facts about the salem witch trials facts about the salem witch trials

Thank you so much, this was also, by far, the best site ive come across for salem trials. The Information Architects maintain a master list of the topics included in the corpus of The following are some facts about the Salem Witch Trials: The Salem Witch Trials were a series of witchcraft cases brought before local magistrates in a settlement called Salem which was a part of the Massachusetts Bay colony in the 17th century. William was happily a Calvinist, but not even that changed the fact New England theocracy was at an end. Is this a homework question? Then say they were wrong. Gareth Stevens Publishing, 2005Upham, Charles Wentworth. North Wind Picture Archives, Alamy Stock Photo. The doctor was unable to find anything physically wrong with them and suggested they may be bewitched. Dramatic historic events such as witch trials didn't just come out of nowhere. It was not difficult for the people of Salem to believe they were involved in witchcraft. I also have an ancestor, Mary Parsons, who was accused of witchcraft but she was allowed to live. i need it for my bibliography, do you have any websites that could help me to find the secondary source? Of those arrested, the majority were women (85%) and only a handful were men (15%). Hysteria was from little girls facin threat of death by torture. Found Guilty and Executed:Bridget Bishop (June 10, 1692)Sarah Good (July 19, 1692)Elizabeth Howe (July 19, 1692)Susannah Martin (July 19, 1692)Rebecca Nurse (July 19, 1692)Sarah Wildes (July 19, 1692)George Burroughs (August 19, 1692)Martha Carrier (August 19, 1692)John Willard (August 19, 1692)George Jacobs, Sr (August 19, 1692)John Proctor (August 19, 1692)Alice Parker (September 22, 1692)Mary Parker (September 22, 1692)Ann Pudeator (September 22, 1692)Wilmot Redd (September 22, 1692)Margaret Scott (September 22, 1692)Samuel Wardwell (September 22, 1692)Martha Corey (September 22, 1692)Mary Easty (September 22, 1692), Refused to enter a plea and tortured to death:Giles Corey (September 19th, 1692), Found Guilty and Pardoned:Elizabeth ProctorAbigail Faulkner SrMary PostSarah WardwellElizabeth Johnson JrDorcas Hoar, Pled Guilty and Pardoned:Rebecca EamesAbigail HobbsMary Lacy SrMary Osgood, Died in Prison:Sarah OsburnRoger ToothakerAnn FosterLydia Dustin, Escaped from Prison:John Alden Jr.Edward Bishop Jr.Sarah BishopMary BradburyWilliam Barker Sr.Andrew CarrierKatherine CaryPhillip EnglishMary EnglishEdward Farrington, Never Indicted:Sarah BassettMary BlackBethiah Carter, JrBethiah Carter, SrSarah CloyceElizabeth HartWilliam HobbsThomas Farrer, SrWilliam ProctorSarah ProctorSusannah RootsAnn SearsTituba, Evaded Arrest:George Jacobs JrDaniel Andrews. While sympathy, and certainly empathy, are always good things to have, its also important that we dont let emotions color the facts. These spirits could inhabit any human or any creature. The parallels between the Salem Witch Trials and more modem examples ofwitch huntinglike the McCarthy hearings of the 1950s, are remarkable. I am totally shocked to be related in this way. Twenty-four people died during the Salem witch trials, though many more were accused of witchcraft. (Eds.). Eventually, after seeming to realize how unfair the trials were to the accused, the court refused to hear any more charges of witchcraft. DHowlett1692, who blogs regularly about all things Salem, cites a 1977 article by Nicholas P. Spanos and Jack Gottlieb that disputes Caporaels ergotism study. Salem Village was populated mostly by poor farmers, and Salem Town was a prosperous port full of middle-class and wealthy merchants. The trials are believed to have been the reason why the US constitution recognizes witchcraft as a legal religion. They were said to have helped witches and were referred to as their familiars. Hoffer, Peter Charles. The doctors diagnosis? It is pretty sad. When a young Lancastrian woman called Alison Device asked for a pin from a travelling peddler but was denied, the peddler apparently became immediately paralysed down his left side. Between 1647 and 1688, 12 women had been sentenced to death for making covenants with the devil. I dont know what compromise youre referring to. All rights reserved. The persecutors had to come up with a whole irrational legal system in order to justify this insanity. How were the 2 dogs killed during the salem witch trials? When we think of witches today, we think of girls with crystals and hats who like to listen to Stevie Nicks. Corey was accused of witchcraft in April during his wifes examination. Now I know it is not only there that it existed. The Salem witch trials, which resulted in several deaths in 1692 in the small town of Salem, Massachusetts, have never been adequately explained. A fear-ridden society always finds scapegoats. Arrest warrants were issued for George Jacobs Jr. and Daniel Andrews but they evaded arrest. This was so helpful for my project! Porters never forgot about this n intermarried with many of the families afterwards. We know not whether some remarkable affronts given to the Devils by our disbelieving those testimonies whose whole force and strength is from them alone, may not put a period unto the progress of the dreadful calamity begun upon us, in the accusations of so many persons, whereof some, we