The Salem Witch Trials

The Salem Witch Trials

Witch Hunting • Long history in Europe • Devil’s Mark • Water Test • Puritans brought their beliefs about witches with them to the New World

Margaret Jones • First woman to be executed for witchcraft in the American colonies • Between 1648 –1662- at least 14 witches hanged • No interest in witchcraft 1662-1692 • Why the resurgent interest in 1692 ?

Causes of the Resurgence in Witch Hunting • Growing lack of interest in the church • Loss of church members • Disrespectful ways that some colonists behaved • Fear that these things would bring punishment from God to the colony

Salem : The First Accusations • Betty Parris ( 9 years old) • Abigail Williams (11 years old) • Ann Putnam ( 12 years old) Developed strange behaviors Diagnosed as bewitched

Who bewitched the girls ? • Reverend Parris ( father of one of the girls) suspected his slave Tituba • The girls confessed to participating in Fortune Telling sessions with Tituba • Rev. Parris interrogated and beat Tituba into a confession of being a witch

The original Accused • Tituba • Sarah Good • Sarah Osborne

The original Accusers: seven afflicted girls • Betty Parris , Abigail Williams, Ann Putnam • Mercy Lewis ( a servant in the Putnam home) • Elizabeth Hubbard ( Dr. Grigg’s neice) • Susanna Sheldon & Mary Wolcott (neighbors of Reverend Parris)

The First HearingsThree kinds of Proof • Devils Mark • Testimony from villagers about past incidents • Spectral Evidence

Sarah Good • Beggar woman • Claimed she was innocent • Found guilty based on • Girl’s Spectral Evidence • Testimony from some villagers • Blamed Sarah Osborne for tormenting the girls

Sarah Osborne • 60 years old woman who was ill • Denied hurting the girls • Said she was a victim and bewitched herself • Found guilty based on • Sarah Good’s accusation

Tituba • Confessed to being a witch • Found guilty by confession • Named Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne • Accused two other unnamed witches • 3 day testimony

March – April 1692 • Whenever the girls could identify or “cry out” on someone the accused were arrested • At first the accused were unpopular or powerless people in the community • Eventually the accused included some of the most respected people in the community

Rebecca Nurse • 70 year old , respected church member • Accused by Abigail Williams at the insistence of Rev. Parris to name the “shape” she saw • Plead NOT GUILTY • Two spoke out in her behalf and were later accused and jailed

The Proctors • Rival family of the Putnams (who supported Reverend Parris) • Mary Warren ( one of the girls ) said the Proctors were innocent and the other girls were lying • Then she changed her story and joined the accusers

Sir William Phips • Newly appointed Governor of the Massachusetts colony • Upon hearing that the jails were full of accused witches he ordered the trials to begin at once • He left for an expedition to Canada and left the details of the trial to the Deputy Governor

Trial Procedures Established • Jury would be 12 male church members • Lawyers would not be allowed to advise suspects • Same evidence allowed as in hearings • Spectral evidence • Village testimony of past • Devils Mark

June 10, 1692 • Bridget Bishop • First tried • Found guilty sentenced to death • Hanged

First Challenge to the legitimacy of the Trials • One Judge resigned questioned the legitimacy of spectral evidence • Many Puritan leaders advised against the use of spectral evidence and the touch test • The Deputy Governor and other judges decided to continue to use these “proofs”

June, 1692 Trials • Sarah Good • Rebecca Nurse • Sarah Wildes • Elizabeth Howe • Susanna Martin Accused by the girls and other villagers Village protest ignored

July 19 , 1692 • All five women hanged • Jury required by judge to reconsider innocent verdict for Rebecca Nurse • On reconsideration found her guilty

August , 1692 Trials • First Males accused (wizards) • George Burroughs • John Proctor • John Willard • George Jacobs • No one missed the fact that no confessed witches had been hanged

August 19, 1692 • Four convicted wizards and one convicted witch ( Martha Carrier ) were hanged • Signs of questioning in the crowd

The Cory’s • Witchcraft was seeming to run in families • Carrier, Jacobs, Proctor, Good, Hobbs, Nurse and Cory families targeted • Martha Cory • Challenged the girls testimony and the validity of witchcraft ; found guilty • Giles Cory • Would not enter a plea ; tortured to death • Economic reasons for not entering a plea

Mary Easty • Convicted and sentenced to death • Wrote a letter to the judges challenging the proof used in the trials • False confessions to save themselves by naming others • Judges ignored her plea

September 22, 1692 • Eight more women including Martha Cory and Mary Easty hanged • Much sadness among the spectators • Beginning to feel something was wrong • Total of 19 hanged and one tortured to death by this date

More Objections to the Trials • Many colonial ministers outside of the village objected to the use of spectral evidence • Town of Andover resisted the accusations made by Ann Putnam and Mary Wolcott • Governor Phips on return from Canada took action to bring the trials to an end

Objections Force Change • Governor Phips released most of the accused from jail on a kind of bail • Determined the rest of the trials would be held in surrounding towns ( where the jury would not know the accused and accusers) • Jurors would be any male property owner not only church members • Spectral evidence not allowed

January 3, 1692 : First Trial under new rules • Charges dropped on most without spectral evidence • Only three of 52 suspects found guilty • Phips pardoned those three later • The rest of the trials followed same pattern above

The End of the Hysteria • Accused witches started bringing lawsuits against their accusers • Accusations ended • The girls “fits” disappeared • Public apologies made • Some property returned and financial compensation made to families of victims • Memorials made in remorse

The Salem Witch Trials