Although the afflicted girls were the main accusers during the trials, many historians believe the girls parents, particularly Thomas Putnam and Reverend Samuel Parris, were egging the girls on and encouraging them to accuse specific people in the community that they didnt like in an act of revenge. And this was for a people who saw themselves as ordered by God to build their shining City on a Hill. thanks, primary sources of the Salem Witch Trials, View all posts by Rebecca Beatrice Brooks, http://www.zazzle.com/salem_village_map_poster-228789587972988887?rf=238784808055391622, https://historyofmassachusetts.org/best-books-about-salem-witch-trials/. They should've told the US it was all fake once they came to their senses, but they didn't. Court of Oyer and Terminer Judges:Jonathan CorwinBartholomew GedneyJohn HathorneJohn RichardsWilliam Stoughton, Chief MagistrateSamuel SewallNathaniel SaltonstallPeter SergeantWaitstill Winthrop, The number of people accused and arrested in May surged to over 30 people:Sarah DustinAnn SearsArthur AbbottBethiah Carter SrBethiah Carter JrMary WitheridgeGeorge Jacobs SrMargaret JacobsRebecca JacobsJohn WillardAlice ParkerAnn PudeatorAbigail SoamesSarah BuckelyElizabeth ColsonElizabeth HartThomas Farrar SrRoger ToothakerMary ToothakerMargaret ToothakerSarah ProctorMary DeRichSarah BassettSusannah RootsElizabeth CarySarah PeaseMartha CarrierElizabeth FosdickWilmot ReddElizabeth HoweSarah RiceJohn Alden JrWilliam ProctorJohn Flood. The leading independent voice for aviation news and insight. Warrants were issued by the dozen, sometimes for the arrest of the most unlikely suspects. Thank you so much, this was also, by far, the best site ive come across for salem trials. A week later, the jury changed their minds and declared Nurse guilty. my question for the project was what was the history of the salem witch trials. Wow. William was happily a Calvinist, but not even that changed the fact New England theocracy was at an end. This was a dark time but it is good to see the court system advance. One other man, Giles Corey, was pressed to death after refusing to enter a plea, and at least five people . Think it was her kids. Im just going to use Smithsonian, ARe you the editor/author of this site @Rebecca Beatrice Brooks, Hi Gigi, yes Im the editor/author of this site, thanks so much I needed that for my homework, Where can I get a copy of the Salem 1692 map that you posted? The people had been so determined upon hunting out and destroying witches that they had neglected everything else. While the Salem of today is a thriving metropolitan area, in 1692 it was a remote settlement on the edge of the frontier. As sleet and snow heaped higher outside their door, Betty Parris and her cousin Abigail began to twitch and twist their bodies into strange shapes, speaking in words that made no sense. How should I cite this? They did so in order to gather the observations of the colonys most senior ministers, to hear their reflections upon the state of things as they then stood. It has so many details that I need. Another notable person who was accused of witchcraft was Captain John Alden Jr., the son of the Mayflower crew member John Alden. 82 (Boston: Wright and Potter, 1902), pp. Second, everyone got their food from the same place, so symptoms would have occurred in every household, not just a select few. For everyone who remains intrigued by Salem, here are a few lesser-known facts about the witchcraft trials. Salem Witchcraft and Cotton Mather: A Reply. Next: Spooky Places: 10 Destinations For Fans Of Witches. "Essay IV Against modern Sadducism in the matter of Witches and Apparitions" in Essay on several important subjects in philosophy and religion, 2nd Ed, London; printed for John Baker and H. Mortlock, 1676, pp. OMG! While sympathy, and certainly empathy, are always good things to have, its also important that we dont let emotions color the facts. Kinda sad after reading everything. Knowing that if he was convicted his large estate would be confiscated and wouldnt be passed down to his children, Corey brought his trial to a halt by refusing to enter a plea. What source other than A Story of Witchcraft would you recommend to look up more information about the trials? European Witch trials started at a similar time as Protestantism. Proctor told them about the torture inflicted on the accused and asked that the trials be moved to Boston where he felt he would get a fair trial. The 52 remaining people in jail were tried in a new court, the Superior Court of Judicature, the following winter. Unauthorized use is prohibited. The Salem witch trials, which resulted in several deaths in 1692 in the small town of Salem, Massachusetts, have never been adequately explained. In 1957, the state of Massachusetts officially apologized for the Salem Witch Trials and cleared the name ofsome of the remaining victims not listed in the 1711 law, stating: One Ann Pudeator and certain other persons yet did not list the other victims names. Through the loss of 20 lives, the episode continues to warn of the dangers of insularity and isolationism, of intolerance, of religious extremism. They were said to have helped witches and were referred to as their familiars. I lasted edited this page on October 18, 2015. The bibliography at the bottom of this article list a number of secondary sources. A secondary source would be a book, journal or article written long after the event by someone who didnt experience it first hand. In addition to this constant sense of fear, Salem residents were also under a great deal of stress during this period due to a number of factors. This helped with my English assignment! After Nurses execution on July 19th, the residents of Salem started to seriously question the validity of the trials. The jail was a small wooden structure with a dungeon underneath. It