Difference between revisions of "Salem Witch Trials" - New World Encyclopedia

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[[Image:SalemWitchcraftTrial.jpg|thumb|[[1876]] illustration of the courtroom; the central figure is usually identified as [[Mary Walcott]]]]
 
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The '''Salem witch trials''', which began in [[1692]] (also known as the Salem [[witch-hunt|witch hunt]] and the Salem witchcraft episode), resulted in a number of convictions and executions for [[witchcraft]] in both [[Danvers, Massachusetts|Salem Village]] and [[Salem, Massachusetts|Salem Town]], [[Massachusetts]]. Some have argued that it was the result of a period of factional infighting and [[Puritan]] witch hysteria which led to the executions of 20 people (14 women, 6 men) and the imprisonment of between 175 and 200 people. In addition to those executed at least five people died in prison.
 
  
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==Background==
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[[Image:SalemWitchcraftTrial.jpg|thumb|300px|1876 illustration of the courtroom; the central figure is usually identified as [[Mary Walcott]].]]
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In 1692, Salem Village was torn by internal disputes between neighbors who disagreed about the choice of [[Samuel Parris]] as their first ordained minister.  In January 1692, [[York, Maine|York]], at the "Eastward" frontier of Maine, was attacked by the [[Abenaki]] Indians, and many of its citizens were massacred or taken captive, echoing the brutality of [[King Philip's War]] of 1675-76.
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The '''Salem Witch Trials''' were a notorious episode in [[New England]] colonial history that led to the execution of 14 women and 6 men, in 1692, for charges of [[witchcraft]]. The trials began as a result of the bizarre and inexplicable behavior of two young girls, afflicted by violent convulsions and strange fits that seemingly rendered them unable to hear, speak, or see. After a medical examination and a review by [[Puritanism|Puritan]] clergy, the girls were judged to be victims of witchcraft. In the ensuing hysteria during the summer of 1692, nearly 200 people were accused of witchcraft and imprisoned.  
  
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Increasing family size fueled disputes over land between neighbors and within families, especially on the frontier where the economy was based on farming. Changes in the weather or blights could easily wipe out a year's crop. A farm that could support an average-sized family could not support the many families of the next generation, prompting farmers to push further into the wilderness to find farmland—and encroach upon the indigenous people who already lived there.  As the Puritans had vowed to create a [[theocracy]] in this new land, religious fervor added another tension to the mix: losses of crops, of livestock, and of children, as well as earthquakes and bad weather were typically attributed to the wrath of God. Within the Puritan faith, one's soul was considered predestined from birth as to whether they had been chosen for [[Heaven]] or condemned for [[Hell]], and they constantly searched for hints, assuming God's pleasure and displeasure could be read in such signs given in the visible world. The invisible world was inhabited by God and the angels—including the Devil, a fallen angel, and to Puritans this invisible world was as real to them as the visible one around them.  
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Although the Salem Witch Trials are conventionally cited as an example of religious zealotry in New England, the trials were exceptional in the American colonies, with charges of witchcraft far more commonplace in [[Europe]]—particularly [[Germany]], [[Switzerland]], and the [[Low Countries]]—during this period. From the fourteenth to the eighteenth centuries, some 110,000 people were tried for witchcraft in Europe, and from 40,000 to 60,000 were executed. In contrast, there were only 20 executions in colonial American courts from 1647 to 1691 and the sensational trials at Salem.<ref>Kenneth Silverman, ''Life and Times of Cotton Mather''(New York: Columbia University Press, 1985, ISBN 0231-06125-0), 89</ref>
  
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The patriarchal beliefs that Puritans held in the community further stressed the atmosphere: women should be totally subservient to men, that by nature a woman was more likely to enlist in the Devil's service than a man was, and that women were naturally lustful.
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Modern analysis of the Salem Witch Trials regards the children's bizarre allegations and the townspeople's credulity as an example of [[mass hysteria]], when mass public near-panic reactions surface around an unexplained phenomenon. Mass hysteria explains the waves of popular medical problems that "everyone gets" in response to news articles. A recent example of mass hysteria with remarkable similarities to the Salem Witch Trials was the rash of allegations of sexual and ritual abuse in day care centers in the 1980s and 1990s, which resulted in numerous convictions that were later overturned. Like the Salem hysteria, these allegations of sexual abuse were fueled by accusations from impressionable children who were coached by figures of authority, and resulted in destroying the lives and reputations of innocent people.
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In addition, the small town atmosphere made secrets very difficult to keep and people's opinions about their neighbors were generally accepted as fact. In an age where the philosophy "children should be seen and not heard" reigned supreme, children were at the bottom of the social ladder. Toys and games were seen as idle and playing was discouraged, although girls had additional restrictions heaped upon them; boys were able to go hunting, fishing, exploring the forest, and often became apprentices to carpenters and smiths, while girls were trained from a tender age to spin yarn, cook, sew, weave, and to generally be servants to their husbands and mothers to their children.
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The Salem Witch Trials demonstrated the weakness of a judicial system that relied on hearsay testimony and encouraged accusations, while providing no adequate means of rebuttal. Yet, after a time conscientious magistrates did step in to stop the trials, and in subsequent years the reputations, if not the lives, of those falsely accused had been rehabilitated.
  
 
== Origin of trials ==
 
== Origin of trials ==
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[[Image:Samuel Parris.jpeg|thumb|Reverend Samuel Parris]]
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In the village of Salem in 1692, Betty Parris, age nine, and her cousin, Abigail Williams, age 11, the daughter and niece of Reverend Samuel Parris, fell victim to what was recorded as fits "beyond the power of [[Epilepsy|Epileptic]] Fits or natural disease to effect," according to John Hale, minister in Beverly, in his book, ''A Modest Enquiry into the Nature of Witchcraft'' (1702). The girls screamed, threw things about the room, uttered strange sounds, crawled under furniture, and contorted themselves into peculiar positions. They complained of being pricked with pins or cut with knives, and when Reverend Samuel Parris would preach, the girls would cover their ears, as if dreading to hear the sermons. When a doctor, historically believed to be [[William Griggs]], could not explain what was happening to them, he said that the girls were bewitched. Others in the village began to exhibit the same symptoms.
  
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[[Image:Salem Village - map of - Project Gutenberg eText 17845.jpg|thumb|Map of Salem Village, 1692]]
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Griggs may have been influenced in his diagnosis by [[Cotton Mather]]'s work, ''Memorable Providences Relating to Witchcrafts and Possessions'' (1689). In the book he describes the strange behavior exhibited by the four children of a Boston mason, John Goodwin, and attributed it to [[witchcraft]] practiced upon them by an [[Ireland|Irish]] washerwoman, Mary Glover. Mather, a minister of [[Boston]]'s North Church (not to be confused with the [[Episcopal|Episcopalian]] Old North Church of [[Paul Revere]]), was a prolific publisher of pamphlets and a firm believer in witchcraft. Three of the five judges appointed to the Court of Oyer and Terminer were friends of his and members of his congregation. He wrote to one of the judges, John Richards, supporting the prosecutions, but cautioning him of the dangers of relying on spectral evidence and advising the court on how to proceed. Mather was present at the execution of [[Reverend George Burroughs]] for witchcraft and intervened after the condemned man had successfully recited the [[Lord's Prayer]] (supposedly a sign of innocence) to remind the crowd that the man had been convicted before a jury. Mather had access to the official records of the Salem trials, upon which his account of the affair, ''Wonders of the Invisible World,'' was based.
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In the village of Salem in 1692, [[Betty Parris]], age 9, and her cousin [[Abigail Williams]], age 11, the daughter and niece (respectively) of Reverend [[Samuel Parris]], fell victim to what was recorded as fits "beyond the power of Epileptic Fits or natural disease to effect," according to [[John Hale]], minister in Beverly, in his book ''A Modest Enquiry into the Nature of Witchcraft'' ([[Boston]], [[1702]]). The girls screamed, threw things about the room, uttered strange sounds, crawled under furniture, and contorted themselves into peculiar positions. They complained of being pricked with pins or cut with knives, and when Reverend [[Samuel Parris]] would preach, the girls would cover their ears, as if dreading to hear the sermons. When a doctor, historically assumed to be [[William Griggs]], could not explain what was happening to them, he said that the girls were bewitched. Others in the village began to exhibit the same symptoms.
 
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Doctor Griggs may have been influenced in his diagnosis by [[Cotton Mather]]'s work ''Memorable Providences Relating to Witchcrafts and Possessions'' (1689). In the book he describes the strange behaviour exhibited by the four children of a Boston mason, [[John Goodwin]], and attributed it to witchcraft practiced upon them by an Irish washerwoman, Mary Glover. Mather, a minister of [[Boston]]'s North Church (not to be confused with the Episcopalian Old North Church of Paul Revere fame), was a prolific publisher of pamphlets and a firm believer in [[witchcraft]]. Three of the five judges appointed to the Court of [[Oyer and Terminer]] were friends of his and members of his congregation. He wrote to one of the judges, [[John Richards]], supporting the prosecutions, but cautioning him of the dangers of relying on [[spectral evidence]] and advising the court on how to proceed. Mather was present at the execution of Reverend [[George Burroughs]] for [[witchcraft]] and intervened after the condemned man had successfully recited [[the Lord's Prayer]] (supposedly a sign of innocence) to remind the crowd that the man had been convicted before a jury. Mather had access to the official records of the Salem trials, upon which his account of the affair, ''Wonders of the Invisible World'', was based.
 
