Salem Witch Trials of 1692 The Salem Witch Trials were a terrible time in the early days of American History. The Puritan villagers were frightened about losing their new home due to starvation, Indians, and illness. Fear allowed the trials to happen. The puritans began to lose control of the strict religious tenant that brought them here to the new land. When odd things happened in the colony they blamed the older women. They were scared of women’s independence. Women have always been known to be morally weaker and lustful natured. They have always been easily tempted into sin, traceable back to Adam and Eve. The women who were put on trial for being accused of witchcraft were the more vulnerable women of the colony. Women of the village …show more content…
First, someone in the village makes a complaint that someone in the village being a witch or preforming witchcraft on them. Then, Magistrate issues a warrant for the accused person. The next step, the person is examined for certain witchcraft marks and sent to jail if the assigned magistrate believes he or she is guilty. Then he or she is presented in front of a jury, and tried before the court of Oyer and Terminer. A jury then decides a verdict. He or she then receives the sentence, which is normally death by hanging on a certain date. Finally, the sheriff and his deputies carry out the set sentence on the set date. (Salem witchcraft trials …show more content…
It is said that when you feed the dog the victim’s urine in a cake it will lead to the witch who bewitched the victim. When a witch is brought to trial, they asked her to say the Lord’s Prayer. No matter how many times the Lord’s Prayer was repeated to her, she could not say it correctly. No witch can say the Lord’s Prayer. (Historychannel.com) George Burroughs was the only minister to be tried and executed for witchcraft in Salem. He had only been a minister for three years when he left. He had borrowed some money from the Putnam family and when he could not pay them back, conflict arose, this is when he left. He did however pay back the money twelve years later when he returned to Salem. Many people believed he was the “Ring Leader” of the witches and a “virtual priest to the Devil”. He was tired and hang on August 19, 1692.
Nineteen men and women hung from the tree of destruction, for they were the ornaments of hysteria. New England was supposed to be a land of opportunity for the Puritans. During the summer of 1692, Salem Village proved to a wretched example of this; twenty people were falsely accused of witchcraft and were accordingly jailed and executed. Salem’s infamy has bewildered many, for nobody truly knows in entirety what caused the hysteria of the Salem Witch Trials in 1692. Clearly, there were a few possible causes of the hysteria; however, envious, young, single women; sexism; and lying little girls stand out as the main causes.
Paragraph 1- (Intro) The Salem Witch trials of 1692 were a dark and (prevalent) time for the people of Salem, Massachusetts. During this time, nearly 200-300 people were convicted of witchcraft, and over 60 were officially hanged by the government. This must all be looked at from the colonists’ point of view- they had come from a land where religion was the most important aspect of their everyday life, keeping beliefs close to heart. They took this aspect to the New World, the area inhabited with mysterious other people’s foreign to them, where fears of the devil replaced common fears of everyday life. The floodgates of scapegoating did not truly start, although, until Tituba, a young slave, confessed of witchcraft herself.
In the Puritan colonists’ village, witchcraft is one of the things they fear the most among the Indian raids. During the ancient days, if people were caught being a witch, the penalty is death. The spectral evidence, fear, and accusations are the main reasons that cause the tragedy in Salem Witchcraft. It took 24 innocent victim’s lives and 200 people were accused. This tragedy starts in 1692 the difficult time in Salem Village, Massachusetts.
One of the most notorious periods of American history, the Salem witch trials of 1692 resulted in the execution by hanging of fourteen women and five men who were accused of being witches during a period of mass hysteria. In addition, one man was pressed to death by giant stones for refusing to even plea innocent. At least eight people died in prison, including infants and children alike. Additionally, nearly two hundred people were jailed for months awaiting a trial that never came. Due to the survival of a large multitude of records, including notes and official rulings, the true facts of accusations, trials, and even the executions are known by the public.
No one really knew if they were innocent or not,they just assumed. People who were executed were mostly women, and their family. Even 2 dogs were given the death penalty for being accused of working with the “witches”. Some other animals were killed too. Did you know, that people thought that the witches were trying to kill their children, when their kids actually had smallpox.
The court met next on June 29th and had heard the cases of five accused women. All five pleaded innocent. They took them in for questioning and when they returned they had changed their verdict to guilty. The women were hanged on July 19. By this time the witchcraft hysteria had spread not only to Salem Town but to Andover.
The Salem Witch Trials began around February 1692 and lasted until May 1693. During this time, it was really bad for the townspeople of Salem. There was an assumption that people were working with witchcraft, and being unsure who those people were, they were very insecure. They would blame anyone who was accused of this, and then they would execute anyone who seemed a little suspicious to the citizens of Salem. About twenty people were tried and executed.
What Caused The Salem Witch Trials? As we were sitting in the courtroom I could feel everyone staring at me like a was a serial killer about to be put away for life. However, what I was about to endure was much worse than that I was about to be hung for being a witch the worst crime to be accused of. As we were sitting there all I could think about was the 19 before me to be hung because of being accused of being witches
It was a series of hearings before local magistrates, which led to county court trials to persecute people accused of witchcraft. Trials took place against the theocratic, Puritan British colony where the church ruled in civil matters.
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.
The Accusations coming from Salem were far outside any previous pattern of witchcraft allegations ,not just women ,but men ,not just poor local people disliked for being angry or resented for their neediness ,but leaders of the community. Until recently ,historians saw that this last group of accusations as a sign
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.
The novel A Delusion of Satan written by Frances Hill describes the history of the Salem Witch Trials (“Salem”) in 1692, the causes and effects of the witch hysteria, and the biographies of major characters associated with the trials. In the novel, Hill started out explaining the Puritans’ beliefs and customs, the gender roles of men and women in Salem and why women were easily accused of being witches and practicing witchcraft in the 17th century. During that time, women were easily accused of practicing witchcraft because they were viewed as physically, politically and spiritually weaker than men. Men were perceived as the power, status, and worthy in the society, and they dominated women’s behavior and social status. In the 17th century,
Bridget Bishop, a resident of Salem, was the first person to be tried as a witch. Surprisingly, Bishop was accused of witch craft by the highest number of witneses. After Bishop, more than two hundred people were tried of practicing witchcraft and twenty were executed. Many of these accusations arose from jealous, lower class members of society, especially towards women who had come into a great deal of land or wealth. Three young children by the names of Elizabeth, Abigail, and Ann were the first three people to be “harmed” by the witches.
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). In 1689, English rulers William and Mary started a war with France in the American colonies which sent many refugees into the Essex County and Salem Village.