Most all people who accused others for being witches were young girls. Many people were put to death because of these people accusing them. After the trials were done they were very deeply regretting their decisions when they found the women that were accusing were lying and found guilty. On February 29, the girls blamed three women for cursing them: Tituba, a slave; Sarah Good, a homeless woman; and Sarah Osborne, an elderly woman. Not until 1957, 250 years later, did Massachusetts apologize for what they the Witch Trials did.
All through history millions of individuals have been shunned, arrested, brutally tortured, prosecuted, and persecuted as witches. One would think that post colonization of the United States these unjust acts to human kind would have ended, but that was not so. In 1692 the Salem Witch Trials took place, an event that was a major catastrophe in United States history. It began when a group of young girls in Salem, Massachusetts declared that they were possessed by the devil and made accusations that several older women were practicing witchcraft and fraternizing with the Devil.
The Causes of the Salem Witch Trials Much of modern America’s fear and infamous interest in witches has been derived most likely from the profound Salem Witch Trials. “The infamous Salem witch trials began during the spring of 1692, after a group of young girls in Salem Village, Massachusetts, claimed to be possessed by the devil and accused several local women of witchcraft,” stated History.com authors. However, many historians still deliberate how such events occurred in the first place. Based on several presented documents, some conclusions suggest that there was a prominent cause to the beginning of the Salem Witch Trials. All in all, the cause of the Salem Witch Trials was the attempt of Salem citizens to either defend or create family
The witchcraft Act was a law passed by the group of the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1735 which made it a crime for a person to say that any human being had magical powers or was guilty of practising witchcraft. The biggest punishment by the Act was a year's state of being locked in gail. Witch trials were rare in England, mostly to the workings of common law, which avoid people from chasing after against a general noticed scare. Instead,it was usually based on a trouble. However, in 1612, 16 people living around Pendle Hill were tried at Lancaster gaol, with a crime of selling their souls to the devil and killing 17 people through witchcraft.
Salem Witch Trials According to Blumberg, the Salem witch trials occurred in colonial Massachusetts between 1692 and 1693. More than 200 people were accused of practicing witchcraft- the Devil’s magic- and 20 were executed. Eventually, the colony admitted the trials were a mistake and compensated the families of those convicted. Since then, the story of the trials has become synonymous with paranoia and injustice, and it continues to beguile the popular imagination more than 300 years later.
The Salem Witch Trials : People Involved, Causes and Trial Tests Considered to be one of the most infamous events in United States history, the Salem Witch Trials caused around 200 people to be executed while seven men and 13 women were given the death penalty. There were many people involved that greatly influenced the Salem Witch Trials. Witch Trials tests were performed hundreds of times in order to determine who was a witch. Occuring in 1692, the Salem Witch Trials were a series of events that involved many people, had several different causes and performed dozens of witch trial tests. During this time, there were many people involved that greatly influenced the Salem Witch Trials.
American Jezebel: The Uncommon Life of Anne Hutchinson, the Woman who Defied the Puritans is a biography of Anne Hutchinson written by Eve LaPlante who is a direct descendant of Hutchinson. The book follows her life and gives some insight into the lives of people she was surrounded by. As the book progresses, the reader can better understand who Hutchinson was. It begins with Hutchinson being summoned at her trial at the courthouse in Cambridge, Massachusetts for heresy and sedition.
In Rosalyn Schanzer’s Witches! The Absolutely True Tale of Disaster in Salem, there is a catastrophe in Salem, Massachusetts, in the 1690’s. There were accusations after accusations after accusations about witchcraft. Also, people weren’t satisfied with just accusing one person. In the end, 25 lives were lost.
The Salem witch trials were the prosecution of people accused of witchcraft in Massachusetts from June to September 1692 by the Court of Oyer and Terminer. Though the trials were held in Salem, the accused were brought in from the neighboring towns of Amesbury, Andover, Topsfield, Ipswich, and Gloucester as well. To this day the trials are considered the epitome of injustice, paranoia, scapegoating, mass hysteria, and mob justice. The results were almost 200 arrests, 19 executed “witches”, one man pressed to death, one man stoned to death, and two dogs killed because they were suspected to be familiars of their owners who were accused of being witches. (Familiars are evil spirits in the form of animals used by witches to cast spells and perform
In Defense of Rebecca Nurse Your Majesties, Judge Corwin and Judge Hathorne, our defendant Rebecca Nurse, a highly respected member of the Salem community, has been wrongly accused of practicing witchcraft. We believe that these profound accusations against, the honest and trustworthy, Rebecca Nurse were fabricated by those who are trying to cause harm to the Nurse family. This accusation of practicing witchcraft is serious and is not to be taken lightly. A warrant for the arrest of Rebecca Nurse was issued on March 24, 1692 (Salem Witch Trials Notable Persons). This warrant was issued due to the Putnams accusation that our defendant practices witchcraft.
Between February 1692 and May 1693, there were a series of hearings where people were being accused of witchcraft. The outcome of the hearings ended with 20 people being executed, but more than 200 people were accused of performing witchcraft. The hearings and prosecutions are very well known as the Salem witch trials. The trials took place in colonial Massachusetts. Nineteen accused witches were convicted and hanged on Gallows Hill in 1692.
What Caused the Salem Witch Trials of 1692 In Salem, Massachusetts there were Witch Trials held during the summer months of 1692. Throughout the seventeenth century in New England, witchcraft was said to be a crime punishable by death. Puritans came to New England in the early 1600’s to practice their Christianity in the purest form possible. They believed every word in the bible and that the words of God were to be followed down to the last sentence there was. Havoc started occurring around the town and 19 women along with men were hanged for witchcraft.
In the year 1692 the famous Salem Witch Trials occurred in Salem Massachusetts. The scare of witchcraft began with a small group of teenage girls, who claimed to be possessed by the devil. They believed that people’s spirits would come after them, and try to torment them. Hysteria broke out among the people in the town of Salem, and other parts of Massachusetts. Trials occurred for months to scrutinize who was considered a “witch” in the eyes of the judges and teenage girls.
The Mather’s played a role in the trials as well, Cotton Mather was the minister of Boston’s Old North Church. Cotton was a true believer in witchcraft and accused many people. Increase Mather was his father, who was the Boston Minister and mostly believed in witchcraft until his wife got accused of it, then he knew it was all
Among the groups labeled witches, most practitioners were women, and women were the primary leaders (The vulnerability of women to witchcraft Accusations- by Christian Day, 1992, n.d). Certain people to practice supernatural forces of evil that can hurt others with return - especially faith in the loyalty - had reached had appeared extensively in colonial New England in the 14th century Europe. In addition, the Salem Village (Massachusetts) War between France and England in the American colonies in the harsh realities including sequelae 1689 lives in rural Puritan society in recent smallpox epidemic, Native American tribes and Salem Village (Salem Witch Trials, n.d).