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Traditionally, the affected girls are said to have been "entertained" by Parris' slave [[Tituba]], during the winter of 1692, although there is no contemporary evidence to support the story (Reis 56). Tituba's race is also often cited as Carib-Indian or that she was of African descent, but contemporary sources describe her only as an "Indian."  Research by [[Elaine Breslaw]] has suggested that she may well have been captured in what is now [[Venezuela]] and brought to [[Barbados]], and so may have been an Arawak Indian, but other slightly later descriptions of her, by Gov. Hutchinson writing his history of the [[Massachusetts Bay Colony]] in the [[18th century]], describe her as a "[[Spain|Spanish]] Indian." In that day, that typically meant an Indian from the Carolinas/[[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]]/[[Florida]]. Contrary to the [[folklore]], there is no evidence whatsoever to support the assertion that [[Tituba]] told any of the girls any stories about using [[Magic (paranormal)|magic]]. The one supportable association with any kind of magical practices is that [[John Indian]], another slave in the Parris household and assumed to have been Tituba's husband, was told a recipe for discovering the identity of a [[witch]], a British recipe given to him by a neighbor of the parsonage. 
 
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The first three people accused were arrested for allegedly afflicting [[Ann Putnam]], Jr., age 12: [[Sarah Good]], a beggar, [[Sarah Osburne]], a bedridden old woman, and [[Tituba]] (Boyer 3). [[Tituba]], as a slave of a different ethnicity than the [[Puritans]], was an obvious target for accusations. Sarah Good, a poverty-worn, easily-angered woman, often muttered under her breath as she walked away from failed attempts of obtaining food and/or shelter from neighbors, and people interpreted her muttering as curses. Sarah Osburne, an irritable old woman, was already marked for marrying her indentured servant. All of these women fit the description of the "usual suspects," since nobody would likely stand up for them; neither Osburne nor Good attended church, which made them especially vulnerable to accusations of witchcraft.
 
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These women were brought before the local magistrates on the complaint of witchcraft on [[March 1]], [[1692]], and held in prison (Boyer 3). Other accusations followed in March: [[Martha Corey]], [[Rebecca Nurse]], [[Dorcas Good|Dorothy Good]]<ref>incorrectly called [[Dorcas Good]] in her arrest warrant</ref>, and [[Rachel Clinton]]. Martha Corey, ever an outspoken woman, was skeptical about the credence of the girls from the start and scoffed at the trials, unfortunately drawing attention to herself. Dorothy Good, the daughter of [[Sarah Good]], was only 4 years old, and easily manipulated by the magistrates to say things that were taken as a confession, implicating her own mother. In order to be with her mother after the accusations, she claimed to herself be a witch, thereby she was arrested. The charges against Rebecca Nurse and Martha Corey greatly disturbed the community. Martha Corey was a full covenanted member of the Church in [[Salem Village]], as was [[Rebecca Nurse]] in the Church in [[Salem Town]]. If the upstanding people could be accused of witchcraft and seen as possible witches, that meant that anybody could be a witch, but also that Church membership was no protection from accusation.
 
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Throughout April, many more were arrested: [[Sarah Cloyce]] (Nurse's sister), [[Elizabeth Proctor|Elizabeth (Bassett) Proctor]] and her husband [[John Proctor]], [[Giles Corey]] (Martha's husband, and a covenanted church member in Salem Town), [[Abigail Hobbs]], [[Bridget Bishop]], [[Mary Warren]] (a servant in the Proctor household and sometime accuser herself), [[Deliverance Hobbs]] (step-mother  of Abigail Hobbs), [[Sarah Wilds]], [[William Hobbs]] (husband of Deliverance and father of Abigail), [[Nehemiah Abbott Jr.]], [[Mary Esty]] (sister of Cloyce and Nurse), [[Edward Bishop Jr.]] and his wife [[Sarah Bishop]], and [[Mary English]], and finally on April 30, Rev. [[George Burroughs]], [[Lydia Dustin]], [[Susannah Martin]], [[Dorcas Hoar]], [[Sarah Morey]] and [[Philip English]] (Mary's husband). [[Nehemiah Abbott Jr.]] was released because the accusers agreed he was not the person whose spectre had afflicted them. [[Mary Esty]] was released for a few days after her initial arrest because the accusers failed to confirm that it was she who had afflicted them, and then she was rearrested when the accusers reconsidered.
 
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The main evidence used against the accused was "[[spectral evidence]]," or the testimony of the afflicted who claimed to see the apparition or the shape of the person who was allegedly afflicting them. The theological dispute that ensued about the use of this evidence centered on whether a person had to give their permission to the Devil for their "shape" to be used to afflict. Opponents to the trial claimed that the Devil was able to use anyone's "shape" to afflict people, but The Court contended that the Devil could not use a person's shape without their permission, therefore when the afflicted claimed to "see" the apparition of a specific person, that was accepted as evidence that the accused had been complicit with the Devil. [[Increase Mather]] and other ministers sent a letter to the Court, "The Return of Several Ministers Consulted," urging the magistrates not to convict on spectral evidence alone. A copy of this letter was printed in Increase Mather's [[http://etext.virginia.edu/salem/witchcraft/speccol/mather/ "Cases of Conscience"]] published in 1693. See facsimiles of [[http://etext.virginia.edu/salem/witchcraft/speccol/mather/small/MATH73.jpg page 73]] and [[http://etext.virginia.edu/salem/witchcraft/speccol/mather/small/MATH74.jpg page 74]] of this rare book.
 
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As the number of accusations grew, the jail populations of [[Salem, Massachusetts|Salem]], [[Ipswich, Massachusetts|Ipswich]], [[Charlestown, Massachusetts|Charlestown]], [[Cambridge, Massachusetts|Cambridge]], and [[Boston, Massachusetts|Boston]] swelled and a new problem surfaced: the new governor and charter for the colony were only a few months from arriving. Some have postulated that without this, there was no legitimate form of government to try capital cases (Boyer 6), but this was not true. In the years between charters, according to the Records of the Court of Assistants, a group of thirteen pirates led by [[Thomas Johnson]], a mariner of [[Boston]], were tried and hanged on January 27, [[1690]] for acts of piracy and murder in August and October of 1689.<ref>records of the Court of Assistants, pp. 309-313</ref> [[Elizabeth Emerson]] of [[Haverhill, Massachusetts]] was tried and hanged for double-infanticide in May 1691.<ref>records of the Court of Assistants, p. 357</ref> The fact that none of the [[witchcraft]] cases were tried until late May, after Governor Sir [[William Phips]] arrived and instituted a Court of [[Oyer and Terminer]] (to "hear and determine"), was likely in deference to his imminent arrival. Phips appointed [[William Stoughton (Massachusetts)|William Stoughton]], who had theological training but no legal training, as the Chief Justice of this court (Boyer 7). By then, [[Sarah Osborne]] had died of natural causes in jail on May 10 without a trial (Boyer 3), as had Sarah Good's infant.
 
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In May, warrants were issued for 36 more people: [[Sarah Dustin]] (daughter of Lydia Dustin), [[Ann Sears]], [[Bethiah Carter Sr.]] and her daughter [[Bethiah Carter Jr.]], [[George Jacobs Sr.]] and his granddaughter [[Margaret Jacobs]], [[John Willard]], [[Alice Parker]], [[Ann Pudeator]], [[Abigail Soames]], [[George Jacobs Jr.]] (son of George Jacobs Sr. and father of Margaret Jacobs), [[Daniel Andrew]], [[Rebecca Jacobs]] (wife of George Jacobs Jr. and sister of Daniel Andrew), [[Sarah Buckley]] and her daughter [[Mary Witheridge]], [[Elizabeth Colson]], [[Elizabeth Hart]], [[Thomas Farrar Sr.]], [[Roger Toothaker]], [[Sarah Proctor]] (daughter of John and Elilzabeth Proctor), [[Sarah Bassett]] (sister-in-law of Elizabeth Proctor), [[Susannah Roots]], [[Mary DeRich]] (another sister-in-law of Elizabeth Proctor), [[Sarah Pease]], [[Elizabeth Cary]], [[Martha Carrier]], [[Elizabeth Fosdick]], [[Wilmot Redd]], [[Sarah Rice]], [[Elizabeth How]], [[John Alden]] (son of [[John Alden]] and Pricilla Mullins of [[Plymouth Colony]]), [[William Proctor]] (son of John and Elizabeth Proctor), [[John Flood]], [[Mary Toothaker]] (wife of Roger Toothaker and sister of Martha Carrier) and her daughter [[Margaret Toothaker]], and [[Arthur Abbott]]. John Willard and Elizabeth Colson managed to evade capture for a while but were finally taken into custody, whereas Daniel Andrew and George Jacobs Jr. were never apprehended. When the Court of Oyer and Terminer convened at the end of May, this brought the total number of people in custody for the court to handle to 62.<ref>For information about the family relationships between these people, see Roach, Marilynne K. ''The Salem Witch Trials: A Day-To-Day Chronicle of a Community Under Siege.'' Cooper Square Press, 2002.</ref>
 
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==Legal Procedures==
 
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After someone concluded that a loss, illness or death had been caused by witchcraft, the accuser would enter a complaint against the alleged witch with the local magistrates.<ref>See [http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/salem/witchcraft/archives/essex/ecca/vol1/096.html The Complaint v. Elizabeth Procter & Sarah Cloyce] for an example of one of the primary sources of this type.</ref>
 
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If the complaint was deemed credible, the magistrates would have the person arrested<ref>[http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/salem/witchcraft/archives/essex/ecca/vol1/070.html The Arrest Warrant of Rebecca Nurse]</ref> and brought in for a public examination, essentially an interrogation, when the magistrates pressed the accused to confess.<ref>[http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/salem/witchcraft/archives/essex/eia/eia01.html The Examination of Martha Corey]</ref>
 
  
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If the magistrates at this local level were satisfied that the complaint was well-founded, the prisoner was handed over to be dealt with by a superior court. In 1692, the magistrates opted to wait for the arrival of the new charter and governor, who would establish a Court of [[Oyer and Terminer]] to handle these cases.
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In February of 1692, frightened by events, the residents of Salem held regular fasts and prayers for the afflicted. Wanting the influence of the devil to be removed from their community they pressured the girls into providing names. The first three people arrested for allegedly afflicting a girl by the name of Ann Putnam, age 12, were [[Sarah Good]], a beggar, [[Sarah Osburne]], a bedridden old woman, and Rev. Parris's slave, [[Tituba]]. Tituba was an easy and obvious target as she was a slave and of a different ethnicity than that of her Puritan neighbors. Many accounts of the history of the hysteria claim that Tituba often told witch stories and spells to the girls while she was working. However, this idea does not have much historical merit. Sarah Good was often seen begging for food. She was quick to anger and often muttered under her breath. Many people believed these mutterings to be curses that she was placing upon them. Sarah Osburne had already been marked as an outcast when she married her indentured servant. These women easily fit the mold of being different in their society, and thus were vulnerable targets. The fact that none of the three attended church also made them more susceptible to the accusations of witchcraft.
  
