Salem, Massachusetts is a quaint little town north of Boston that is well known for the historic Witch Trials. I decided to go check it out and found that Salem is an adorable, quaint little town.
The House of the Seven Gables
This house inspired the Gothic novel written Nathaniel Hawthorne. The novel follows a New England family and their ancestral home, their lives, love, crime and suspicion of the supernatural and witchcraft. The setting for the book was also inspired by ancestors of Hawthorne who had played a part in the Salem Witch Trials of 1692.
Salem Witch Museum
We took the tour at the Salem Witch Museum and found out about the history of the witch trials. Belief in the supernatural and specifically in the devil’s practice of giving witches the power to harm others emerged in Europe in the 14th century and was widespread in colonial New England. Mass persecution of suspected witches was such a frequent occurrence that by one estimate, some 50,000 men and women were executed for witchcraft across Europe. With this knowledge, let's look at the events that lead to the hysteria and the Salem Witch Trials.
The history of the Salem With Trials
It is said that in January 1692, several young girls dabbled in fortune-telling in an attempt to learn more about their future husbands. Shortly after Betty Parris, Ann Putnam, Jr. and Abigail Williams began having fits and seizures and displayed strange behavior such as barking like dogs and complaining that invisible spirits were pinching them. Soon after, other afflicted girls soon started experiencing the same symptoms.
A local doctor, Dr. Griggs, was called in to examine the girls. Unable to find anything physically wrong with the girls, he suggested they were bewitched. Then the girls named three women they believed were bewitching them: Tituba, Sarah Good and Sarah Osbourne.
When the women were arrested and examined on March 1, Tituba was the first to confess to witchcraft in Salem Village. Initially denying her involvement in witchcraft, Tituba later confessed to making a "witch-cake", due to being beaten by Reverend Samuel Parris with the intention of getting a confession. This confession confirmed that the "Devil" invaded the colony and this sparked a mass hysteria and a massive witch hunt that quickly took over the town.
It was reported that Ann (age 12) and Abigail (age 11) became the most aggressive accusers.
Thomas and Edward Putnam filed most of the complaints against the accused themselves, on behalf of the afflicted girls who were too young to legally do so. It was said that the afflicted girls recorded testimonies may have been altered and tampered with by Thomas Putnam, who also served as a court clerk during the trials, indicating that he may have had an even bigger influence on the trials.
It is suggested that the Putnam family used the witchcraft hysteria as an excuse to seek their revenge against residents of Salem that they disapproved of.
An example is the complaints that Bridget Bishop was a witch. It is said that the community disapproved of Bridget because she had been married twice and was trying to control her step children's inheritance. Her accusers were Elizabeth Hubbard, Ann Putnam, Abigail Williams, Mercy Lewis, and Mary Walcott. As soon as Bridget Bishop entered the courtroom, the afflicted girls fell into fits. Her case served as a model for future cases that followed a very predictable pattern. The afflicted girls made accusations, which were denied by the accused. One or more confessors validated the claim of the accusers and members of the community told of past acts of witchcraft. The court used spectral evidence as the only legal basis to convict Bridget Bishop. The jury gave a guilty verdict and Bridget was sentenced to death and was hanged at Gallow’s Hill on June 10, 1692.
Another example of this is one of the complaints was for Rebecca Nurse, a neighbor of Ann Putnam. It is believed that Rebecca Nurse was targeted by the Putnam family due to a decades-long rivalry between the Nurses and the Putnams. The feud began with a battle for land and continued with disputes about the boundary between adjoining property in Salem Village. Also, the Nurse family also disapproved of the newly appointed minister of Salem Village, Reverend Samuel Parris, Betty's father, whom was one of the Putnam family’s biggest supporter.
Most of the witnesses who testified against Rebecca Nurse were Ann Putnam, Abigail Williams, Edward Putnam, Thomas Putnam, John Putnam, Jr., Hannah Putnam, Samuel Parris, Henry Kenney, Mary Walcott, and Elizabeth Hubbard were either Putnam family members or friends of the family. Rebecca Nurse denied all of their accusations and was actually found not guilty at the end of her trial in June of 1692. However, upon reading the verdict in the courtroom, the afflicted girls began to suffer fits and Chief Justice William Stoughton asked the jury to reconsider their decision based on spectral evidence. The jury briefly deliberated and then came back with a guilty verdict. Nurse was sentenced to death and was hanged at Gallow’s Hill on July 19, 1692.
Another example is that the afflicted girls visited Gloucester by invitation and the girls accused a handful of local women there of witchcraft during that visit and accused several more during return visits. A total of nine women were arrested for witchcraft in Gloucester. They all underwent humiliating physical examinations by local women a one Doctor and it was said that strange growths were found on the intimate parts of their bodies that later is was said to be dry skin.
More than 200 people were falsely accused of practicing witchcraft, and 20 of them were executed. The Salem witch trials remain one of the most disturbing, traumatic moments in American history, and an example of the enigmatic nature of evil.
June 10th Hanging Execution
Bridget Bishop
July 19th Hanging Executions
Rebecca Nurse , Sarah Good, Susannah Martin, Elizabeth Howe, Sarah Wildes
August 19th Hanging Executions
George Burroughs, Martha Carrier, George Jacobs, Sr., John Proctor, John Willard
September 19th Torture Execution
Giles Corey was tortured to death by stones being piled upon his chest until his chest caved in. They tried to get a confession but he died.
September 22nd Hanging Executions
Martha Corey, Mary Eastey, Mary Parker, Alice Parker, Anne Pudeator, Wilmot Reed, Margaret Scott, Samuel Wardwell
Sarah Osborne died in jail because she did not have money to buy her way out of jail (May 10)
The rest, including Elizabeth Proctor, Tituba and John Alden Jr, were either never charged, found not guilty, pardoned or escaped from jail.
At the end of 1692, Governor William Phips decided to reorganize the colony’s courts to conform with English practice. Therefore, the use of spectral evidence was to be disregarded. This was the end of the Salem Witch Trials and Chief Justice William Stoughton left the bench in protest.
In 1706, Ann Putnam wanted to join the Salem Village Church and she was asked to confess any sins or wrong doings in order to join the church. She confessed to accusing innocent people of witchcraft and apologized for her actions that caused their executions. Ann Putnam was the only one of the afflicted girls to apologize for her role in the Salem Witch Trials.
Massachusetts Colony passed legislation restoring the good names of the condemned and providing financial restitution to their heirs in 1711.
Why was the community so willing to believe the worst, and why did people allow the officials’ to use cruel methods of torture? Fear and religion played a role and the people of Salem believed in the supernatural. The Salem Witch trials provide historical proof that it doesn’t necessarily require a Hitler, Osama bin Laden or Charles Manson to perpetrate horrifying evil. The Witch Trials proved that regular, rational and moral people are capable of committing or supporting cruel injustices to their own neighbors.
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