What is the truth about the Salem witch trials? Surrounding this event, there is a lot of speculation and faulty. The Salem witch trials were established in the small town of Salem, Massachusetts in the spring of 1692 and lasted until the summer of 1693. This event commenced when young girls were accused of being possessed by the devil and witchcraft. The witch trials consisted of trials, executions, and witch tests although there is no proven fact that witches are real. In the beginning, Betty Paris, age 9, and Abigail Williams, Age 11, were claimed to be having strange behavior in their homes. This behavior consisted of throwing fits, screaming outbursts, contorting their body into strange positions while wedging their bodies under furniture, and lastly, they claimed sensations of being pricked by pins. Other young girls throughout the village began having the same symptoms. Subsequently, they were examined by the local village doctor. For the reason that the doctor found nothing wrong with them, the girls were diagnosed with bewitchment. Betty and Abigail …show more content…
The magistrates included Jonathan Lorwin and John Hathorne. While in court, the girls appeared doing spasms, contortions, and screaming outbursts. Sarah Good and Sarah Osborn denied the accusations against them. On the other hand, Tibuta confessed to the accusations intending to save herself from conviction and to act as an informer. Tibuta asserted that she was not alone in her doings and that other witches were acting along with them. She confessed the witches were assisting the devil in antagonizing the puritans. The young girls that she named were immediately arrested, including Sarah Good’s daughter. The accused would accuse others in a repeating cycle. Eventually, Governor William Phips ordered a special court to hear and decide on witchcraft cases. John Hathorne, Samuel Sewall, and William Stoughton led the special witch
During the Salem witch trials many women were accused of practicing witchcraft. The accusation of the women who were thought to be witches was the result of many deaths in Salem, Massachusetts. The trials began with two young girls, Elizabeth “Betty” Parris and her cousin Abagail Williams, who began having violent contortions and random outbursts of screaming. The girls were thought to have been under an evil hand or suffering from a witch’s curse. The girls began giving the names of the witches that were harming them beginning with the Parris family slave Tituba.
An arrest warrant was issued out against for Tituba Indian in Salem Village on February 29, 1692. There were also arrest warrants out for Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne. All three of these women were accused of witch craft and examined the day after they were captured. They were examined at Nathaniel Ingersoll’s tavern in the Salem Town. This examination was performed by Jonathan Corwin and John Hathorne.
In the movie ‘ Three Sovereigns for Sarah’ three sisters and much more people were accused of witchcraft by Abby Williams and other girls. Abby Williams is the preacher’s niece. The girls started to condole in such illegal activity when their slave, Tituba, started to read their fortunes. The girls began to act strange and would blame this behavior on witchcraft. The girls were told to point out locals that were “involved” in witchcraft.
Among the hundreds that were charged, a considerable lot of them were the general population who did not trust the same confidence as the Puritans, for example, the West Indian hirelings. The primary West Indian worker to be blamed for being a witch was Tituba. All through the records of the warrants and the examinations of Tituba in 1691-1692 she is alluded to as "Tituba an Indian Woman hireling," demonstrating the Puritan culture's taking note of her as various, both in race and religion. Additionally, in the trial of Sarah Good, 1692, Harthorn asks "what god doe you serve," demonstrating the significance of the religion of the charged and how the judge considered that certainty. Despite the fact that numerous history specialists contend that monetary and political insecurity filled a great part of the allegations, a ton of the allegations were additionally in view of religious conviction.
Warrants of arrest for the women were issued on February 29, and the next day, the Salem Town magistrates John Hathorne and Jonathan Corwin examined the women in the Village meeting house. Presumed witched named Good and Osborne declared that they were innocent and knew nothing of witchcraft, but a woman by the name of Tituba ultimately confessed, claiming that witchcraft was practiced by dozens of women within the city
Sarah Osborne would die of natural causes. The village girls of Salem had just began making accusations. The Minister Parris held a day of fasting and prayer, but they still had fits. The girls became known as “the afflicted.”
One of the first accused was Samuel Parris’ own slave, Tituba. It was unheard of for a Reverend to have witchcraft practiced under his own roof, and Parris could not afford to lose his reputation. Samuel stood by his children in court as they testified against the accused, and he even helped them by testifying against Rebecca Nurse. People thought for certain that if the Reverend was standing with the girls against the so called “evil witches” that there must be a real problem. Parris even made a statement that the witches were plotting against Christianity, which made sense if the witches were indeed working for the Devil.
As they continued this, fits became a problem: screaming, body contorting, etc. At the time, this could not be explained by medical findings. Therefore, it was blamed on the supernatural. A “witch cake” was made as a possible cure to extract the illness from the children. This infuriated the father, and he pushed his girls, Abigail and Betty, to put forward their so-called “tormenter.”
The local ministers attempted to heal the girls through prayer, but it was not successful. A physician in the village named Dr. William Griggs diagnosed the girls with being “afflicted” and suffering from the “Evil Hand” (Boyer). A few more girls in the village began exhibiting the same conditions as the first two. These girls all came from prominent homes. When asked who was responsible for their condition the girls began to name women from the village
In Puritan New England, the fear of witchcraft was deeply rooted due to religious beliefs and the influence of the Church. The Puritans considered witchcraft as a grave sin, and they believed that the devil actively sought to corrupt their community. The first accused in the Salem witch trials were Tituba, Sarah Good, and Sarah Osborne. Tituba, an
Reverend Parris was said to have beat a confession out of Tituba. Judges John Hathorne and Jonathan Corwin examined the three women. Good and Osborne plead innocent. But Tituba confessed to the charge in order to save her own life and surprised observers by testifying that Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne were accomplices. She concocted an elaborate story which the judges readily accepted.
A short time later many of Betty's playmates would begin to show similar symptoms. A doctor examine the girls and could not find a medical reason for the symptoms. It was concluded that the girls must be suffering from some sort of supernatural torment. A witch must have caused the girls to behave in such a
Nonetheless, the Salem Witch Trials was an event that baffled the public and left the world astounded. The Salem Witch Trials happened during the time of 1692 through 1693. The Salem Witch Trial took place in Salem Village, Massachusetts. Although witch trials happened in a few
The Salem witch trial was a time about accusing your fellow neighbor or being accused yourself, this all began in 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts. During this time many people were being accused of being a witch, a majority of the time it was because either someone truly believed that you were a witch and were reeking havoc or they were trying to find someone to take the blame if they were to being accused. So this leads us to question, what began the Salem Witch Trials? There were at least three causes of the Salem witch trials hysteria. These were Betty Parris and Abigail Williams story, Ergotism, and the acknowledgment of hysteria.
Not long after, Abigail started to show these same symptoms. Doctors were unable to find anything physically wrong with the girls and determined that the girls must be bewitched. Betty’s parents soon sent Betty away from Salem in attempts to cure and prevent her from getting further involved in the witch trials. Betty still had fits but soon