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The next step, at the superior court level, was to summon witnesses before a grand jury.<ref>For an example: [http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/salem/witchcraft/archives/essex/ecca/vol1/065.html Summons for Witnesses v. Rebecca Nurse]</ref>
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=== Formal charges and trial ===
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A person could be indicted on charges of afflicting with witchcraft<ref>[http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/salem/witchcraft/archives/essex/ecca/vol1/003.html Indictment of Sarah Good for Afflicting Sarah Vibber]</ref>,
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[[Image:Salem Village - map of - Project Gutenberg eText 17845.jpg|thumb|300px|Map of Salem Village, 1692.]]On March 1, 1692, the three accused were held in prison and then brought before the magistrates. The women were accused of witchcraft, and soon many other women and children joined the ranks of the accused. In March, Martha Corey, Rebecca Nurse, Dorothy Good (incorrectly called Dorcas Good on her arrest warrant), and Rachel Clinton were condemned. The most outspoken of the group of women was Martha Corey. Outraged at the unjust accusations she argued that the girls who were accusing her were not to be believed. She scoffed at the trials and only brought unfavorable attention to herself in the process. Dorothy Good, Sarah Good's daughter, was only four years old when she was accused. Easily coerced into saying untrue things about her mother's behavior and her own status as a witch, she was placed in prison with her mother.
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or for making an unlawful covenant with the Devil.<ref>[http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/salem/witchcraft/archives/essex/eia/eia23.html Indictment of Abigail Hobbs for Covenanting]</ref> Once indicted, the defendant went to trial, sometimes on the same day, as in the case of the first person indicted and tried on June 2, [[Bridget Bishop]], who was executed on June 10, 1692.
 
  
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There were four execution dates, with one person executed on June 10, 1692<ref>[http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/salem/witchcraft/archives/essex/ecca/vol1/071.html The Death Warrant of Bridget Bishop]</ref>, five executed on July 19, 1692<ref> [http://etext.virginia.edu/salem/witchcraft/archives/BPL/B05A.html Death Warrant for Sarah Good, Rebecca Nurse, Susannah Martin, Elizabeth How & Sarah Wilds]</ref>, another five executed on August 19, 1692 ([[Susannah Martin]], [[John Willard]], [[George Burroughs]], [[George Jacobs Sr.]], and [[John Proctor]]), and eight on [[September 22]], [[1692]] ([[Mary Esty]], [[Martha Cory]], [[Ann Pudeator]], [[Samuel Wardwell]], [[Mary Parker]], [[Alice Parker]], [[Wilmot Redd]], and [[Margaret Scott]]). Several others, including [[Elizabeth Proctor|Elizabeth (Bassett) Proctor]] and [[Abigail Faulkner]] were convicted but given temporary reprieves because they were pregnant (Chronology). Though convicted, they would not be hanged until they had given birth (Chronology). Five other women were convicted in 1692, but sentence was never carried out: [[Ann Foster]] (who later died in prison), her daughter [[Mary Lacy Sr.]], [[Abigail Hobbs]], [[Dorcas Hoar]], and [[Mary Bradbury]].
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When faithful members of the Church like Martha Corey and Rebecca Nurse were accused, the community realized that anyone could be guilty of being a witch and, thus, no one was safe from the accusation. This proved true when the arrests continued during the month of April. Many more were arrested: Sarah Cloyce (Nurse's sister), Elizabeth (Bassett) Proctor and her husband John Proctor, Giles Corey (Martha's husband, and a covenanted church member in Salem Town), Abigail Hobbs, Bridget Bishop, Mary Warren (a servant in the Proctor household and sometime accuser herself), Deliverance Hobbs (step-mother of Abigail Hobbs), Sarah Wilds, William Hobbs (husband of Deliverance and father of Abigail), Nehemiah Abbott Jr., Mary Esty (sister of Cloyce and Nurse), Edward Bishop Jr. and his wife Sarah Bishop, Mary English, Lydia Dustin, Susannah Martin, Dorcas Hoar, Sarah Morey and Philip English (Mary's husband). Even Rev. George Burroughs was arrested.
  
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[[Giles Corey]], an 80-year-old farmer from the southeast end of [[Salem]] called Salem Farms, refused to enter a plea when he came to trial in September. The law provided for the application of a form of torture called ''peine fort et dure'', in which the victim was slowly crushed by piling stones on a board that was laid upon the victim's body. After two days of peine fort et dure, Corey died without entering a plea (Boyer 8). Though his refusal to plead is often explained as a way of preventing his possessions from being confiscated by the state, this is not true; the possessions of convicted witches were often confiscated, and the possessions of persons accused but not convicted were confiscated before a trial, as in the case of Corey's neighbor [[John Proctor]] and the wealthy English's of Salem Town. Some historians hypothesize that Giles Corey's personal character, a stubborn and lawsuit-prone old man who knew he was going to be convicted regardless, led to his recalcitrance (Boyer 8).
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The trials rested purely on testimony of those who were afflicted, or "[[Spiritual World|spectral evidence]]." The afflicted claimed to see various apparitions or shapes of the person who was causing their pain. A [[Theology|theological]] dispute arose about the use of this kind of evidence because it was supposed that the [[devil]] could not take the shape of a person without that person's permission. The court finally concluded that the devil needed the permission of the specific person. Thus, when the accusers claimed that they had seen the person, then that person could be charged with consorting with the devil himself. [[Increase Mather]] and other ministers sent a letter to the court, "The Return of Several Ministers Consulted," urging the magistrates not to convict on spectral evidence alone. A copy of this letter was printed in Increase Mather's "Cases of Conscience," published in 1692.<ref>Increase Mather, [http://etext.virginia.edu/salem/witchcraft/speccol/mather Cases of Conscience Concerning Evil Spirits.] Retrieved August 7, 2007. </ref>
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[[Image:WilliamStoughton-painting.png|thumb|Chief Magistrate [[William Stoughton (Massachusetts)|William Stoughton]] (1631-1701)]]
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In May, the hysteria continued when warrants were issued for 36 more people: Sarah Dustin (daughter of Lydia Dustin), Ann Sears, Bethiah Carter Sr. and her daughter Bethiah Carter Jr., George Jacobs Sr. and his granddaughter Margaret Jacobs, John Willard, Alice Parker, Ann Pudeator, Abigail Soames, George Jacobs Jr. (son of George Jacobs Sr. and father of Margaret Jacobs), Daniel Andrew, Rebecca Jacobs (wife of George Jacobs Jr. and sister of Daniel Andrew), Sarah Buckley and her daughter Mary Witheridge, Elizabeth Colson, Elizabeth Hart, Thomas Farrar Sr., Roger Toothaker, Sarah Proctor (daughter of John and Elizabeth Proctor), Sarah Bassett (sister-in-law of Elizabeth Proctor), Susannah Roots, Mary DeRich (another sister-in-law of Elizabeth Proctor), Sarah Pease, Elizabeth Cary, Martha Carrier, Elizabeth Fosdick, Wilmot Redd, Sarah Rice, Elizabeth How, John Alden (son of John Alden and Pricilla Mullins of Plymouth Colony), William Proctor (son of John and Elizabeth Proctor), John Flood, Mary Toothaker (wife of Roger Toothaker and sister of Martha Carrier) and her daughter Margaret Toothaker, and Arthur Abbott. When the Court of Oyer and Terminer convened at the end of May 1692, this brought the total number of accused and arrested to 62.<ref>Marilynne K. Roach, ''The Salem Witch Trials: A Day-To-Day Chronicle of a Community Under Siege'' (Cooper Square Press, 2002).</ref>
  
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Sadly, not even in death were the accused witches granted peace or respect. As convicted witches, [[Rebecca Nurse]] and [[Martha Corey]] had been excommunicated from their churches and none were given proper burial. As soon as the bodies of the accused people were cut down from the trees, they were thrown into a shallow grave and the crowd would then leave. Oral history claims that the families of the dead reclaimed their bodies after dark and buried them in unmarked graves on family property. The record books of the time do not mention the deaths of any of those executed.
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Eventually, Salem, Ipswich, Charlestown, Cambridge, and Boston all had jails filled to capacity. Scholars have attributed the lack of trials for the accused to the fact that there was no legitimate form of government at the time available to try the cases. However, it has been found that other capital cases were tried during this time period. The fact remains that none of the witchcraft cases were tried until late May with the arrival of Governor Sir [[William Phips]]. Upon his arrival, Phips instituted a Court of [[Oyer and Terminer]] (to "hear and determine") and simultaneously appointed [[William Stoughton]] as the Chief Justice of the court. Stoughton was a man with several years of theological training but no legal training. By then tragedies had already occurred, including Sarah Osborne's death before trial of natural causes. She died in jail on May 10. Sarah Good's infant child also died in jail.
  
