Alex

Witches and Potions-The Salem Witch Trials

 

Table Of Contents

Introduction……………………………………….....1

Hysteria in Salem-Before The Trials………………...2

Fear Grows-The Trials……………………………….3

Sad Times in Salem- After The Trials……………….4

Conclusion…………………………………………...5

Glossary………………………………………….......6

   Introduction

Between the years of 1692-1693, many people were mistaken as witches and were tortured for performing witchcraft in many ways such as being pressed to death by bricks, being hung, and even getting burned. There were many events that happened during the Salem Witch Trials. It all began with a group of young girls falling ill. Due to this, the gruesome court cases took place, leading to confessions and punishments.  In the end, the town of Salem was never the same.

2

Chapter One

     Hysteria in Salem- Before The Trials

The Salem Witch Trials had occurred in a town named Salem, Massachusetts. Salem is a town located 25 miles northeast of Boston. The Salem Witch Trials was very cold due to its location and because it took place in the winter. At the time Salem was a small town at around 525 people as the population.

In the cold winter of 1692, a young girl by the name of Betty Parris had attempted a fortune-telling technique. The technique she had attempted was to drop an egg white into a glass of water so that a symbol would appear onto the egg white. Betty raised her hand above the the glass of water and dropped the egg white. The symbol was supposed to tell Betty Parris more about her life, but the symbol she found was a coffin. Suddenly Betty Parris began acting very oddly, whether it was when she had fits, moved her bodies in odd and uncomfortable ways, or when she ran and hid under furniture. After this scary event, nine other young girls by the name of Abigail Williams, Susannah Sheldon, Mary Warren, Mary Walcott, Elizabeth Hubbard, Elizabeth Booth, Sarah Churchill, Mercy Lewis, and Ann Putnam had started to act just like Betty Parris, showing the same odd symptoms. Although, it could be that the girls had Ergot Poisoning. Ergot Poisoning is a certain fungus, that when eaten gives you strange symptoms like the ones they had done. This perhaps was the most logic theory describing why the girls had gotten sick. The Ten girls had then spread the word to the town of Salem that they had been possessed by the devil. During their strange acts they had also claimed to see “witches”, this started the infamous Salem Witch Trials.

Tituba
 https://en.wikipedia.org

On March,1,1692 the accusations of witchcraft had started. Betty Parris and Abigail Williams had accused Sarah Good (a poor beggar),Sarah Osborne (a mother), and Tituba (A Caribbean slave woman). These accusations were the first of many, soon all of these women would be put into trial for witchcraft. This had precipitated the witch hunts of Salem. You may have thought these were the only accusations the girls made, but the four girls had actually accused more and more people each day of witchcraft, eventually accusing over 200 people of witchcraft. In spite of this, they had to hold trials for each one of the accused   “witches”. This also created a feeling of suspicion among the townspeople of Salem.                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

                                            

3

Chapter Two

Fear Grows-The Trials

First, if a person was suspected of practicing witchcraft, the local magistrates decided whether the suspicion was believable or not possible.  If the complaint was believed, the person was arrested and brought in for a public examination, or questioning, where the magistrates essentially talked the person into confessing.  After they confessed they were brought to jail and then handed over to be dealt with in a superior court.  Next, was to gather  witnesses before a grand jury. A person could either be accused of being involved with witchcraft, or for making an illegal deal with the Devil.  Once they were accused of a serious crime, the defendant went to trial, sometimes on the very same day.  The case against the “witch” would be tried in front of a grand jury and the jury would then decide if they are innocent or guilty.

If they were guilty they would follow these certain steps. First, if the “witch” was guilty he/she would  be given a death sentence. For example, the accused “witch” would get a certain day that they would die on, and how they will die. The superior court would then finalize and carry out the death sentence. Once  a death sentence was finalized by court, the sentence cannot be changed, and all sayings were final. The accused “witch” could do nothing but wait until the day of his or her death sentence was due. Once the death sentence’s date was due, the accused “witch” was to go to a certain location and was to be put to death in a certain way. The most common deaths were to be hung,burned, and one of the accused “witches” was even pressed to death by bricks!