hope, are yet clear from the great transgression laid unto their charge. Lienhard says, In recent years, though, the ergot theory has been questioned. The pair had been bewitched. Im trying to get my family to visit there- Id even give up my beach trip for it! See, the concept of fake news is nothing new. The other two accused and arrested at the same time were Sarah Osborne and Tituba, the Parriss black slave. Also I was curious to know what the specific compromise was. Cant wait to visit this place! Did the Putnams purchase any of the land from those who were accused and killed? Im using this for my History project. Think it was her kids. Smithsonia, 8 Sept. 2013. InJanuary of 1692, the daughter and niece of Reverend Samuel Parris of Salem Village became ill.William Griggs, the village doctor, was called in when they failed to improve. Essex County Court Archives, vol. In 1688, New England revolted and deposed the government of the Dominion of New England, and sent a representative back to London to report it, only to find that Parliament had deposed James II, and replaced him with William and Mary. Related: Scary Stories: 10 Places For Stephen King Fans To Visit. an A on my report i mean >< In mid-January 1692, Elizabeth "Betty" Parris, the 9-year-old daughter of the local Reverend Samuel Parris, and. In April, more women were accused, as well as a number of men:Sarah CloyceElizabeth ProctorJohn ProctorGiles CoreyAbigail HobbsDeliverance HobbsWilliam HobbsMary WarrenBridget BishopSarah WildesNehemiah Abbott Jr.Mary EastyEdward BishopSarah BishopMary EnglishPhillip EnglishReverend George BurroughsLydia DustinSusannah MartinDorcas HoarSarah Morey. . it was extremely helpful thank you so much! 618619. King William's War (war in the America colonies against the French) ended with many people having to be relocated so there were many strangers moving into town. Good had been among the first local women to be arrested, after several young girls from the village had experienced mysterious afflictions the previous February. In 1706, afflicted girl Ann Putnam, Jr., also issued a public apology for her role in the Salem Witch Trials, particularly in the case against her neighbor Rebecca Nurse. Although spectral evidence, evidence based on dreams and visions, wasnt the only evidence used in court during the Salem Witch Trails, it was the most common evidence and the easiest evidence for accusers to fake. 1, pp. Why do you think there are so little primary sources on the Salem Witch Trials? No way to fight its power. The afflicted state of our poor neighbours, that are now suffering by molestations from the invisible world, we apprehend so deplorable, that we think their condition calls for the utmost help of all persons in their several capacities. Let me know if you are related to story too. Montague Summer. He was later exonerated. How twisted is that? what was the ratio of men to women. After Bishops execution and the courts endorsement of the indictments against Rebecca Nurse and John Willard, a local constable who, doubting the allegations, refused to bring the accused to court the grand jury adjourned for almost three weeks. Nor can we esteem alterations made in the sufferers, by a look or touch of the accused, to be an infallible evidence of guilt, but frequently liable to be abused by the Devil's legerdemains. Do you have a version number for this site? 6 The Role Of Religion In Witch Trials There is actually a compilation of all of the primary sources on the Salem Witch Trials. Thanks so much! At the center of the Salem witch trials were a core group of accusers, all girls and young women ranging in age from nine to 20, who screamed, writhed, barked and displayed other horrifying. In June, Nathaniel Saltonstall resigned and was replaced by Jonathan Corwin. Shortly after, Elizabeth Hubbard, Susannah Sheldon, Mary Warren and Elizabeth Booth all started to experience the same symptoms, which consisted of suffering fits, hiding under furniture, contorting in pain and experiencing fever. It seems like an easier thing to do than just sit there and be accused. Went to the library to look for my family history but came across my friends families name. During that time, 19 people were hanged and one person was pressed to death. Hopkins crusade was at its most virulent between 1644 and 1646. Alden spent 15 weeks in jail before friends helped break him out and he escaped to New York. Hi Indigo, Im assuming you mean eyewitness accounts. In 1711, the colony passed a bill restoring some of the names of the convicted witches and paid a total of 600 in restitution to their heirs. When asked who had done this to them, Betty and Abigail blamed three townswomen, including Tituba, a Native American slave who worked in the Parris household. Good and Osbourne insisted they were innocent. Giles Corey, the husband of Martha Corey, refused to enter a plea and was subjected to a particularly gruesome form of torture where the accused is crushed under heavy stones until they either respond or die a tactic known as peine forte et dure, (until he either answered or died). No one was burned at the stake in the Salem witch trials. This legal tactic was known as peine forte et dure which means strong and harsh punishment.. 