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Philip and Mary English escaped to New York. They returned after the trials to find their property pillaged.  Philip English eventually recovered 260 pounds out of a claim of 1183 pounds. <ref>[http://www.iath.virginia.edu/salem/people/english.html Salem Witch Trials Documentary Archive and Transcription Project]</ref>
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==Legal procedures==
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The process of arresting and trying an individual in 1692 began with the accusation that some loss, illness, or even death had been caused by the practice of witchcraft. The accuser entered an official complaint with the town magistrates.<ref> The University of Virginia, [http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/salem/witchcraft/archives/essex/ecca/vol1/096.html Salem Witchcraft Project 096.] Retrieved August 7, 2007. </ref>  
  
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==Closure==
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The magistrates would then decide if the complaint had any merit. If it did they would issue an arrest warrant.<ref> The University of Virginia, [http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/salem/witchcraft/archives/essex/ecca/vol1/070.html The Salem Witchcraft Project 070.] Retrieved August 7, 2007. </ref> The arrested person would then be brought before the magistrates and receive a public interrogations/examination. It was at this time that many were forced to confess to witchcraft.<ref> The University of Virginia, [http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/salem/witchcraft/archives/essex/eia/eia01.html Salem Witchcraft Papers from the Essex Institute 1.] Retrieved August 7, 2007. </ref> If no confession was offered then the accused was turned over to the superior court. In 1692 this meant several months of imprisonment before the new governor arrived and establish a Court of [[Oyer and Terminer]] to handle these cases.
−
The Reverend [[Francis Dane]] led the opposition and supported the accused. He petitioned the Governor and [[Massachusetts General Court|General Court]], condemning the trials due to unfounded accusations. The last [[witch trials]] took place in [[May]] of [[1693]], although people already found not guilty of [[witchcraft]] were not released until they paid their jailers' fees. On [[October 3]], [[1692]], [[Increase Mather]] published "Cases of Conscience Concerning Evil Spirits." In it, [[Increase Mather]] stated "[[Blackstone's formulation|It were better that Ten Suspected Witches should escape, than that one Innocent Person should be Condemned]]." After another trial was conducted, all those in jail were set free in May of 1693 (this amnesty is what saved [[Elizabeth Proctor]]).  
 
  
−
Many descendants of the people who were wrongfully convicted still sought closure. Numerous petitions were filed between [[1692]] and [[1711]], demanding monetary restitution to those wrongly imprisoned.
+
With the case appearing before the superior court, it was necessary to summon various witnesses to testify before the grand jury.<ref> The University of Virginia, [http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/salem/witchcraft/archives/essex/ecca/vol1/065.html Salem Witchcraft Project 065.] Retrieved August 7, 2007. </ref> There were basically two indictments: That of afflicting witchcraft or that of making an unlawful covenant with the devil.<ref> The University of Virginia, [http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/salem/witchcraft/archives/essex/ecca/vol1/003.html Salem Witchcraft Project 003.] Retrieved August 7, 2007.</ref> Once the accused was indicted the case went to trial, sometimes on the same day. An example is the case of Bridget Bishop, the first person indicted and tried, on June 2. She was executed on June 10, 1692.  
  
−
The Massachusetts House of Representatives finally passed a bill disallowing spectral evidence. However, they only gave reversal of attainder for those who had filed petitions.<ref>http://etext.virginia.edu/salem/witchcraft/archives/MA135/93.html</ref> This applied to only three people, who had been convicted but not executed: Abigail Faulkner Sr., Elizabeth Proctor, and Sarah Wardwell. <ref>Enders Robinson, The Devil Discovered, 2001 edition, preface, pp. xvi-xvii</ref>
+
The judicial environment offered those charged with witchcraft few protections against fabricated allegations. None of the accused were given the right to legal counsel, the magistrates often asked leading questions that presumed guilt, and only those who confessed were saved from execution upon conviction.<ref>''West's Encyclopedia of American Law,'' [http://www.answers.com/topic/salem-witch-trials Salem Witch Trials from Answers.com.] Retrieved August 1, 2008.</ref>  
  
−
In 1704, another petition was filed, requesting a more equitable settlement for those wrongly accused. In 1709, the General Court received a request to take action on this proposal. In May 1709, 22 people who had been convicted of witchcraft, or whose parents had been convicted of witchcraft, presented the government with a petition in which they demanded both a reversal of attainder and compensation for financial losses.
+
The trials resulted in four execution dates: One person was executed on June 10, 1692, five were executed on July 19, another five were executed on August 19 , and eight on September 22.<ref> The University of Virginia, [http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/salem/witchcraft/archives/essex/ecca/vol1/071.html Salem Witchcraft Project 071.] Retrieved August 7, 2007.</ref> Several others, including Elizabeth (Bassett) Proctor and Abigail Faulkner were convicted and sentenced to death, but the sentence could not be carried out immediately because the women were pregnant. The women would still be hanged, but not until they had given birth. Five other women were convicted in 1692, but sentences were never carried out: Ann Foster (who later died in prison), her daughter Mary Lacy Sr., Abigail Hobbs, Dorcas Hoar, and Mary Bradbury.
  
−
In [[1706]], [[Ann Putnam]], one of the most active accusers, was the only girl to offer a written apology. She claimed that she had not acted out of malice, but was being deluded by [[Satan]] into denouncing innocent people, and mentioned [[Rebecca Nurse]] in particular. In [[1712]] the [[pastor]] who had cast Rebecca out of the church formally cancelled the [[excommunication]].
+
One of the men, Giles Corey, an 80-year-old farmer from Salem Farms, endured a form of torture called ''peine fort et dure'' because he refused to enter a plea. The torture was also called "pressing" and was carried out by resting a board on the man's chest and then piling stones on the board slowly until the man was slowly crushed to death. It took Corey two days to die. It was thought that perhaps Corey did not enter a plea in order to keep his possessions from being taken by the state. Many possessions of those convicted during the trials were confiscated by the state. Many of the dead were not given proper burials, often being placed in shallow graves after the hangings.
  
−
On October 17, 1711, the General Court passed a bill reversing the judgment against the 22 people listed in the [[1709]] petition. There were still an additional 7 people who had been convicted, but had not signed the petition. There was no reversal of attainder for them.
+
===Conclusion===
 +
In early October, prominent  ministers in Boston, including Increase Mather and Samuel Willard, urged Governor Phips to stop the proceedings and disallow the use of spectral evidence. Public opinion was also changing, and without the admission of spectral evidence the trials soon came to an end. The final trials during the witch hysteria took place in May of 1693, after this time, all those still in jail were set free. In a letter of explanation Phips sent to England, Phips said he stopped the trials because "I saw many innocent persons might otherwise perish."
  
−
On [[December 17]], [[1711]], monetary compensation was finally awarded to the 22 people in the [[1709]] petition. 578 pounds 12 shillings were authorized to be divided among the survivors and relatives of those accused. Most of the accounts were settled within a year. 150 pounds were awarded to the Proctor family for John and Elizabeth. The Proctor family received much more money from the Massachusetts General Court than most families of accused witches.
+
In 1697, a Day of Repentance was declared in Boston. On that day, [[Samuel Sewall]], a magistrate on the court, publicly confessed his "blame and shame" in a statement read by Rev. Samuel Willard, and twelve jurors who served in the trials confessed to "the guilt of innocent blood." Years later, in 1706, Ann Putnam, Jr, one of the most active accusers, stood in her pew before the Salem Village church while the Rev. Joseph Green read her confession of "delusion" by the devil.<ref>Documentary Archive and Transcription Project, [http://www.iath.virginia.edu/salem/further.html Salem Witch Trials.] Retrieved August 1, 2008.</ref>
  
−
By [[1957]], not all the condemned had been exonerated. Descendants of those falsely accused demanded the General Court clear the names of their family members. An act was passed pronouncing the innocence of those accused — however, it only listed [[Ann Pudeator]] by name, and the others as "certain other persons", still failing to include all names of those convicted.
+
Many of the relatives and descendants of those wrongfully accused sought closure through petitions filed that demanded monetary restitution to those convicted. These petitions were filed up until 1711. Eventually, the Massachusetts House of Representatives passed a bill disallowing spectral evidence. However, only those who had initially filed petitions were given reversal of attainder.<ref> The University of Virginia, [http://etext.virginia.edu/salem/witchcraft/archives/MA135/93.html Salem Witchcraft Project 109.] Retrieved August 7, 2007. </ref> This applied to only three people, who had been convicted but not executed: Abigail Faulkner Sr., Elizabeth Proctor, and Sarah Wardwell.<ref>Enders Robinson, ''The Devil Discovered'' (2001, ISBN 1577661761).</ref>
  
−
In [[1992]], The Danvers Tercentenial Committee persuaded the Massachusetts House of Representatives to issue a resolution honoring those who had died. After much convincing and hard work by [[Salem]] school teacher [[Paula Keene]], Representatives J. Michael Ruane and [[Paul Tirone]] and a few others, the names of all those not previously listed were added to this resolution. When it was finally signed on [[October 31]], [[2001]] by [[Governor]] [[Jane Swift]], more than 300 years later, all were finally proclaimed innocent.
+
In 1704 and 1709, another petition was filed in hopes of a monetary settlement. In 1711, a compensation of 578 pounds and 12 shillings was divided among the survivors and relatives of those accused. A sum of 150 pounds was given to the Proctor family for John and Elizabeth, by far the largest amount awarded.
  
−
==Possible Explanations of the "Possessed"==
+
In 1706, Ann Putnam, one of the girls responsible for accusing various people of witchcraft issued a written apology. In this apology, Ann stated that she had been deluded by [[Satan]] into the denouncing of several innocent people, in particular, Rebecca Nurse. In 1712, Nurse's [[excommunication]] was canceled by the very [[pastor]] who had cast her out.  
−
It is not widely believed any longer that the girls were actually possessed by the devil. Some academics believe that the accusers were motivated by jealousy or spite and their behavior was an act.  Contemporaneous to the witch trials was [[the Glorious Revolution]] in England; the colony of Massachusetts was without a charter or governor, leading to political strife and uncertainty. Other theories posit that they were afflicted by [[hysteria]], a form of [[mental illness]].  
 
