Introduction
Salem could be considered one of the bigger Massachusetts Bay towns that people first settled in by the Englishmen in the year 1626. Though in the 1630s and with the obtainable land of the coastal family immediately diminished and the longing for bigger and improved farmland, a set of settlers to set up homesteads to the west side of Salem. This region later became Salem village, and by the 1660s incorporated an extensive collection of broadly scattered farms.
Discussion
The Salem witchcraft was one of the most disreputable things of colonial American history which outburst in 1692. In the 16th and 17th century a significant number of people strongly believed in an evil paranormal power. They also believed that some individuals were ‘fifth columnists’ who connected with the evil power. The notion that your apparently usual neighbor was a defector in secret working for the foe was extremely terrifying. Belief in witchcraft was on the way out in the late 17th century, and in England, the final death sentence for witchcraft was in 1684. In America witch trials were rare. Many people in Salem lived in fear as they were afraid of accusations to be witches. They were extremely cautious of what they did or said.
In Hartford Connecticut, an execution of 3 people happened in 1963. From there on there were no more executions for a quarter of a century. Later on a woman from Boston by the name Mary Glover as a warning to Salem was then executed for allegations made on her for causing 4 kids to be possessed; It was then that a man named Cottosn Mather was involved in the case and later on published a book on it. He was assured of the realism of witchcraft and possessions at Salem. Mather engaged to the events that occurred at Salem he became a church minister and held meetings at the village of Salem.
Villagers who yearned for total church participation and membership in spiritual union at the Lord’s Table will in turn be required to travel many kilometers to the church located at the village of Salem. Though the villagers were excluded from payment of taxes of Salem church, for all other reasons, political and taxing were legally an element of Salem town. The village Salem was later on changed to Danvers after the witch mania had begun not knowing that it would afterwards spread to other communities. In the 1960s, the village of Salem had a population of about 600.at the time most of its citizens wanted to be separate from the village compared to the ones that did not want the latter. This then lead to some violent discrepancies between the two.
The witchcraft outbreak that seemed at first as only localized would further spread fast and by the end of 1692 may people from far communities as far as Salem, Beverly Marblehead, reading, Billerica, Charlestown, Topsfield, Gloucester, and Malden would soon be accused by different ‘afflicted persons’ by the use of witchcraft on them. By the end of 1692, more than 150 people had been tested and sent to jail. Women and men, influential also rich as well as hapless and poor were entangled in frightening legal argument. A number of 50 falsely confessed being witches made a deal with Satan to destruct the people of the town in exchange for favors and remarkable powers.
In January 1962, the witch hunt begun in Salem, and lead to deaths of more than 20 people. Normally in most parts of Europe, the witches were burned at the stake, but in the north of America and England colonies, the punishment was by hanging. In total 19 people were condemned to death by hanging and an 80 year old man pressed to death. The old man was allegedly accused of being one of witches and had to either plead guilty or not before any trials could even take place. The man strongly refused to plead to any charges laid upon him. Four more people died in prison awaiting their trials. An 80 year old man was heaped heavy weights on him to try and get him to talk, but it was all in vain till his last dying breath. He died from torture.
The witch mania then started when two little lads 11 year old Abigail Williams and her cousin Betty Parris who was 9 years tried fortune telling. The two were staying with reverend Samuel Parris who was Betty’s father. During the winter holidays, the two girls and their friends dabbled with fortune telling by means of breaking raw eggs into a glass by trying to interpret shapes formed beneath. Reverend Parris family owned a slave called tituba. The name tituba meant a black slave, and she was Arawak Indian. Though the meaning of her name had no liable evidence to back up that she was indeed black. She was actually native American and believed that she may have been there when the fortune telling was taking place. She suggested having told the girls tales about witchcraft and in turn influenced them.