9 Men Also Died During The Trials If the accused was indicted, they were not allowed a lawyer and they had to decide to plead guilty or not guilty with no legal counsel to guide them. and good job rebbeca! Although many of the other accused women were unpopular social outcasts, Nurse was a pious, well-respected and well-loved member of the community. Random House, 1956Fowler, Samuel Page. thanks, mike turner, The 1692 Salem Village map can now be purchased on zazzle: http://www.zazzle.com/salem_village_map_poster-228789587972988887?rf=238784808055391622. Of course, remembering the events of 1692 can still act as a brake when contemporary events take a sinister downturn. The exact cause of the Salem Witch Trials is unknown but they were probably a number of causes. William Stoughton is an ancestor of mine, sorry to say. More than 200 people were accused of practicing witchcraft and 20 were killed during the hysteria. Since some families of the victims did not want their family member listed, not every victim was named. I think it is easy to underestimate the importance of James IIs creation of the Dominion of New England. These three women were social outcasts and easy targets for the accusation of witchcraft. It's also important to remember that there is no evidence, other than spectral evidence and coerced confessions, that any of the accused actually did practice witchcraft. The eight-point response, penned by Cotton Mather, advised prudence when it came to procedure, cautioning that hastiness shouldnt overwhelm lawfulness. Glanvill, Joseph. I am no more a witch than you are a wizard. The two communities were three hours apart, by foot, which was the most common method of transportation at the time. I really enjoy reading your blog! Bridget Bishop was convicted at the end of her trial and sentenced to death. In January 1692 Salem Village was dealing with a lot. The proclamation suggested that there should be: observed a Day of Prayer with Fasting throughout the ProvinceSo that all Gods people may put away that which hath stirred Gods Holy jealousy against his land; that he wouldhelp us wherein we have done amiss to do so no more; and especially that whatever mistakes on either hand have fallen intoreferring to the late tragedy, raised among us by Satan and his instruments, through the awful judgement of God, he would humble us therefore and pardon all the errors and people that desire to love his name. A total of 19 accused witches were hanged at Proctors Ledge, near Gallows Hill, during the witch trials. 1. Or maybe it was the 1711 bill that cleared the names of the accused witches. If you are looking for more info on the victims themselves, you can check out the article I wrote specifically about them titled The Salem Witch Trials Victims: Who Were They? There are many theories that explain why the witch trials began in Medieval Europe. in journalism. "5 Facts About the Salem Trials." The Salem Witch Trials began in spring 1692 and lasted for seven months, during which more than 150 people where arrested, 19 were hanged and one was tortured to death. As a devout and strongly religious community living in near isolation in the mysterious New World, the community of Salem had a heightened sense of fear of the Devil and, as a result, it didnt take much to convince the villagers that there was evil among them. The Salem witch trials marked a seven-month period of mass hysteria in 1692 Colonial America. On October 29, Phips dismissed the Court of Oyer and Terminer. They took place in a number of cities in Massachusetts Bay Colony in the years 1692 and 1693, but primarily in the town of Salem. The girls accusation was that Good had performed witchcraft on them. The Salem jail was located at the corner of Federal Street and St. Peter Street. Between 1692 and 1693, more than two hundred people were accused. Find out what started the witch hunt of 1692. Being burned at the stake was an occasionally used method of execution in Europe, when one was convicted of witchcraft, but was generally reserved for those who refused to repent of their sins. The mayhem all started in 1692, when two cousins aged nine and 11 began experiencing delusions, strange fits, and other mysterious maladies. One freezing day in January of 1692, something strange happened inside the Parris household of Salem Village, Massachusetts. The trials were held in the Salem courthouse, which was located in the center of Washington Street about 100 feet south of Lynde Street, opposite of where the Masonic Temple now stands. And particularly, as I was a chief instrument of accusing of Goodwife Nurse and her two sisters, I desire to lie in the dust, and to be humbled for it, in that I was a cause, with others, of so sad a calamity to them and their families; for which cause I desire to lie in the dust, and earnestly beg forgiveness of God, and from all those unto whom I have given just cause of sorrow and offence, whose relations were taken away or accused.. A child pointed to a dog and said it bewitched me and shot the dog immediately. Rev Nicholas Noyes, one of the local clergymen who had vigorously pursued the prosecutions, was the particular focus of Sarah Goods anger: You are a liar. In the 300 years since the Salem Witch Trials, experts have gone to great lengths to offer explanations for the young Salem girls afflictions of a somewhat more rational nature than the witchcraft