  
−
In 1976, graduate student Linnda Caporael published [http://web.utk.edu/~kstclair/221/ergotism.html an article in Science magazine], making the claim that the hallucinations of the afflicted girls could possibly have been the result of ingesting rye bread that had been made with moldy grain. "[[Ergot]] of [[Rye]]" is a plant disease that is caused by the fungus ''[[Claviceps purpurea]]''. It is the ergot stage of the fungus that contains a similar chemical compounds to a popular but illegal drug of the counter-culture of the 1960s, LSD. Convulsive ergotism causes nervous dysfunction, which Caporael claims are similar to many of the physical symptoms of those alleged to be afflicted by witchcraft. Within 7 months, a refutation of this theory was published in the same magazine by Spanos and Gottlieb, arguing, among other things, that if the poison was in the food supply, the symptoms would have occurred on a house-by-house basis, and that biological symptoms do not stop and start on cue and simultaneously in a group of those so afflicted, as described by the witnesses to the afflictions.
+
By 1957, descendants of the accused were still demanding that the names of their ancestors be cleared. Finally an act was passed that pronounced all the accused as being exonerated. However, the statement only listed Ann Pudeator by name and all others were referred to as "certain other persons."
  
−
In her book ''A Fever in Salem'', Laurie Winn Carlson offers an alternative theory. She believes that those afflicted in Salem, who claimed to have been bewitched, suffered from [[encephalitis lethargica]], a disease whose symptoms match some of what was reported in Salem and could have been spread by birds and other animals (Aronson).
+
In 1992, The Danvers Tercentennial Committee persuaded the Massachusetts House of Representatives to issue a resolution honoring those who had died. The resolution was finally signed on October 31, 2001, by [[Governor]] Jane Swift. More than three hundred years after the trials, all the accused were proclaimed innocent.
  
−
It has also been suggested that the girls could have had [[Huntington's Chorea]], carriers of which have been traced to be among the colonists that settled in that area [http://www.stanford.edu/group/hopes/sttools/print/p_r_timeline.pdf], but no serious historian of this episode today (Mary Beth Norton, Bernard Rosenthal, Marilynne K. Roach and others) gives any of these medical explanations any serious consideration because of the apparent cherry-picking of biological symptoms of the illnesses they reference to make the afflictions seem more identical with the illness, and because the historical evidence cited in these articles as evidence of certain symptoms is in many places historically inaccurate.
+
==Legacy==
 +
The Salem Witch Trials, although a minor incident in the far more extensive persecution of religious and social nonconformists as "witches" in Europe from the [[Middle Ages]], is a vivid, cautionary episode in American history. Remembered largely because of its anomalous character, the trials exemplify the threat to American founding ideals of freedom, justice, and religious tolerance and pluralism. Even in New England, which accepted the reality of the supernatural, the trials at Salem were repudiated by leading Puritans. Among other clerics who expressed concern with the trials, Increase Mather wrote in "Cases of Conscience Concerning Evil Spirits" (1692) that "It were better that Ten Suspected Witches should escape, than that the Innocent Person should be Condemned."
  
−
==Salem Today==
+
The term "witch hunt" has entered the American lexicon to describe the search for and harassment of people or members of groups who hold politically unpopular views. It was most notably used to describe and discredit the [[McCarthy Hearings]] in the [[U.S. Senate]] in the 1950s, which sought to identify communists or communist sympathizers in government and other public positions.  
−
"With one of the highest concentrations of historic sites, museums, cultural activities, fine dining and shopping in Massachusetts, [[Salem, Massachusetts|Salem]] is America's Bewitching Seaport with a little history in every step" (Destination Salem). Today the Salem Witchcraft Trials have become the basis of a money-making tourist industry in [[Salem, Massachusetts|Salem]]. Witch shops are seen all over the community. Museums promise glimpses of the supernatural. Gift shops sell everything from Witch City shirts to Buddhism in a can. Tourists are treated to informational exhibits and programs.  
 
  
−
Connected to Boston by train and bus, Salem's 38,000 residents and its one-million visitors are able to easily enjoy the best of both [[Salem, Massachusetts|Salem]] and Boston.
+
The trials have also provided the background for two of America's great works of [[drama]], the play ''Giles Corey'' in [[Henry Wadsworth Longfellow]]'s ''New England Tragedies'' and [[Arthur Miller]]'s classic play, ''The Crucible.'' Longfellow's play, which follows the form of a [[Shakespeare]]an tragedy, is a commentary on the attitudes prevalent in nineteenth century New England. Miller's play is a commentary on the McCarthy Hearings.  
  
−
In recent times, "historians see both sides of Salem" (Aronson). Still to this day, there is not a solid explanation for what occurred in the Salem Witch Trials in the 1600s.
+
''Lois the Witch'' by [[Elizabeth Gaskell]] is a novella based on the Salem witch hunts and shows how jealousy and sexual desire can lead to hysteria. She was inspired by the story of [[Rebecca Nurse]] whose accusation, trial, and execution are described in ''Lectures on Witchcraft'' by [[Charles Upham]], the [[Unitarianism|Unitarian]] minister in Salem in the 1830s. ''Gallows Hill'' by [[Lois Duncan]] is a young adult fiction book in which the main character Sarah, and many others, turn out to be [[reincarnation]]s of those accused and killed during the Trials. Innumerable other popular depictions, including episodes of ''Star Trek'' and ''the Simpsons,'' have led to the ongoing recognition of the Salem Witch Trials as a notable, iconic incident in American history.
  
−
== The Salem witch trials in literature ==  
+
===Salem today===
 +
On May 9, 1992, the Salem Village Witchcraft Victims' Memorial of Danvers was dedicated before an audience of over three thousand people. It was the first such memorial to honor all of the 1692 witchcraft victims, and is located across the street from the site of the original Salem Village Meeting House where many of the witch examinations took place. The memorial serves as a reminder that each generation must confront intolerance and "witch hunts" with integrity, clear vision, and courage.<ref> Salem Witch Trials Documentary Archive and Transcription Project, [http://etext.virginia.edu/salem/witchcraft/Commemoration.html Salem Village Witchcraft Victims' Memorial of Danvers.] Retrieved August 7, 2007. </ref>
  
−
The Salem Witch Trials have provided the basis for two of America's great works of drama, ''[[Giles Corey]]'' in [[Henry Wadsworth Longfellow]]'s ''New England Tragedies'' and [[Arthur Miller]]'s classic play ''[[The Crucible]]''. Longfellow's play, which follows the form of a [[Shakespearean tragedy]], is a commentary on the attitudes prevalent in 19th-century New England.  Miller's play is a commentary on the actions of the [[House Committee on Unamerican Activities]] and [[Senator]] [[Joe McCarthy]].  
+
The city embraces the history of the Salem Witch Trials, both as a source of tourism and culture. Police cars are adorned with witch logos, a local public school is known as the Witchcraft Heights Elementary School, the Salem High School football team is named The Witches, and Gallows Hill, a site of numerous public hangings, is currently used as a playing field for various sports.
  
−
''[[Lois the Witch]]'' by [[Elizabeth Gaskell]] is a novella based on the Salem witch hunts and shows how jealousy and sexual desire can lead to hysteria. She was inspired by the story of [[Rebecca Nurse]] whose accusation, trial and execution are described in ''[[Lectures on Witchcraft]]'', by [[Charles Upham]], the [[Unitarian]] minister in Salem in the 1830s.
+
==Notes==
−
 
 
−
''Gallows Hill'' by [[Lois Duncan]] is a young adult fiction book in which main character Sarah, and many others, turn out to be reincarnations of those accused and killed during the Trials.
 
−
 
 
−
==The Salem witch trials in popular culture==
 
−
In the television series ''[[Charmed]]'', part of the fictional background is that an ancestor of the three protagonists, [[Melinda Warren]], was burned at the stake in the Salem witch trials. This has no historical evidence.
 
−
 
 
−
==Footnotes==
 
 
<references/>
 
<references/>
  
−
==References used==
+
==References==
−
 
+
*Aronson, Marc. ''Witch-Hunt: Mysteries of the Salem Witch Trials.'' New York: Atheneum, 2003. ISBN 0689848641.
−
*Aronson, Marc. ''Witch-Hunt: Mysteries of the Salem Witch Trials.'' Simon and Schuster: 2003.  
+
*Boyer, Paul, and Stephen Nissenbaum. ''Salem Possessed: The Social Origins of Witchcraft.'' Cambridge, MA: Harvard University, 1974. ISBN 0674785258
−
*Boyer, Paul, and Stephen Nissenbaum. ''Salem Possessed: The Social Origins of Witchcraft.'' MJF Books: 1974.
+
*Carlson, Laurie M. ''A Fever in Salem: A New Interpretation of the New England Witch Trials.'' Chicago: I.R. Dee, 1999. ISBN 1566632536.
−
*"[http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/salem/ASAL_CH.HTM Chronology of Events Relating to the Salem Witchcraft Trials]". 15 April 2006.
+
*Godbeer, Richard. ''The Devil's Dominion: Magic and Religion in Early New England.'' New York: Cambridge University, 1992. ISBN 0521403294.
−
*"[http://www.botany.hawaii.edu/faculty/wong/BOT135/LECT12.HTM Ergot Theory]". 3 April 2006.
+
*Hansen, Chadwick. ''Witchcraft at Salem.'' New York: Brazillier, 1969.
−
*Linder, Douglas. "[http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/salem/SAL_ACCT.HTM The Witchcraft Trials in Salem: A Commentary]". 15 April 2006.
+
*Hill, Frances. ''A Delusion of Satan: The Full Story of the Salem Witch Trials.'' New York: Doubleday, 1995. ISBN 0385472552.  
−
*"[http://www.law.ukmc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/salem/ASAL_DE.HTM The Dead]". 15 April 2006. <http://www.law.ukmc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/salem/ASAL_DE.HTM>
+
*Karlsen, Carol F. ''The Devil in the Shape of a Woman: Witchcraft in Colonial New England.'' New York: Vintage, 1987. ISBN 0393024784.  
−
*"[http://etext.virginia.edu/salem/witchcraft/ Salem Witch Trials Documentary Archive and Transcription Project]". 15 August 2006
+
*Reis, Elizabeth. ''Damned Women: Sinners and Witches in Puritan New England.'' Ithaca: Cornell University, 1997. ISBN 0801428343.
−
*"[http://biographiks.com/pleasant/salem.htm]
+
*Robinson, Enders A. ''The Devil Discovered: Salem Witchcraft 1692.'' New York: Hippocrene Books, 1991. ISBN 1577661761.
−
 
 
−
The Salem News, “Documents Shed New Light On Witchcraft Trials”, By BETSY TAYLOR, news staff Danvers, Massachusetts
 
−
 
 
−
The History of the Town of Danvers, from it’s Earliest Settlement to 1848, by J.W. Hanson, copyright 1848, published by the author, printed at the Courier Office, Danvers, Massachusetts
 
−
 
 
−
House of John Proctor, Witchcraft Martyr, 1692, by William P. Upham, copyright 1904, Press of C.H. Shephard, Peabody, Massachusetts,
 
−
 
 
−
Puritan City, The Story of Salem, by Frances Win war, King County Library System 917.44, copyright 1938, Robert M. McBride & County, New York.
 