In January 20th 1692, Doctor William Griggs was called due to the kids having strange fits but the doctor could not enlighten the family on what was happening to them. He is claimed to have started a series of events by claiming the kids were bewitched. Soon after other girls by the names Sarah Churchill aged 20 years, 19 year old mercy Lewis, Elizabeth Hubbard aged 17 years, Elizabeth booth and Susan Sheldon aged 18 years, 16 year old Mary Walcott, and last but not least 20 year old Mary warren begun to have the same behaviors. Some cases of young girls having strange fits were seen in parts of England, and accusations flew everywhere, but it could not be compared to the utter scale of accusations in Salem.
A woman named Mary Sibley convinced Tituba and her husband john to bake a ‘witch cake’ on February 25th. Apparently the cake was baked from the contents of rye and urine of the two original girls, Abigail Williams and her cousin Betty Parris. During those days, it was believed that if one assumed a person was bewitched they could bake a witch cake and then feed it to the dogs. If the dog, in turn, behaved like the afflicted person, it was seen as evidence that it was indeed witchcraft that was taking place. In this case, the witch cake was given to one of the dogs, and it later on had the same behaviors as the afflicted girls, and that was seen as a symbol that witchcraft was indeed liable.
The girls then pointed out those that were responsible. The blame was laid on three women namely Sarah Osborne, Tituba the slave and Sarah Good and most importantly all of them had low status. If the girls had blamed esteemed members of the society, they may not have been believed. Sarah Good was poor and begged for food; Tituba was looked down upon with her to be a mere slave; and Sarah Osborne was not one of the church goers, for she had not attended in over a year.
The three women were then arrested on the 29th of February 1692 and were examined by Judge John Hawthorne and Judge Jonathan Corwin on March 1st. Miss Good and Miss Osborne denied the charges, but Tituba confessed. Conceivably she felt that if she denied the accusations she would not be believed, after all she was only a slave. Tituba may have also prayed that if she confesses she would be spared. If so she was indeed right. She was sentenced to prison for a while, but no execution followed. When the witch agitation was over Tituba withdrew her confession.
The most dreadful aspects of the witch madness were that if one happened to be accused and confessed their lives would be spared. Nonetheless if, they happened to deny the accusations one was convicted and hanged. In addition if one expressed skepticism concerning the witch trials one was at the time putting themselves in danger since they might be accused of being a witch. Otherwise, the two other women Miss Osborn and Miss Good continued to deny participation in the witchcraft. Sarah Osborne later died in prison while awaiting trial on 10th may.
In the meantime, many people were arrested. To begin with Tituba stated that she had met a “tall man from Boston” in her confessions, which the authorities believed he must have been Satan. She claimed that she was forced to write a book, which had other names written in it which assured the authorities that there must be other witches in the village of Salem apart from those that were initially arrested. Furthermore, Ann Putnam accused a woman named Martha Corey of being a witch in mid-march together with an old woman named Rebecca nurse. Soon many people were arrested on May 27th 1692 and the governor sir William Phips of 1651 to 1695 set up a unique court of terminal and oyer to act on them.
The English settler in the 17th century believed in the existence of the devil and likelihood of witchcraft affecting his day to day life. Witches were mostly thought of as humans and typically women who had accepted to serve the devil. They helped in the destruction of the Christian community and in turn would attain favors and some surprising powers from Satan. In the early 15th century in Europe tens of thousands of the witches were literally put to death once they had been exposed. Witchcraft was believed to be a heresy against the church. One of the heretic’s punishments was done by being burnt at the stake. England had run away from the impact of the continental style of witch hunt that was used. All this was not till the mid 16th century in England that the crime against witchcraft was punishable only by death. Starting then till the end of seventeen century expected 1000 English witches would in turn be found outside hanging.
Conclusion
The witch trials and death sentences which happened were much fueled by politics, economics, family feuds, religion and the fears of the people. The witch trials in Salem were of much significance to the history of America because it demonstrated the wide social formation of the New England which shaped the means of American politics and law.
In 1702, the of Massachusetts turned over the convictions for witchcraft in Salem, and in the year 1711 they allowed reimbursement to the families of the victims bringing the whole remorseful episode to the ending. By the beginning, of the 18th century ideas in witches eventually died out. Finally, a commemoration was held to those who were erroneously executed at Salem.
