By: Michelle Wong 7A1-ID2

1. ★ The Salem Witch Trials ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ By: Michelle Wong 7A1-ID2

2. Introduction In 1692, the community of Salem, Massachusetts, sent many women and men to their deaths. Many were accused to be witches, causing chaos to rise from the once orderly Salem. They suffered through the process of being roughly interrogated, hurt, and shamed. People had turned against each other, one thinking that the other was a witch. With the slightest wrong movement or even an appearance flaw, someone’s life would be ruined. Because in the little town of Salem, no one was excused from the whispers of the citizens, all making their small decisions of who was one of the Devil’s servants and who was a regular human being.

3. During the freezing January of 1692, the small Puritan community of Salem Village, Massachusetts became the center of discussion. The children of Reverend Samuel Parris (9-year-old Betty, her younger sister, older brother, and 13-year-old orphan cousin, Abigail) were all living their lives as all Puritan children would. They all had to do household chores, like cooking and cleaning. The Puritans believed that being idle was a sign for the Devil to do mischief. They didn’t want to be in the sights of the Devil, so everyone always had something to do no matter how big or small. They read the Bible, but weren’t allowed to play games. Church was one of the only reasons why they left the house. Two slaves named John Indian and Tituba also lived in the Parris household. Betty and Abigail enjoyed listening to the stories that Tituba told about life in Barbados. She also told them about Barbadian magic. The girls already knew about a fortune-telling game that was played by many English colonists (cracking eggs in well water and reading the floating white words to see the name of their future husband/wife), but they didn’t know about Barbadian magic. Now, when they were secretly whispering to other Salem girls about it. Salem Village was going through a lot. They worried about a new charter that would allow them to continue owning land. Frequent outbreaks of smallpox was also a cause of distress. The native population was causing the most fear. But soon, the settlers began to treat those who they called “Indians” cruelly. Later on, the native people made reprisal attacks along with their French allies. Throughout the colonies, battles were beginning. The villagers of Salem were growing more and more afraid.

4. On a cold day in February, Betty and Abigail fell ill. Their limbs moved involuntarily, they twisted in strange positions, they arms and legs jerked around, shouted bizarre words that couldn’t be understood, crouched under chairs, and cowered in fear while underneath them. Several of their friends began to act the same way. The other sick girls included Ann Putnam Jr. (age 12), Mercy Lewis (age 19), Mary Walcott (age 16), Elizabeth Hubbard, and Mary Warren (age 20). Elizabeth and Mercy was orphans, like Abigail. Mary Walcott lost her mother when she was 8. Ann and Betty were daughters of landowners. Mary Warren, Elizabeth, and Mercy were maidservants. The local physician, Dr. Griggs, was called to examine Betty and Abigail. He didn’t find an illness that had the symptoms of theirs. From what he could tell, they weren’t poisoned, they didn’t need bleeding (draining patients of supposed excess blood), and that their limbs didn’t need setting. He didn’t know how to heal them. He pronounced them “bewitched.” He said that “the evil man is upon them.” Dr. Griggs told them that they should pray and fast. He said that it was the only way to cure them. Medicine that could solve this problem wasn’t invented yet. This was what started the…

5. Now, you might be thinking: Why would anyone believe that garbage? It’s obviously not true! But that wasn’t the case in the seventeenth century. Most religious people actually believed in evil spirits, magic, and witches. They thought that witches made a pact with the Devil and were presented with powers. Powers like the ability to curse a neighbor with poor luck and disease were given to those that had an alliance with the Devil. Witches could be any gender or age. Witches were also believed to have an animal “familiar.” An animal “familiar” was an animal that helped work the evil magic of a witch. ← Animal “Familiar” The people back then were very superstitious, so what happened next isn’t a surprise…

6. Although everyone prayed and fasted for the girls, they didn’t get any better. Even the prayers from important religious men didn’t help. And so, the girls continued to convulse, contort, and shout crazy words. When they were calm (during a very rare moment), the girls were asked who did this to them. They responded with 3 names: Sarah Good, Sarah Osbourn, and Tituba. The girls said that they saw specters, which were floating spirits, that no one else could see. They said that the specters were doing terrible things like pinching and pricking the girls, which cause them to drop on the floors, shrieking like lunatics. On March 1st, Tituba confessed to being a witch. In the beginning, people thought that she was just bluffing. They thought that she didn’t know of any witchcraft. But then, she started speaking about “sister witches,” a strange man dressed in black, and flying on a stick. After saying that, everyone believed that she was telling the truth about being a witch. In addition, they believed Betty and Abigail. This was a smart move made by Tituba. With that confession, it saved her from being killed. What she said made her important to the court; without her, the judges believed that they would never find other witches that may be in on this too. If Tituba hadn’t confessed, people would have thought that she was lying, and that would give her a death sentence right away. → Tituba

7. Since Betty Parris was very young (age 9), they made her stay with another family in Salem Town, which was near by. The girls who were still in Salem became instant celebrities. Ann Putnam Jr. and Mary Walcott were asked to visit sick people in other places to see if their illnesses were connected to the Devil. Some of the girls were asked to touch suspected witches to see if they could feel any evil spirits on them. If the girls said that they felt the Devil on them, those people were automatically accused of being a witch. It was as if the girls’ word was law. After being unnoticed for their entire lives, they became the center of attention instantly. Everyone knew about them, including those who lived in faraway places such as Boston. Although the girls’ word was what mattered, other people were secretly guessing about who was a witch in their free time. People were wary of each other, as if one of them would use witchcraft and curse them all.