−
 
 
−
The Salem witchcraft papers : verbatim transcripts of the legal documents of the Salem witchcraft outbreak of 1692 / compiled and transcribed in 1938 by the Works Progress Administration, under the supervision of Archie N. Frost ; edited and with an introduction and index by Paul Boyer and Stephen Nissenbaum; Electronic Text Center, University of Virginia Library; pg. 662; Essex County Archives, Salem — Witchcraft Vol. 1
 
−
 
 
−
The Founders of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, A Careful Research of the Earliest Records of Many of the Foremost Settlers of the New England Colony: Compiled From The Earliest Church and State Records, and Valuable Private Papers Retained by Descendants for Many Generations, by Sarah Saunders Smith, Press of the Sun Printing Company, 1897, Pittsfield Massachusetts
 
−
 
 
−
The Devil Discovered : Salem Witchcraft, 1692 by Enders A. Robinson
 
−
 
 
−
Salem Possessed: The Social Origins of Witchcraf by Paul Boyer
 
−
 
 
−
Chronicles of Old Salem, A History in Minature by Francis Diane Robotti
 
−
 
 
−
The Devil in Massachusetts, A Modern Enquiry Into the Salem Witch Trials, by Marion L. Starkey, King County Library System, copyright 1949, Anchor Books / Doubleday Books, New York
 
−
 
 
−
A Delusion of Satan: The Full Story of the Salem Witch Trials by Frances Hill
 
−
 
 
−
The Salem Witch Trials Reader by Frances Hill
 
−
 
 
−
The Witchcraft of Salem Village by Shirley Jackson
 
−
 
 
−
Salem Witchcraft; With an Account of Salem Village and a History of Opinions on Witchcraft and Kindred Subjects. by Charles W. Upham
 
−
 
 
−
The Devil Hath Been Raised: A Documentary History of the Salem Village Witchcraft Outbreak of March 1692 by Richard B. Trask
 
−
 
 
−
The Visionary Girls: Witchcraft in Salem Village by Marion Lena Starkey
 
−
 
 
−
The Salem Witch Trials, A Day by Day Chronicle of a Community Under Siege, by Marilynne K. Roach, copyright 2002, Taylor Trade Publishing, Lanham, Maryland.
 
−
 
 
−
==Further reading==
 
−
 
 
−
*Aronson, Marc. "Witch-Hunt: Mysteries of the Salem Witch Trials." Atheneum: New York. 2003.
 
−
*Boyer, Paul & Nissenbaum, Stephen. "Salem Possessed: The Social Origins of Witchcraft." Harvard University Press: Cambridge, MA. 1974.
 
−
*Boyer, Paul & Nissenbaum, Stephen, eds.. "Salem-Village Witchcraft: A Documentary Record of Local Conflict in Colonial New England" Northeastern University Press: Boston, MA. 1972.
 
−
*Breslaw, Elaine G.. "Tituba, Reluctant Witch of Salem: Devilish Indians and Puritan Fantasies." NYU: New York. 1996.
 
−
*Brown, David C.. "A Guide to the Salem Witchcraft Hysteria of 1692." David C. Brown: Washington Crossing, PA. 1984.
 
−
*Demos, John.  ''Entertaining Satan: Witchcraft and the Culture of Early New England.'' New York: Oxford University Press, 1982.
 
−
*Godbeer, Richard. "The Devil's Dominion: Magic and Religion in Early New England." Camridge University Press: New York. 1992.
 
−
*Hansen, Chadwick. "Witchcraft at Salem." Brazillier: New York. 1969.
 
−
*Hill, Frances. "A Delusion of Satan: The Full Story of the Salem Witch Trials." Doubleday: New York. 1995.
 
−
*Hoffer, Peter Charles. "The Salem Witchcraft Trials: A Legal History." University of Kansas: Lawrence, KS. 1997.
 
−
*Karlsen, Carol F. ''The Devil in the Shape of a Woman: Witchcraft in Colonial New England.'' New York: Vintage, 1987. [This work provides essential background on other witchcraft accusations in 17th century New England.]
 
−
*Lasky, Kathryn.  "Beyond the Burning Time."  Point: New York, NY 1994
 
−
*Le Beau, Bryan, F.. "The Story of the Salem Witch Trials: `We Walked in Coulds and Could Not See Our Way.`" Prentice-Hall: Upper Saddle River, NJ. 1998.
 
−
*Mappen, Marc, ed.. "Witches & Historians: Interpretations of Salem." 2nd Edition. Keiger: Malabar, FL. 1996.
 
−
*[[Arthur Miller|Miller, Arthur]]. "[[The Crucible]] — a play which implicitly compares [[McCarthyism]] to a witch-hunt".
 
−
*Norton, Mary Beth. ''In the Devil's Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692.'' New York: Random House, 2002.
 
−
*Reis, Elizabeth. "Damned Women: Sinners and Witches in Puritan New England." Cornell University Press: Ithaca, NY. 1997.
 
−
*Roach, Marilynne K. ''The Salem Witch Trials: A Day-To-Day Chronicle of a Community Under Siege.'' Cooper Square Press, 2002.
 
−
*Robinson, Enders A. "The Devil Discovered: Salem Witchcraft 1692." Hippocrene: New York. 1991.
 
−
*Robinson, Enders A.. "Salem Witchcraft and Hawthorne's House of the Seven Gables." Heritage Books: Bowie, MD. 1992.
 
−
*Rosenthal, Bernard. "Salem Story: Reading the Witch Trials of 1692." Cambridge University Press: New York. 1993.
 
−
*Sologuk, Sally. "Diseases Can Bewitch Durum Millers". Milling Journal. Second quarter 2005.
 
−
*Spanos, N. P., J. Gottlieb. "Ergots and Salem village witchcraft: A critical appraisal". ''Science'': 194. 1390-1394:1976.
 
−
*Starkey, Marion L. ''The Devil in Massachusetts.'' Alfred A. Knopf: 1949.
 
−
*Trask, Richard B.. "`The Devil hath been raised`: A Documentary History of the Salem Village Witchcraft Outbreak of March 1692." Revised edition. Yeoman Press: Danvers, MA. 1997.
 
−
*Upham, Charles W.. "Salem Witchcraft." Reprint from the 1867 edition, in two volumes. Dover Publications: Mineola, NY. 2000.
 
−
*Weisman, Richard. "Witchcraft, Magic, and Religion in 17th-Century Massachusetts." University of Massachusetts Press: Amherst, MA. 1984.
 
−
*Wilson, Jennifer M.. ''Witch.'' Authorhouse, Feb. 2005.
 
−
*Wilson, Lori Lee. "The Salem Witch Trials." How History Is Invented series. Lerner: Minneapolis. 1997.
 
−
*Woolf, Alex. "Investigating History Mysteries". Heinemann Library: 2004.
 
−
*Wright, John Hardy. "Sorcery in Salem." Arcadia: Portsmouth, NH. 1999.
 
−
*"[http://www.salem.org/19th.asp The 19th and 20th Centuries". Destination Salem]. 12 Apr. 2006 .
 
−
 
 
−
==See also==
 
−
* ''[[The Crucible]]''
 
−
* ''[[A Break with Charity]]''
 
−
* [[Jury Nullification]]
 
−
* [[McCarthyism]]
 
−
* [[Red Scare]]
 
−
* [[Spectral evidence]]
 
−
* [[Supernatural]]
 
−
* [[Torsåker witch trials]]
 
−
* [[Pendle witches]]
 
−
* [[Salem, Massachusetts]]
 
  
 
==External links==
 
==External links==
−
*[http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/salem/SALEM.HTM Salem Witchcraft Trials of 1692]
+
All links retrieved December 22, 2022.
−
*[http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/salem/witchcraft/ A documentary archive] including original court papers on the trials, maps, interactive maps, biographies, and internal and external links to more resources.
 
−
*[http://jefferson.village.virginia.edu/salem/17docs.html University of Virginia: Salem Witch Trials (includes former "Massachusetts Historical Society" link)]
 
−
*[http://www.northern-crops.com/technical/durumdisease.pdf "Diseases Can Bewitch Durum Millers"] article about ergot-infected grains, ergotism and how it is prevented today.
 
−
*[http://www.pbs.org/wnet/secrets/case_salem/index.html PBS Secrets of the Dead: "The Witches Curse" (concerning the Salem trials and ergot)]
 
−
*[http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/17845 Salem Witchcraft, Volumes I and II], by Charles Upham, 1867, fron [[Project Gutenberg]]
 
−
*[http://school.discovery.com/schooladventures/salemwitchtrials/ Salem Witch Trials:The World Behind the Hysteria]
 
−
*[http://www.salemwitchtrials.com SalemWitchTrials.com essays, biographies of the accused and afflicted]
 
  
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{{salem}}
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*Upham, Charles. [http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/17845 Salem Witchcraft, Volumes I and II.]
  