diagnosed at the time. Her son Richard is one of my 8th great grandfathers and I keep waiting for a DNA match to pop up with one of his other descendants. Shortly after, two of the girls named the women they believed were bewitching them. The Salem Witch Trials began in spring 1692 and lasted for seven months, during which more than 150 people where arrested, 19 were hanged and one was tortured to death. More than 200 people were accused of practicing witchcraftthe devil's magic and 20 were executed . Also i seems like a smarter thing to do at the moment if you had a rival with one of the families in town. I mean the whole cause was a wheat bacteria/fungi called ergot. During her trial, Bishop repeatedly defended herself, stating I am innocent, I know nothing of it, I have done no witchcraft . thank u. Her apology states: I desire to be humbled before God for that sad and humbling providence that befell my fathers family in the year about 92; that I, then being in my childhood, should, by such a providence of God, be made an instrument for the accusing of several persons of a grievous crime, whereby their lives were taken away from them, whom now I have just grounds and good reason to believe they were innocent persons; and that it was a great delusion of Satan that deceived me in that sad time, whereby I justly fear I have been instrumental, with others, though ignorantly and unwittingly, to bring upon myself and this land the guilt of innocent blood; though what was said or done by me against any person I can truly and uprightly say, before God and man, I did it not out of any anger, malice, or ill-will to any person, for I had no such thing against one of them; but what I did was ignorantly, being deluded by Satan. How could so many people believe the afflicted girls without no real evidence. Morrisiana, 1869Jackson, Shirley. This series of prosecutions and hangings of those accused of practicing witchcraft provoked a major backlash, and the event still haunts us today. With a 1562 act now permitting the death penalty for acts of witchcraft, they were hanged. Thirteen womenand five men from all stations of life followed her to the gallows onthree successive hanging daysbefore the court was disbanded by Governor William Phipps in October of that year. As the innocent women approached the gallows, in the last moments of their lives, they continued to protest their innocence. this helped a lot on my social studies project. As if the lonely and misunderstood didn't have a hard enough life on its own, they seemed the most suspicious to the crowds. There were no clear-cut rules besides that: either they were after women for being single, having too many friends, no friends or being too poor. Alden was accused of witchcraft by a child during a trip to Salem while he was on his way home to Boston from Canada. Im doing the Salem witch trials for my A-Level coursework, does anyone know the full names of any historians that have spoken about this topic? Perhaps this question has something to do with the closure of the court of Oyer and Terminer, which was the special court established to hear the trials. The slave Tituba, because of her background in the Caribbean (or possibly the West Indies), could have practiced some form of folk magic, but that has never been confirmed. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Thats where spectral evidence comes in, and it played a significant role in the Salem trials. She was hanged on June 10, 1692 at a place now called Proctors Ledge, which is a small hill near Gallows Hill, making her the first official victim of the witch trials. A Brief History of the Salem Witch Trials. Smithsonian Magazine, Smithsonian Institute, 23 Oct. 2007, www.smithsonianmag.com/history/a-brief-history-of-the-salem-witch-trials-175162489/. Unauthorized use is prohibited. Some of the suggested theories are: conversion disorder, epilepsy, ergot poisoning, Encephalitis, Lyme disease, unusually cold weather, factionalism, socio-economic hardships, family rivalries and fraud. If you want to learn more about the Salem Witch Trials, check out this article on the best Salem Witch Trials books. Its a common myth that the Salem Witch Trials victims were burned at the stake. It helped me very much on my history day project!! The Story of the Salem Witch Trials - Bryan F. Le Beau 2016-05-23 Between June 10 and September 22, 1692, nineteen people were hanged for practicing witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts. For years, Salem Village tried to separate itself politically from Salem Town. As years passed, apologies were offered and restitution was made to the victims families. I could use this for classroom use. Salem witch trials (1692-93), a series of investigations and persecutions that caused 19 convicted 'witches' to be hanged and many other suspects to be imprisoned in Salem Village in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Some (incredibly mean) people devoted their time to making a science out of witchcraft. The first of the girls to start experiencing symptoms was Betty Parris, followed by Abigail Williams, Ann Putnam Jr., Mary Walcott and Mercy Lewis. They left an 11-year-old son, John Jr . The court didnt believe them, and found all three women guilty of practicing witchcraft. 82 (Boston: Wright and Potter, 1902), pp.