Salem could be considered one of the bigger Massachusetts Bay towns that people first settled in by the Englishmen in the year 1626. Though in the 1630s and with the obtainable land of the coastal family immediately diminished and the longing for bigger and improved farmland, a set of settlers to set up homesteads to the west side of Salem. This region later became Salem village, and by the 1660s incorporated an extensive collection of broadly scattered farms.
Discussion
The Salem witchcraft was one of the most disreputable things of colonial American history which outburst in 1692. In the 16th and 17th century a significant number of people strongly believed in an evil paranormal power. They also believed that some individuals were ‘fifth columnists’ who connected with the evil power. The notion that your apparently usual neighbor was a defector in secret working for the foe was extremely terrifying. Belief in witchcraft was on the way out in the late 17th century, and in England, the final death sentence for witchcraft was in 1684. In America witch trials were rare. Many people in Salem lived in fear as they were afraid of accusations to be witches. They were extremely cautious of what they did or said.
In Hartford Connecticut, an execution of 3 people happened in 1963. From there on there were no more executions for a quarter of a century. Later on a woman from Boston by the name Mary Glover as a warning to Salem was then executed for allegations made on her for causing 4 kids to be possessed; It was then that a man named Cottosn Mather was involved in the case and later on published a book on it. He was assured of the realism of witchcraft and possessions at Salem. Mather engaged to the events that occurred at Salem he became a church minister and held meetings at the village of Salem.
Villagers who yearned for total church participation and membership in spiritual union at the Lord’s Table will in turn be required to travel many kilometers to the church located at the village of Salem. Though the villagers were excluded from payment of taxes of Salem church, for all other reasons, political and taxing were legally an element of Salem town. The village Salem was later on changed to Danvers after the witch mania had begun not knowing that it would afterwards spread to other communities. In the 1960s, the village of Salem had a population of about 600.at the time most of its citizens wanted to be separate from the village compared to the ones that did not want the latter. This then lead to some violent discrepancies between the two.
The witchcraft outbreak that seemed at first as only localized would further spread fast and by the end of 1692 may people from far communities as far as Salem, Beverly Marblehead, reading, Billerica, Charlestown, Topsfield, Gloucester, and Malden would soon be accused by different ‘afflicted persons’ by the use of witchcraft on them. By the end of 1692, more than 150 people had been tested and sent to jail. Women and men, influential also rich as well as hapless and poor were entangled in frightening legal argument. A number of 50 falsely confessed being witches made a deal with Satan to destruct the people of the town in exchange for favors and remarkable powers.
In January 1962, the witch hunt begun in Salem, and lead to deaths of more than 20 people. Normally in most parts of Europe, the witches were burned at the stake, but in the north of America and England colonies, the punishment was by hanging. In total 19 people were condemned to death by hanging and an 80 year old man pressed to death. The old man was allegedly accused of being one of witches and had to either plead guilty or not before any trials could even take place. The man strongly refused to plead to any charges laid upon him. Four more people died in prison awaiting their trials. An 80 year old man was heaped heavy weights on him to try and get him to talk, but it was all in vain till his last dying breath. He died from torture.
The witch mania then started when two little lads 11 year old Abigail Williams and her cousin Betty Parris who was 9 years tried fortune telling. The two were staying with reverend Samuel Parris who was Betty’s father. During the winter holidays, the two girls and their friends dabbled with fortune telling by means of breaking raw eggs into a glass by trying to interpret shapes formed beneath. Reverend Parris family owned a slave called tituba. The name tituba meant a black slave, and she was Arawak Indian. Though the meaning of her name had no liable evidence to back up that she was indeed black. She was actually native American and believed that she may have been there when the fortune telling was taking place. She suggested having told the girls tales about witchcraft and in turn influenced them.