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[[Category:History and biography]]
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{{Credit|97378626}}
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[[Category:Religion and philosophy ]]
 
  
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{{Credit|97378626}}
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[[Category:History]]
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[[Category:Philosophy and religion]]

Latest revision as of 01:48, 23 December 2022


1876 illustration of the courtroom; the central figure is usually identified as Mary Walcott.

The Salem Witch Trials were a notorious episode in New England colonial history that led to the execution of 14 women and 6 men, in 1692, for charges of witchcraft. The trials began as a result of the bizarre and inexplicable behavior of two young girls, afflicted by violent convulsions and strange fits that seemingly rendered them unable to hear, speak, or see. After a medical examination and a review by Puritan clergy, the girls were judged to be victims of witchcraft. In the ensuing hysteria during the summer of 1692, nearly 200 people were accused of witchcraft and imprisoned.

Although the Salem Witch Trials are conventionally cited as an example of religious zealotry in New England, the trials were exceptional in the American colonies, with charges of witchcraft far more commonplace in Europe—particularly Germany, Switzerland, and the Low Countries—during this period. From the fourteenth to the eighteenth centuries, some 110,000 people were tried for witchcraft in Europe, and from 40,000 to 60,000 were executed. In contrast, there were only 20 executions in colonial American courts from 1647 to 1691 and the sensational trials at Salem.[1]

Modern analysis of the Salem Witch Trials regards the children's bizarre allegations and the townspeople's credulity as an example of mass hysteria, when mass public near-panic reactions surface around an unexplained phenomenon. Mass hysteria explains the waves of popular medical problems that "everyone gets" in response to news articles. A recent example of mass hysteria with remarkable similarities to the Salem Witch Trials was the rash of allegations of sexual and ritual abuse in day care centers in the 1980s and 1990s, which resulted in numerous convictions that were later overturned. Like the Salem hysteria, these allegations of sexual abuse were fueled by accusations from impressionable children who were coached by figures of authority, and resulted in destroying the lives and reputations of innocent people.

The Salem Witch Trials demonstrated the weakness of a judicial system that relied on hearsay testimony and encouraged accusations, while providing no adequate means of rebuttal. Yet, after a time conscientious magistrates did step in to stop the trials, and in subsequent years the reputations, if not the lives, of those falsely accused had been rehabilitated.

Origin of trials

Reverend Samuel Parris

In the village of Salem in 1692, Betty Parris, age nine, and her cousin, Abigail Williams, age 11, the daughter and niece of Reverend Samuel Parris, fell victim to what was recorded as fits "beyond the power of Epileptic Fits or natural disease to effect," according to John Hale, minister in Beverly, in his book, A Modest Enquiry into the Nature of Witchcraft (1702). The girls screamed, threw things about the room, uttered strange sounds, crawled under furniture, and contorted themselves into peculiar positions. They complained of being pricked with pins or cut with knives, and when Reverend Samuel Parris would preach, the girls would cover their ears, as if dreading to hear the sermons. When a doctor, historically believed to be William Griggs, could not explain what was happening to them, he said that the girls were bewitched. Others in the village began to exhibit the same symptoms.

Griggs may have been influenced in his diagnosis by Cotton Mather's work, Memorable Providences Relating to Witchcrafts and Possessions (1689). In the book he describes the strange behavior exhibited by the four children of a Boston mason, John Goodwin, and attributed it to witchcraft practiced upon them by an Irish washerwoman, Mary Glover. Mather, a minister of Boston's North Church (not to be confused with the Episcopalian Old North Church of Paul Revere), was a prolific publisher of pamphlets and a firm believer in witchcraft. Three of the five judges appointed to the Court of Oyer and Terminer were friends of his and members of his congregation. He wrote to one of the judges, John Richards, supporting the prosecutions, but cautioning him of the dangers of relying on spectral evidence and advising the court on how to proceed. Mather was present at the execution of Reverend George Burroughs for witchcraft and intervened after the condemned man had successfully recited the Lord's Prayer (supposedly a sign of innocence) to remind the crowd that the man had been convicted before a jury. Mather had access to the official records of the Salem trials, upon which his account of the affair, Wonders of the Invisible World, was based.

In February of 1692, frightened by events, the residents of Salem held regular fasts and prayers for the afflicted. Wanting the influence of the devil to be removed from their community they pressured the girls into providing names. The first three people arrested for allegedly afflicting a girl by the name of Ann Putnam, age 12, were Sarah Good, a beggar, Sarah Osburne, a bedridden old woman, and Rev. Parris's slave, Tituba. Tituba was an easy and obvious target as she was a slave and of a different ethnicity than that of her Puritan neighbors. Many accounts of the history of the hysteria claim that Tituba often told witch stories and spells to the girls while she was working. However, this idea does not have much historical merit. Sarah Good was often seen begging for food. She was quick to anger and often muttered under her breath. Many people believed these mutterings to be curses that she was placing upon them. Sarah Osburne had already been marked as an outcast when she married her indentured servant. These women easily fit the mold of being different in their society, and thus were vulnerable targets. The fact that none of the three attended church also made them more susceptible to the accusations of witchcraft.

Formal charges and trial

Map of Salem Village, 1692.

On March 1, 1692, the three accused were held in prison and then brought before the magistrates. The women were accused of witchcraft, and soon many other women and children joined the ranks of the accused. In March, Martha Corey, Rebecca Nurse, Dorothy Good (incorrectly called Dorcas Good on her arrest warrant), and Rachel Clinton were condemned. The most outspoken of the group of women was Martha Corey. Outraged at the unjust accusations she argued that the girls who were accusing her were not to be believed. She scoffed at the trials and only brought unfavorable attention to herself in the process. Dorothy Good, Sarah Good's daughter, was only four years old when she was accused. Easily coerced into saying untrue things about her mother's behavior and her own status as a witch, she was placed in prison with her mother.

When faithful members of the Church like Martha Corey and Rebecca Nurse were accused, the community realized that anyone could be guilty of being a witch and, thus, no one was safe from the accusation. This proved true when the arrests continued during the month of April. Many more were arrested: Sarah Cloyce (Nurse's sister), Elizabeth (Bassett) Proctor and her husband John Proctor, Giles Corey (Martha's husband, and a covenanted church member in Salem Town), Abigail Hobbs, Bridget Bishop, Mary Warren (a servant in the Proctor household and sometime accuser herself), Deliverance Hobbs (step-mother of Abigail Hobbs), Sarah Wilds, William Hobbs (husband of Deliverance and father of Abigail), Nehemiah Abbott Jr., Mary Esty (sister of Cloyce and Nurse), Edward Bishop Jr. and his wife Sarah Bishop, Mary English, Lydia Dustin, Susannah Martin, Dorcas Hoar, Sarah Morey and Philip English (Mary's husband). Even Rev. George Burroughs was arrested.

The trials rested purely on testimony of those who were afflicted, or "spectral evidence." The afflicted claimed to see various apparitions or shapes of the person who was causing their pain. A theological dispute arose about the use of this kind of evidence because it was supposed that the devil could not take the shape of a person without that person's permission. The court finally concluded that the devil needed the permission of the specific person. Thus, when the accusers claimed that they had seen the person, then that person could be charged with consorting with the devil himself. Increase Mather and other ministers sent a letter to the court, "The Return of Several Ministers Consulted," urging the magistrates not to convict on spectral evidence alone. A copy of this letter was printed in Increase Mather's "Cases of Conscience," published in 1692.[2]

Chief Magistrate William Stoughton (1631-1701)

In May, the hysteria continued when warrants were issued for 36 more people: Sarah Dustin (daughter of Lydia Dustin), Ann Sears, Bethiah Carter Sr. and her daughter Bethiah Carter Jr., George Jacobs Sr. and his granddaughter Margaret Jacobs, John Willard, Alice Parker, Ann Pudeator, Abigail Soames, George Jacobs Jr. (son of George Jacobs Sr. and father of Margaret Jacobs), Daniel Andrew, Rebecca Jacobs (wife of George Jacobs Jr. and sister of Daniel Andrew), Sarah Buckley and her daughter Mary Witheridge, Elizabeth Colson, Elizabeth Hart, Thomas Farrar Sr., Roger Toothaker, Sarah Proctor (daughter of John and Elizabeth Proctor), Sarah Bassett (sister-in-law of Elizabeth Proctor), Susannah Roots, Mary DeRich (another sister-in-law of Elizabeth Proctor), Sarah Pease, Elizabeth Cary, Martha Carrier, Elizabeth Fosdick, Wilmot Redd, Sarah Rice, Elizabeth How, John Alden (son of John Alden and Pricilla Mullins of Plymouth Colony), William Proctor (son of John and Elizabeth Proctor), John Flood, Mary Toothaker (wife of Roger Toothaker and sister of Martha Carrier) and her daughter Margaret Toothaker, and Arthur Abbott. When the Court of Oyer and Terminer convened at the end of May 1692, this brought the total number of accused and arrested to 62.[3]

Eventually, Salem, Ipswich, Charlestown, Cambridge, and Boston all had jails filled to capacity. Scholars have attributed the lack of trials for the accused to the fact that there was no legitimate form of government at the time available to try the cases. However, it has been found that other capital cases were tried during this time period. The fact remains that none of the witchcraft cases were tried until late May with the arrival of Governor Sir William Phips. Upon his arrival, Phips instituted a Court of Oyer and Terminer (to "hear and determine") and simultaneously appointed William Stoughton as the Chief Justice of the court. Stoughton was a man with several years of theological training but no legal training. By then tragedies had already occurred, including Sarah Osborne's death before trial of natural causes. She died in jail on May 10. Sarah Good's infant child also died in jail.

Legal procedures

The process of arresting and trying an individual in 1692 began with the accusation that some loss, illness, or even death had been caused by the practice of witchcraft. The accuser entered an official complaint with the town magistrates.[4]

The magistrates would then decide if the complaint had any merit. If it did they would issue an arrest warrant.[5] The arrested person would then be brought before the magistrates and receive a public interrogations/examination. It was at this time that many were forced to confess to witchcraft.[6] If no confession was offered then the accused was turned over to the superior court. In 1692 this meant several months of imprisonment before the new governor arrived and establish a Court of Oyer and Terminer to handle these cases.

