peine forte et dure - a punishment by English law that has actual exact procedures, though it is unlikely it was followed to the letter in Salem and he was just crushed with weight. Incidental, the final words that Giles Corey is said to have said are, “More weight” as he still refused to plea.
With such upstanding members of the church being “influenced by the Devil”, the people in Essex county (for the Salem witch trials covered much more than just Salem village and town) now felt no one was safe. The afflicted continued naming names, people who expressed disbelief such as John and Elizabeth Proctor, people who were related to those who were already accused, such as Sarah Cloyse, or those women who were just strong willed and considered too forward thinking, such as Bridget Bishop. Even the reverend George Burroughs, the former minister of Salem village was accused and found guilty. All of them were thrown into the jails, while the government continued to wait for the charter to be signed, and the court system to be up and running. Soon, the jails were overflowing with nearly 200 people accused at the height of the frenzy, but conditions were deplorable. Sarah Good had given birth, but the child did not survive but a few days.
Governor Phips decided to put together the Court of Oyer and Terminer (to hear and decide or determine) in June of 1692. The judges, as if to test to see if they could get a conviction from the jury, decided to try someone they knew would be an easy conviction. Bridget Bishop was the first to be tried. She was found guilty on June 2, and hanged on June 10. With one conviction, the court moved forward, using spectral evidence, the touch test (the afflicted instantly calming when the accused touched them, supposedly taking the curse away temporarily), and other unfounded evidence to convict the innocent. At this time in our history, people were guilty until proven innocent. The afflicted girls made sure to put on their best shows, having now had months to practice their fits.
The next to be tried were Rebecca Nurse, Sarah Good, Sarah Wilds, Susannah Martin and Elizabeth Howe. All were tried between June 28-July 2, all were hanged on July 19. Rebecca Nurse was found innocent, but the jury was urged to reconsider, and the verdict was returned guilty. When Sarah Good was about to die, Reverend Noyce still tried to get a confession from her. She told him, “I am no more a witch than you are a wizard; and , if you take my life away, God will give you blood to drink!” This was paraphrasing a passage in Revelations pertaining to people who persecute the innocent. It is said that her prediction came true, as in 1717 Reverend Noyce died of an internal hemorrhage, which caused him to bleed profusely from the mouth, causing him to choke to death on his own blood.
June 30 - August 5 brought the trials for John and Elizabeth Proctor, Reverend George Burroughs, George Jacobs Sr., John Willard and Martha Carrier. Elizabeth Proctor was lucky enough to get a reprieve for being pregnant. On August 19, before being hanged, the Reverend George Burroughs recited the Lord's prayer letter perfect from start to finish. This is significant because it was believed that a witch was unable to perform this task. This started to shake the people of Essex county's faith in the witch trials more than a little.
Giles Corey was pressed on September 19 for refusing to plea.
Martha Corey, Mary Easty, Alice Parker, Ann Pudeator, Wilmot Reed, Margaret Scott, Samuel Wardell and Mary Parker were tried between August 4 and September 16. These 8 people were the last to hang at Gallows Hill on September 22, though they were not the last to be tried. Support for the afflicted was waning. The girls were beginning to overreach themselves, accusing people who were of greater and greater influence. People were seeing through their act. When Reverend John Hale's wife was accused, a woman known for her virtues far and wide, then the afflicted girls completely lost support.
On October 29, 1692 the Court of Oyer and Terminer was terminated. Governor Phips realized the witch hunt had gone too far. Spectral evidence was no longer accepted as viable evidence to convict a person as a witch. Only 3 more people were convicted as witches after the Court of Oyer and Terminer was disbanded, and even they were given a reprieve by Governor Phips.
In the time that followed, people began to regret their actions. Reverend John Hale wrote “A Modest Inquiry into the Nature of Witchcraft”, which contains a public and potent apology. The jury also wrote a public apology for their part in the trials. Samuel Sewall has the distinction of being the only Judge to apologize for his actions in the witch trials, and in 1706, Ann Putnam Jr. became the only one of the afflicted to apologized for her actions as well. Ann claimed she was in the 'Devil's Snare'.
Eventually the Commonwealth of Massachusetts granted reversals of judgments to all of the convicted in Salem, though the final few reversals did not happen until 1957.
These individuals who were put to death died not for being actual witches, but because they refused to bend their beliefs. They refused to lie, or break their faith with their own God in order to appease someone else. That kind of strength of character is absolutely amazing. All they had to do is say they were a witch, and their lives would have been spared, but instead they faced down their accusers and died for their beliefs. Died because some young girls wanted some attention and pointed a finger at them! It doesn't matter what god or goddess you follow, that kind of faith has to be respected, and I truly respect each and every one of those people for not breaking their faith.