Essay On The Salem Witch Trial

The Salem Witch Trials were a terrible event that happened in the history of the United States of America was when innocent individuals where accused and sentenced to death for the crime of witch craft. More than 20 people were executed by hanging and one man was pressed to death by stones being stacked on his chest. In England they would burn people at the stake or throw them in a body of water with stones tied on their feet and if they swam to the top, they were a witch is they drowned, they were innocent.

In 1692, the people in Salem, Massachusetts went on a hunt accusing people of being witches. This was a hysterical time in history known as the Salem Witch Trials. The Salem Witch Trials led to many distraught people and false accusations. The famous trials started with two sick children and then led to discrimination manly towards women of a lesser class. The accused people were tortured and eventually killed.

Over 150 people were arrested and imprisoned and even more accused; but not pursued by the authorities. 29 were convicted of witchcraft but only 19 were hanged. The best known trials were in the Court of Oyer and Terminer.

In Witches: The Absolutely True Tale Of Disaster In Salem by Rosalyn Schanzer people in the town of Salem were Condemned for being witches. By the end of it all more than 200 people were accused and 20 were executed. Horridly they accused people from all ages, everyone from teenager to ancient was accused. But why? The Salem Witch Trials were caused by hysteria, popularity, and revenge.

The Salem witch trial hysteria of 1692 may have been instigated by religious, social, geographic and even biological factors. During these trials, 134 people were condemned as witches and 19 were hanged. These statistics also include 5 more deaths that occurred prior to their execution date. It is interesting to look into the causes of this stain on American History, when as shown in document B, eight citizens were hanged in only one day.

During the hysteria of 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts, many people were accused of practicing witchcraft. Therefore, their reputation, was ruined. Other people committed many sins in order to keep their reputation clean in town. For instance, some characters had to lie, fight, and accuse other people of witchcraft which could get the individual out of trouble and keep their hands clean. when a person got accused of being a witch, the person’s reputation would get ruined and the person would go to jail or be hanged. John Proctor, Deputy Governor Danforth, and Abigail Williams were worried about their reputation in town, and they were willing to commit many sins and harm others to prevent this from happening.

Not many people know much about what actually happened in the Salem Witch Trials. Maybe someone would think that it was just about witchcraft and crazy people being hanged, but it is a lot more than that. The Salem Witch Trials only occurred between 1692 and 1693, but a lot of damage had been done. The idea of the Salem Witch Trials came from Europe during the “witchcraft craze” from the 1300s-1600s. In Europe, many of the accused witches were executed by hanging. Many practicing Christians, at the time, believed that the Devil could persuade people to use the powers that he gave them to harm others. The Salem Witch Trials occurred because of resource struggles, many women were accused and tortured, and in the end the Governor realized that it was a big mistake. (“Salem Witch Trials”, 1).

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.

Do you want to be hanged because you are practicing witchcraft? The Salem Witch Trial Hysteria happened in the year of 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts. The story is that the people of Salem, Massachusetts were Puritans. The Puritans thought that they were going to be like a “city upon a hill” which meant they thought that they were going to make it look like they were more perfect than everyone else and they were closer to God. They made it like this because they believed that every word in the Bible was the true word of God and was to be followed to the exact letter of every word. But do you want to know what caused the Salem Witch Trials hysteria? There was three causes of the salem witch trials hysteria. These were, the people of Salem, Massachusetts were practicing witchcraft, the devil was possesing people, and there were people in Salem, Massachusetts

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. Over 100 individuals were suspected to be witches in result to weird behavior before a disaster happens.

The Salem witch trials was one of the most famous witch hunt in history. More than 200

Salem witchcraft trials started in New England and caused a lot of deaths and hysteria for the people of Salem, Massachusetts. Innocent women and men were hung just for being accused by their fellow friends and neighbors. Witchcraft in the 17th century was a big taboo that people feared.

There were eight judges in the court. John Hathorne and Samuel Sewall were two of the judges in the special court. In June, the number of arrests became less, but there were still more arrests. There were about two hundred people in the local jails, so some people were moved to jails in other towns. Some people died in the jails before anything else happened to them in their cases. There were some people who were found guilty or either plead guilty that were pardoned. Other people were never arrested. Bridget Bishop was the first person to be convicted during the witch trials. Bishop was hanged eight days after her conviction in the month of June. Five people were hanged in both July and August. Rebecca Nurse was one of the people that were hanged. Nurse’s execution was a turning point in the witch trials. Nurse was thought to be a good person in the community. Many other people who were executed were thought to be good citizens. People were tortured during the witch trials because they would not give a plea in their cases. The colonists started to believe that many of the people who were convicted were actually innocent because many people that had been executed were once well-loved people. This belief was later voiced to officials and changes were made. The last hangings of the trials occurred in September when eight people were hanged. In October, the specialized court that had handled the rest of the witch trials was dismissed. A new court was created and it judged the remaining people in the jails. The remaining people were eventually let out of jail by the year sixteen ninety-three. The witch trials caused many things to be neglected. This caused many difficulties in the colony for following years. Several people later apologized for making the witch trials into such a big situation. Many people had accused others of

Even after being diagnosed with bewitchment, five other girls began having the same symptoms as the original two girls. The validity of the diagnosis is in question due to the fact that all seven girls, displaying the same behaviors, within days apart, would all be possessed, especially in such a religious culture. Secondly, the accused women were easy targets (Blumberg). Tituba, the governor’s family slave from the Caribbean, was accused after being in close proximities with one of the first victims. Slaves barely had any rights at this time, making Tituba an easy candidate. Sarah Good, homeless, and Sarah Osborne, a poor, elderly lady, were also accused and punished. The two of them, being at the bottom of the societal totem pole, were also convenient scapegoats. Martha Corey was an involved member in the church and in the community. Corey was an unlikely suspect, yet she was still charged. Not only is the validity of the suspects in question, but also the punishments. If one was accused of being used of Satan, they would be hanged on Gallow’s Hill (History.com). Hangings began in May 1692 and by that September, 19 people had been hanged. In

How would you like to be accused of something you did not do? During the Salem witch trials Elizabeth Proctor, the wife of John Proctor, was accused of witchcraft. Witchery was a huge deal in Salem, Massachusetts. If you were convicted you would either confess to something you did not do and serve jail time, or you would not confess and be hung for what you did. In May of the same year, witch hysteria had finally died down and the remaining prisoners were released.