tells of a period of time where religious extremest of a good and pure faith massacred several of their own kind in demented and mad ways. Im going to put a note at the bottom of the article that says when it was last updated to make it easier for anyone doing reports and assignments. Also I was curious to know what the specific compromise was. Shortly after Sir William Phips appointment as Governor, he was forced to establish a court to deal with those who had been locked up in jail and were awaiting trial. An Account of the Life, Character, & C., of the Rev. As sleet and snow heaped higher outside their door, Betty Parris and. I find the Salem Witch trails to be the most interesting event in the colonization of whats now US. The theory first came to prominence in the 1970s, when Linnda R. Caporael wrote Ergotism: The Satan Loosed in Salem? Im using this for my History project. The Examination of Bridget Bishop, April 19, 1692. One of the most popular theories as to what could have caused the mass hysteria of Salem is that of ergot poisoning, but recent scholars have questioned this idea. Indeed, as Stacy Schiff explains in The Witches, her history of the witch trials, It would have been difficult to find more than a few souls to whom the supernatural was not eminently real, part and parcel of the culture, as was the devil himself. Im doing the Salem witch trials for my A-Level coursework, does anyone know the full names of any historians that have spoken about this topic? How inhumane! But the particular brand of paranoia that was rife in Salem Village fed by a rivalry with neighbouring Salem Town, ongoing family feuds and attacks by Native Americans developed into mass hysteria. Twenty-four people died during the Salem witch trials, though many more were accused of witchcraft. While many modern-day Pagans cite the Salem trials as an example of religious intolerance, at the time, witchcraft was not seen as a religion at all. English law at the time dictated that anyone who refused to enter a plea could be tortured in an attempt to force a plea out of them. According to Plouffe, Jr., the trials were the largest of . When it came to religion, Salem Village was as devout as any other settlement in the area; one visitor observed that the residents of New England could neither drive a bargain, nor make a jest, without a text of Scripture at the end of it. Farms were mortgaged or sold, first to pay prison fees, then to pay taxes; frequently they were abandoned. The Salem Witch Trials of 1692 were a dark time in American history. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. The European witch trials took place in the 15th century. Smithsonia, 8 Sept. 2013. 6 The Role Of Religion In Witch Trials A 1976 study, printed in the journal Science, attributed the girls hysterical and possibly hallucinogenic behaviour to the ingestion of rye bread made with grain infected with ergot of rye. Salem Witch Trials Memorial at Proctor's Ledge Retrieved from https://www.learnreligions.com/facts-about-the-salem-trials-2562897. More than 200 people were accused of practicing witchcraft and 20 were killed during the hysteria. Although many of the other accused women were unpopular social outcasts, Nurse was a pious, well-respected and well-loved member of the community. Bridget was accused by five of the afflicted girls, Abigail Williams, Ann Putnam Jr., Mercy Lewis, Mary Walcott and Elizabeth Hubbard, who stated she had physically hurt them and tried to make them sign a pact with the devil. From unbelievable witch swimming tests to th. I think that maybe they thought they were bewitched. Text adapted from the National Geographic book Witches! The mayhem all started in 1692, when two cousins aged nine and 11 began experiencing delusions, strange fits, and other mysterious maladies. 1, pp. Lets look at some important historical evidence that people often forget about the Salem witch trials. 1 Most of the accused were women but men were accusedand executedtoo. Of those arrested, the majority were women (85%) and only a handful were men (15%). Proctors wife managed to escape execution because she was pregnant, but Proctor was hanged on August 19 along with five other people. I guarantee Im not related to any putnum. 126. Not that the prosecutions were concluded even then. Some (incredibly mean) people devoted their time to making a science out of witchcraft. There is actually a compilation of all of the primary sources on the Salem Witch Trials. I i would like to know more about the salem witch trials. However, the subtlety of the ministers response was largely sidelined by the grand jury, who drew their energy from one particular concluding line from Mather: we cannot but humbly recommend unto the government, the speedy and vigorous prosecution of such as have rendered themselves obnoxious. In possession of such a mandate, the trials moved up a gear. I need to cite this for my reference sheet. Salem was ruled by English law at the time, which only allowed death by burning to be used against men who committed high treason and only after they had been hanged, quartered and drawn. The Salem Witch Trials. Random House, 1956Fowler, Samuel Page. 135, no. Thanks! The puritans, who had left England due to religious persecution, feared their religion was under attack again and worried they were losing control of their colony. Due to overcrowding in the jails, the accused witches were kept in multiple jails in Salem town, Ipswich and Boston. Nige Tassell explains how hysteria in the village of Salem, Massachusets, gave rise to a horror that bedazzled the world Published: June 10, 2020 at 4:45 pm Then say they were wrong. I am no more a witch than you are a wizard. They screamed, made unearthly sounds, suffered convulsions and violently threw objects, and themselves, around their homes. All rights reserved. The Salem witch trials marked a seven-month period of mass hysteria in 1692 Colonial America. (University of Kansas, 1997). this helped a lot on my social studies project. A newer, more anti-religious charter replaced the original one in 1691 and also combined the Massachusetts Bay Colony, Plymouth Colony and several other colonies into one. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. This was no more notable than when playwright Arthur Miller chose to dramatise the trials in his 1953 play The Crucible. The two communities were three hours apart, by foot, which was the most common method of transportation at the time. The trials are believed to have been the reason why the US constitution recognizes witchcraft as a legal religion. Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. I also have an ancestor, Mary Parsons, who was accused of witchcraft but she was allowed to live. I wonder how many people ran away from The Salem Witch Trials. As the weeks passed, other young girls claimed to have been infected by witchcraft too. The hysterical behaviour was an unconscious outlet for rebellion, a release valve for the pressure that the threat of eternal damnation put them under. Robbins, Rossell Hope. Even when the court ordered further executions, Phips wisely issued pardons to those convicted. . Bridget Bishop was the first person brought to trial. Nobecause certainly there are some Christians who dobut theres no historical evidence that anyone was really working any kind of magic in Salem. The Salem witch trials began because a group of girls claimed they were possessed by the devil. All witches are women, but not every woman is a witch. (Eds.). Salem witch trial started as feud between Porters n putnums cuz putnums felt Porters gave too much freedom to their black servants. Other factors included a recent small pox epidemic in the colony, growing rivalries between families within the colony, a constant threat of attack from nearby Native-American tribes, and a recent influx of refugees trying to escape King Williams war with France in Canada and New York. Between 1647 and 1688, 12 women had been sentenced to death for making covenants with the devil. Im glad it was helpful. As years passed, apologies were offered and restitution was made to the victims families. Massachusetts Archives, Vol. Are there any other theories as to what may have caused the girls strange behavior? As the trials and executions continued, colonists began to doubt that so many people could actually be guilty of this crime. . By the end of the trials in 1693, 24 people had died, some in jail but most by hanging. She was hanged on June 10, 1692 at a place now called Proctors Ledge, which is a small hill near Gallows Hill, making her the first official victim of the witch trials. Before we get into the interesting facts about Salem and the Witch Trials, let's do a brief history of the Salem Witch Trials. An allegory of the intolerant McCarthyism discolouring the nation at the time Miller would himself be called before the Committee on Un-American Activities three years later the parallels were undeniable. There were complex political, religious, and racial issues under the crisis. I last updated this article on March 26, 2016. You can check out my article on books about the Salem Witch Trials here:https://historyofmassachusetts.org/best-books-about-salem-witch-trials/ or you could search the court records online on the University of Virginia website. Massachusetts was an outpost of Gods chosen people in a hostile wilderness in the 17th century. Rev Nicholas Noyes, one of the local clergymen who had vigorously pursued the prosecutions, was the particular focus of Sarah Goods anger: You are a liar. Here are some of our favorite Salem attractions: Salem Witch Museum Your first stop should be the Salem Witch Museum. During her trial, Bishop repeatedly defended herself, stating I am innocent, I know nothing of it, I have done no witchcraft . Morrisiana, 1869Jackson, Shirley. "Examination and Evidence of Some the Accused Witches in Salem, 1692. DHowlett1692, who blogs regularly about all things Salem, cites a 1977 article by Nicholas P. Spanos and Jack Gottlieb that disputes Caporaels ergotism study. Brooks, Rebecca Beatrice. Bad weather isn't the only reason why the witch hype began. Or maybe it was the 1711 bill that cleared the names of the accused witches. If people were to run away from it, theyll only be hunted down and thats worst then sitting in court. Many of the accusers were adults and more than a few of them were people who had themselves been accused. On July 23, John Proctor wrote to the clergy in Boston. I sincerely cant thank you enough! The Superior Court of Judicature, formed to replace the witchcraft court, did not allow spectral evidence. They were soft, obvious targets for a mistrustful, God-fearing populace living along strictly defined lines. Thank you for this amazing article! George Burroughs, a minister, was one of the few men accused of witchcraft during the trials. this helped me sooo much. Hi RebeccaI saw that you have a lot of knowledge about Mary EastyI was told this year at a funeral that I am a direct decendent of hersI live in Salem and My Grandfather was name William Esteydo you by any chance have any history of the family tree? One of them, George Burroughs, protested his innocence as the noose was readied. Hoffer, Peter Charles. How could so many people believe the afflicted girls without no real evidence. The following are some facts about the Salem Witch Trials: The Salem Witch Trials were a series of witchcraft cases brought before local magistrates in a settlement called Salem which was a part of the Massachusetts Bay colony in the 17th century. One freezing day in January of 1692, something strange happened inside the Parris household of Salem Village, Massachusetts.