In January 20th 1692, Doctor William Griggs was called due to the kids having strange fits but the doctor could not enlighten the family on what was happening to them. He is claimed to have started a series of events by claiming the kids were bewitched. Soon after other girls by the names Sarah Churchill aged 20 years, 19 year old mercy Lewis, Elizabeth Hubbard aged 17 years, Elizabeth booth and Susan Sheldon aged 18 years, 16 year old Mary Walcott, and last but not least 20 year old Mary warren begun to have the same behaviors. Some cases of young girls having strange fits were seen in parts of England, and accusations flew everywhere, but it could not be compared to the utter scale of accusations in Salem.
A woman named Mary Sibley convinced Tituba and her husband john to bake a ‘witch cake’ on February 25th. Apparently the cake was baked from the contents of rye and urine of the two original girls, Abigail Williams and her cousin Betty Parris. During those days, it was believed that if one assumed a person was bewitched they could bake a witch cake and then feed it to the dogs. If the dog, in turn, behaved like the afflicted person, it was seen as evidence that it was indeed witchcraft that was taking place. In this case, the witch cake was given to one of the dogs, and it later on had the same behaviors as the afflicted girls, and that was seen as a symbol that witchcraft was indeed liable.
The girls then pointed out those that were responsible. The blame was laid on three women namely Sarah Osborne, Tituba the slave and Sarah Good and most importantly all of them had low status. If the girls had blamed esteemed members of the society, they may not have been believed. Sarah Good was poor and begged for food; Tituba was looked down upon with her to be a mere slave; and Sarah Osborne was not one of the church goers, for she had not attended in over a year.
The three women were then arrested on the 29th of February 1692 and were examined by Judge John Hawthorne and Judge Jonathan Corwin on March 1st. Miss Good and Miss Osborne denied the charges, but Tituba confessed. Conceivably she felt that if she denied the accusations she would not be believed, after all she was only a slave. Tituba may have also prayed that if she confesses she would be spared. If so she was indeed right. She was sentenced to prison for a while, but no execution followed. When the witch agitation was over Tituba withdrew her confession.
The most dreadful aspects of the witch madness were that if one happened to be accused and confessed their lives would be spared. Nonetheless if, they happened to deny the accusations one was convicted and hanged. In addition if one expressed skepticism concerning the witch trials one was at the time putting themselves in danger since they might be accused of being a witch. Otherwise, the two other women Miss Osborn and Miss Good continued to deny participation in the witchcraft. Sarah Osborne later died in prison while awaiting trial on 10th may.
In the meantime, many people were arrested. To begin with Tituba stated that she had met a “tall man from Boston” in her confessions, which the authorities believed he must have been Satan. She claimed that she was forced to write a book, which had other names written in it which assured the authorities that there must be other witches in the village of Salem apart from those that were initially arrested. Furthermore, Ann Putnam accused a woman named Martha Corey of being a witch in mid-march together with an old woman named Rebecca nurse. Soon many people were arrested on May 27th 1692 and the governor sir William Phips of 1651 to 1695 set up a unique court of terminal and oyer to act on them.
The English settler in the 17th century believed in the existence of the devil and likelihood of witchcraft affecting his day to day life. Witches were mostly thought of as humans and typically women who had accepted to serve the devil. They helped in the destruction of the Christian community and in turn would attain favors and some surprising powers from Satan. In the early 15th century in Europe tens of thousands of the witches were literally put to death once they had been exposed. Witchcraft was believed to be a heresy against the church. One of the heretic’s punishments was done by being burnt at the stake. England had run away from the impact of the continental style of witch hunt that was used. All this was not till the mid 16th century in England that the crime against witchcraft was punishable only by death. Starting then till the end of seventeen century expected 1000 English witches would in turn be found outside hanging.
Conclusion
The witch trials and death sentences which happened were much fueled by politics, economics, family feuds, religion and the fears of the people. The witch trials in Salem were of much significance to the history of America because it demonstrated the wide social formation of the New England which shaped the means of American politics and law.
In 1702, the of Massachusetts turned over the convictions for witchcraft in Salem, and in the year 1711 they allowed reimbursement to the families of the victims bringing the whole remorseful episode to the ending. By the beginning, of the 18th century ideas in witches eventually died out. Finally, a commemoration was held to those who were erroneously executed at Salem.
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