Salem Witch Trials

The Salem Witch Trials started in the spring of 1692, after a group of young girls in Salem, a village in Massachusetts, were said to be possessed by the devil and a few women were accused of witchcraft. Hysteria spread through colonial Massachusetts to the extent a special court was opened to hear the cases. Bridget Bishop was the first witch hung. Eighteen other people followed Bishop and one hundred and fifty men, women, and children were accused through the following months. Though the Massachusetts General Court later cancelled guilty decisions against suspect witches and granted securities to their families, bitterness remained in the community, and the agonizing legacy of the Salem Witch Trials would suffer for centuries.

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.

The Salem Witch Trial accusations first started with nine year old Betty Parris and her cousin, eleven year old Abigail Parris. They both contracted an illness around the same time as each other. The illness was like no other that a town doctor had ever seen before. “They contorted themselves into strange positions, cowered under chairs,

Introduction: states what the Salem witch trials where and who they accused. How two little girls (Abigail and Betty) where the first to suffer from fits of hysterical outbreaks and how many accusers came forward and described how they or their animals had been bewitched. It mentions the court cases and how there were more woman than men accused of practicing witch craft. It also states how historians believe the girls were faking their fits from the start. Also mentions how religious Salem was at the time which influenced the trials.

Between 1692 and 1693, in Salem Village, Massachusetts, the Salem witch trials were taking place. In the event, many were accused of witchcraft and some were even executed. This event had left many curious as to what caused the people to accept witchcraft and treat it as a crime. To explain the trials, Paul Boer and Stephen Nissenbaum wrote the book Salem Possessed: The Social Origins of Witchcraft in which they analyzed and broke down key components of the witch trials.

Nineteen people were hung due to false judgement by human nature and society. Taking place in a small village called Salem, inside of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, during a depressing seventeenth century, was a movement that would challenge the nation’s religious and psychological beliefs.

Was The Crucible historically accurate? It was loosely accurate. A lot of the stories were definitely over dramatized. There were outrageous accusations on almost everyone. Here is how it all started.

The years of 1692 and 1693 were a terrible time in Salem Massachusetts. The presence of the devil was in Salem. People living there were practicing witchcraft. Young women were barking like dogs and acting strangely. All this behavior would lead to what became known as the Salem witch trials.The Salem witch trials took place because of people practicing witchcraft and they were not witches.This resulted in the imprisonment /execution of more than 200 people.

Do you have a neighbor that you really just don’t like? In 1600’s Massachusetts, there was a solution! You could tell everyone that they were a witch. Sure it might ruin their life, but hey, they’re out of yours. The Salem Witch Trials were a series of trials that occurred during Colonial America where many people, mostly women, were falsely accused of and wrongly punished for performing witchcraft. There is a well documented history of these accounts, including the causes, the results, and similar cases throughout history.

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

Judges admitted their wrongs and gave public confessions. In 1706 one of the initiating girls apologized publicly as well. January 15, 1697 was the Day of Official Humiliation in Salem where everyone fasted out of respect for the victims. In 1711 legislation was passed exonerating the accused and offering restitution to their relatives. Not all the accused’s names were listed. In 1957 the state apologized and added another name to the list. On the 300th anniversary (August 1992) the Salem Witch Trials memorial was dedicated in Salem. Finally on Halloween (October 31) 2001 in an Act approved by the Massachusetts Legislature the final five women hung unjustly for witchcraft were official cleared by

George Jacobs Sr. said, “You tax me for a wizard, you may as well tax me for a buzzard I have done no harm.” Although his words were true, many chose to either believe this hysteria or turn the other way. He died along with many other women and men. This was just the start of the many terrors of the Salem witch trials. Yet if you confessed to being a witch then you had a better chance of living, but if you denied you would automatically get hanged. They killed 19 people in similar ways, but the last person wouldn’t go to trial, so they stoned him. Within the year, the Salem Witch Trials were a very important event, because not only did most of the people convicted died, but because many people went about their day feeling vulnerable

The Salem Witch Trials took place in Massachusetts between 1692 and 1693. During the Trials 20 people were put to death and more than 200 accused for practicing witchcraft. Among those accused were Abigail Williams and Anna Putnam who just experienced fits or uncontrollable

After listening to many complaints, in 1702, the General Court decided that the trials were in fact unlawful (Plouffe, Jr. n. pag.). Apologies from the jurors and accusers began rushing in. It was said the article Salem Witch Trials that Ann Putnam apologized for accusing Rebecca Nurse of being a witch in 1706. One judge, Samuel Sewall, publicly announced his guilt and error during the trials. Apologies came with the realization that none of the women were actually witches. In 1711, most of those accused were exonerated by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and compensation was paid to survivors and their families. News of the trials was put to rest until 1957 when the state of Massachusetts finally formally apologized to the public for the trials. However, it was not until 2001 that the last eleven victims were exonerated. As a result of the brutality of the trials, court procedures were changed in the United States. Accused personnel now have the right to legal representation during their trial. The United States also made the law that there must be a cross examination of the accuser, and jurors have to presume the accused