8. Soon, the courthouses and jailhouse were filled with those that were said to be witches. Even those who were well thought of wouldn’t be excused from this. Two members of the church and landowners named Martha and Giles Corey, respected townswoman Rebecca Nurse, and John and Elizabeth Procter (who didn’t even live in the village) were all accused to be witches, 5-year-old Dorcas Good confessed to being a witch so that she could be with her mother (Sarah Good). Reverend George Burroughs, who had preached in Salem Village previously, was accused of committing murder because he was under the Devil’s influence. Over 141 people were arrested because of the Salem Witch Trials. Giles Corey died a very painful death: he was pressed to death under a pile of rocks! Sarah Good was hanged.

9. Just as 1692 was ending, the new Puritan governor of Massachusetts, Sir William Phips, came to Salem Village. He wanted to see why everyone was making a big deal out of witchcraft. Sir William Phips’s wife was also one of those accused of witchcraft, giving him more of a reason to visit. Other towns had also began accusing people of witchcraft. Phips declared that no one would be given permission to testify about seeing ghosts, since that couldn’t be proven. Without evidence that could be seen by all, he said that no one could be accused of being a witch.

10. Epilogue At the end of the Salem Witch Trials, 19 people had been killed because they were assumed to be “witches.” Four others who were awaiting trial died in jail. Governor Phips excused the people still in jail, but they had to stay there until their family paid all of their jail money. (It was like bail.) Tituba was sold by Reverend Parris; it paid her jail fees. In 1712, money was given to some of the families that were suffering. In 1752, Salem Village’s name was changed to Danvers because they wouldn’t be associated with the trials by name anymore. In 1957, Massachusetts formally apologized for the Salem Witch Trials. In 1992, the Massachusetts House of Representatives passed a resolution that acknowledges that those who were accused during the trials were innocent.

11. Possibilities of What Could Have Occurred There are many possibilities/guesses about why the girls were acting in such a crazy manner. I’ll tell you the top 5 predictions now… 1 ~ The girls were telling the truth about witches in Salem. 2 ~ The girls were bored and seeking attention. 3 ~ The girls were playing a game and became too scared to stop. 4 ~ The girls were suffering from a physical or mental issue. 5 ~ The girls were put up to their actions as part of town politics. Now that you’ve seen the top 5 guesses, answer this: What do you think was the cause of the girls’ behavior? Maybe you agree with one of these. Or maybe you have a hypothesis of your own.

12. Book and Website Sources ★ 1 ~ Jane Yolen and Heidi ElisabetYolenStemple, The Salem Witch Trials: An Unsolved Mystery from History. New York: Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division, 2004. 2 ~ Joy Hakim, Making Thirteen Colonies. New York, Oxford University Press, Inc., 1993. 3 ~ Marilynne K. Roach, In the Days of The Salem Witchcraft Trials. USA: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1996. 4 ~ http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/salem/salem.htm 5 ~ http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/brief-salem.html 6 ~ http://school.discoveryeducation.com/schooladventures/salemwitchtrials/

13. Image Sources ★ ~ http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/salem/salemexamof.jpg ~ http://www.how-to-draw-cartoons-online.com/image-files/cartoon_witch.gif ~ http://static6.depositphotos.com/1150740/642/v/110/depositphotos_6420861-Flying-halloween-cartoon-witch-on-the-broom.jpg ~ http://www2.iath.virginia.edu/salem/images/pylewitch1.jpg ~ http://paulbarker.org/assets/images/Graphics/Salem%20Witch%20Trials%202.jpg ~ http://www.waring.education.ucf.edu/f09/sse6388/6388_lessons/Witch/The%20Salem% 20Witch%20Trials%20website_files/image007.gif ~ http://myjwill.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/questions.jpg ~ http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/img-thing?.out=jpg&size=l&tid=4061653 ~ http://a1.phobos.apple.com/us/r1000/037/Purple/0a/55/f9/mzl.tyckemar.png ~ http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_R9JLKlPNYPo/TPYfy8OMUaI/AAAAAAAAQ7E/-mIl4pGl0kA/s1600/sarahgood.jpg ~ http://www.clipartheaven.com/clipart/kids_stuff/images_%28g__z%29/girls_whispering_ 1.gif ~ http://lh3.ggpht.com/_kcCOeL8wsek/Sv11WESJsRI/AAAAAAAABXE/ZSrtrytcvGA/IMG_ 4630.JPG ~ http://coryfamsoc.com/resources/articles/images/Sal_hang.jpg ~ http://www.schooljotter.com/imagefolders/coldean/children-at-school.jpg ~ http://www.imageenvision.com/150/13090-witch-casting-a-spell-clipart-by-djart.jpg ~ http://www.wallpapersgo.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/Cute-Dog.jpg

14. Image Sources (continued) ~ http://www.clipartheaven.com/clipart/holidays/halloween/witch-hat-clipart.gif ~ http://www2.iath.virginia.edu/salem/images/people/tituba1.jpg ~ http://hdwallpaperpics.com/wallpaper/picture/image/wicked_witch.gif

15. An Interactive Site For Those Who Wish To Learn More… http://www.nationalgeographic.com/salem/

16. Fin