Many people/events were in the saying of the “witch’s” death. For instance, William Phips, the governor in Massachusetts, had ordered an establishment of a court to hear the witchcraft cases. Some of the judges at the time were Hathorne,Samuel Sewall, and William Stoughton. Every judge had a major saying in the death of a “witch”. The judges would hear the defendant’s saying,  then they decided if it was believable or not, if it was not believable they would simply decide to give them a death sentence, like mentioned in the first paragraph in this chapter. The Massachusetts General Court actually decided to make the process of the “witch’s” death faster. But after one day of that process, they decided not to, they

let the witch live longer after the death sentence was said. Perhaps, they might have given the “witches” a longer time to live after the death sentence was given out because the court might have wanted the “witch” to enjoy her last days of life, and then execute her terribly. This makes sense because the people treated these “witches” terribly.

Chapter Three

Sad Times in Salem-After The Trials

Following the Salem Witch Trials, there were very many apologies, one even from one of the accusers, and  most judges in the court apologized. Most people in the saying of the “witch’s” death had apologized in a different way. For example, judge Samuel Sewall admitted to blame and shame upon himself in front of his church. Samuel Parris,( Betty Parris’s father) the Reverend, apologized 2 years later directly saying “ I may have been mistaken”. Although, many people did not like what he had done so they had kicked him out of Salem. Another apology came from one of the main accusers named Ann Putnam, she had accused 62 people of witchcraft, she stated that she was very sorry for her actions. She apologized publicly in 1706 saying,

“I, then being in my childhood,should… be made an instrument for the accusing of several people for grievous crimes,whereby there live was taken away from them, now I have good reason to believe they were innocent persons.”

Twelve jurors took blame for what they had done, and claimed that they were sadly deluded and mistaken. Many others apologized due to their impact on the Salem Witch Trials.

Also, the Salem Witch Trials had a major impact on the people in the town of Salem and on society. First, it tore families of Salem apart in many ways. For example, people started to question their family members,friends, and citizens of Salem. Each accusation put pressure on themselves to accuse another of witchcraft, to save themselves, tearing the families of Salem apart. This lead to many deaths in families, leaving many to fear. Now realizing this, this could have possibly been a good thing.  That was said because it may have brought families together during this event, and made them appreciate each other more.

Another effect was on society. After the Salem Witch Trials had occurred this then lead to multiple other witch hunts around the world. Each and every other witch hunt had the same reaction, that was, if it happened in Salem why can’t it happen here? This continued the fear and the hysteria that lead to more and more witch hunts around the world. This was all started because of the infamous Salem Witch Trials.

Conclusion

The Salem Witch Trials was a very important event in history. Much can be taken away to learn from this horrible event. The Salem Witch Trials started from a simple event but grew to something major, how the trials worked were very unfair, and how the Witch Trials may have gotten some of the people to apologize for their actions, but it turned many other people around the world into heartless people. It is very helpful to learn about this event so we can prevent it from happening now or in a future time. We can learn about hysteria and fear in colonial times with this event. Much can be told about the Salem Witch Trials, but we will never truly know how it felt to be living in the town of Salem in the years 1692-1693.

 Glossary

Infamous:  Having an exceedingly bad reputation

Precipitated:  cause an event or situation, typically one that is bad or undesirable to happen suddenly, unexpectedly, or prematurely.

Magistrates: A civil officer or lay judge who administers the law, especially one who conducts a court that deals with minor offenses and holds preliminary hearings for more serious ones

Witnesses: a person who sees an event, typically a crime or accident, take place.

Establishment: To build or create

Reverend: used as a title or form of address to members of the clergy

Jurors: Members of a jury