With the case appearing before the superior court, it was necessary to summon various witnesses to testify before the grand jury.[7] There were basically two indictments: That of afflicting witchcraft or that of making an unlawful covenant with the devil.[8] Once the accused was indicted the case went to trial, sometimes on the same day. An example is the case of Bridget Bishop, the first person indicted and tried, on June 2. She was executed on June 10, 1692.

The judicial environment offered those charged with witchcraft few protections against fabricated allegations. None of the accused were given the right to legal counsel, the magistrates often asked leading questions that presumed guilt, and only those who confessed were saved from execution upon conviction.[9]

The trials resulted in four execution dates: One person was executed on June 10, 1692, five were executed on July 19, another five were executed on August 19 , and eight on September 22.[10] Several others, including Elizabeth (Bassett) Proctor and Abigail Faulkner were convicted and sentenced to death, but the sentence could not be carried out immediately because the women were pregnant. The women would still be hanged, but not until they had given birth. Five other women were convicted in 1692, but sentences were never carried out: Ann Foster (who later died in prison), her daughter Mary Lacy Sr., Abigail Hobbs, Dorcas Hoar, and Mary Bradbury.

One of the men, Giles Corey, an 80-year-old farmer from Salem Farms, endured a form of torture called peine fort et dure because he refused to enter a plea. The torture was also called "pressing" and was carried out by resting a board on the man's chest and then piling stones on the board slowly until the man was slowly crushed to death. It took Corey two days to die. It was thought that perhaps Corey did not enter a plea in order to keep his possessions from being taken by the state. Many possessions of those convicted during the trials were confiscated by the state. Many of the dead were not given proper burials, often being placed in shallow graves after the hangings.

Conclusion

In early October, prominent ministers in Boston, including Increase Mather and Samuel Willard, urged Governor Phips to stop the proceedings and disallow the use of spectral evidence. Public opinion was also changing, and without the admission of spectral evidence the trials soon came to an end. The final trials during the witch hysteria took place in May of 1693, after this time, all those still in jail were set free. In a letter of explanation Phips sent to England, Phips said he stopped the trials because "I saw many innocent persons might otherwise perish."

In 1697, a Day of Repentance was declared in Boston. On that day, Samuel Sewall, a magistrate on the court, publicly confessed his "blame and shame" in a statement read by Rev. Samuel Willard, and twelve jurors who served in the trials confessed to "the guilt of innocent blood." Years later, in 1706, Ann Putnam, Jr, one of the most active accusers, stood in her pew before the Salem Village church while the Rev. Joseph Green read her confession of "delusion" by the devil.[11]

Many of the relatives and descendants of those wrongfully accused sought closure through petitions filed that demanded monetary restitution to those convicted. These petitions were filed up until 1711. Eventually, the Massachusetts House of Representatives passed a bill disallowing spectral evidence. However, only those who had initially filed petitions were given reversal of attainder.[12] This applied to only three people, who had been convicted but not executed: Abigail Faulkner Sr., Elizabeth Proctor, and Sarah Wardwell.[13]

In 1704 and 1709, another petition was filed in hopes of a monetary settlement. In 1711, a compensation of 578 pounds and 12 shillings was divided among the survivors and relatives of those accused. A sum of 150 pounds was given to the Proctor family for John and Elizabeth, by far the largest amount awarded.

In 1706, Ann Putnam, one of the girls responsible for accusing various people of witchcraft issued a written apology. In this apology, Ann stated that she had been deluded by Satan into the denouncing of several innocent people, in particular, Rebecca Nurse. In 1712, Nurse's excommunication was canceled by the very pastor who had cast her out.

By 1957, descendants of the accused were still demanding that the names of their ancestors be cleared. Finally an act was passed that pronounced all the accused as being exonerated. However, the statement only listed Ann Pudeator by name and all others were referred to as "certain other persons."

In 1992, The Danvers Tercentennial Committee persuaded the Massachusetts House of Representatives to issue a resolution honoring those who had died. The resolution was finally signed on October 31, 2001, by Governor Jane Swift. More than three hundred years after the trials, all the accused were proclaimed innocent.

Legacy

The Salem Witch Trials, although a minor incident in the far more extensive persecution of religious and social nonconformists as "witches" in Europe from the Middle Ages, is a vivid, cautionary episode in American history. Remembered largely because of its anomalous character, the trials exemplify the threat to American founding ideals of freedom, justice, and religious tolerance and pluralism. Even in New England, which accepted the reality of the supernatural, the trials at Salem were repudiated by leading Puritans. Among other clerics who expressed concern with the trials, Increase Mather wrote in "Cases of Conscience Concerning Evil Spirits" (1692) that "It were better that Ten Suspected Witches should escape, than that the Innocent Person should be Condemned."

The term "witch hunt" has entered the American lexicon to describe the search for and harassment of people or members of groups who hold politically unpopular views. It was most notably used to describe and discredit the McCarthy Hearings in the U.S. Senate in the 1950s, which sought to identify communists or communist sympathizers in government and other public positions.

The trials have also provided the background for two of America's great works of drama, the play Giles Corey in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's New England Tragedies and Arthur Miller's classic play, The Crucible. Longfellow's play, which follows the form of a Shakespearean tragedy, is a commentary on the attitudes prevalent in nineteenth century New England. Miller's play is a commentary on the McCarthy Hearings.

Lois the Witch by Elizabeth Gaskell is a novella based on the Salem witch hunts and shows how jealousy and sexual desire can lead to hysteria. She was inspired by the story of Rebecca Nurse whose accusation, trial, and execution are described in Lectures on Witchcraft by Charles Upham, the Unitarian minister in Salem in the 1830s. Gallows Hill by Lois Duncan is a young adult fiction book in which the main character Sarah, and many others, turn out to be reincarnations of those accused and killed during the Trials. Innumerable other popular depictions, including episodes of Star Trek and the Simpsons, have led to the ongoing recognition of the Salem Witch Trials as a notable, iconic incident in American history.

Salem today

On May 9, 1992, the Salem Village Witchcraft Victims' Memorial of Danvers was dedicated before an audience of over three thousand people. It was the first such memorial to honor all of the 1692 witchcraft victims, and is located across the street from the site of the original Salem Village Meeting House where many of the witch examinations took place. The memorial serves as a reminder that each generation must confront intolerance and "witch hunts" with integrity, clear vision, and courage.[14]

The city embraces the history of the Salem Witch Trials, both as a source of tourism and culture. Police cars are adorned with witch logos, a local public school is known as the Witchcraft Heights Elementary School, the Salem High School football team is named The Witches, and Gallows Hill, a site of numerous public hangings, is currently used as a playing field for various sports.

Notes

  1. ↑ Kenneth Silverman, Life and Times of Cotton Mather(New York: Columbia University Press, 1985, ISBN 0231-06125-0), 89
  2. ↑ Increase Mather, Cases of Conscience Concerning Evil Spirits. Retrieved August 7, 2007.
  3. ↑ Marilynne K. Roach, The Salem Witch Trials: A Day-To-Day Chronicle of a Community Under Siege (Cooper Square Press, 2002).
  4. ↑ The University of Virginia, Salem Witchcraft Project 096. Retrieved August 7, 2007.
  5. ↑ The University of Virginia, The Salem Witchcraft Project 070. Retrieved August 7, 2007.
  6. ↑ The University of Virginia, Salem Witchcraft Papers from the Essex Institute 1. Retrieved August 7, 2007.
  7. ↑ The University of Virginia, Salem Witchcraft Project 065. Retrieved August 7, 2007.
  8. ↑ The University of Virginia, Salem Witchcraft Project 003. Retrieved August 7, 2007.
  9. ↑ West's Encyclopedia of American Law, Salem Witch Trials from Answers.com. Retrieved August 1, 2008.
  10. ↑ The University of Virginia, Salem Witchcraft Project 071. Retrieved August 7, 2007.
  11. ↑ Documentary Archive and Transcription Project, Salem Witch Trials. Retrieved August 1, 2008.
  12. ↑ The University of Virginia, Salem Witchcraft Project 109. Retrieved August 7, 2007.
  13. ↑ Enders Robinson, The Devil Discovered (2001, ISBN 1577661761).
  14. ↑ Salem Witch Trials Documentary Archive and Transcription Project, Salem Village Witchcraft Victims' Memorial of Danvers. Retrieved August 7, 2007.

References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

  • Aronson, Marc. Witch-Hunt: Mysteries of the Salem Witch Trials. New York: Atheneum, 2003. ISBN 0689848641.
  • Boyer, Paul, and Stephen Nissenbaum. Salem Possessed: The Social Origins of Witchcraft. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University, 1974. ISBN 0674785258
  • Carlson, Laurie M. A Fever in Salem: A New Interpretation of the New England Witch Trials. Chicago: I.R. Dee, 1999. ISBN 1566632536.
  • Godbeer, Richard. The Devil's Dominion: Magic and Religion in Early New England. New York: Cambridge University, 1992. ISBN 0521403294.
  • Hansen, Chadwick. Witchcraft at Salem. New York: Brazillier, 1969.
  • Hill, Frances. A Delusion of Satan: The Full Story of the Salem Witch Trials. New York: Doubleday, 1995. ISBN 0385472552.
  • Karlsen, Carol F. The Devil in the Shape of a Woman: Witchcraft in Colonial New England. New York: Vintage, 1987. ISBN 0393024784.
  • Reis, Elizabeth. Damned Women: Sinners and Witches in Puritan New England. Ithaca: Cornell University, 1997. ISBN 0801428343.
  • Robinson, Enders A. The Devil Discovered: Salem Witchcraft 1692. New York: Hippocrene Books, 1991. ISBN 1577661761.

External links

All links retrieved December 22, 2022.

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