Salem Witch Trials

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“From June through September of 1692, nineteen men and women, all having been convicted of witchcraft, were carted to Gallows Hill, a barren slope near Salem Village, for hanging. Another man of over eighty years was pressed to death under heavy stones for refusing to submit to a trial on witchcraft charges. Hundreds of others faced accusations of witchcraft. Dozens languished in jail for months without trials. Then, almost as soon as it had begun, the hysteria that swept through Puritan Massachusetts ended.” (Linder)

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“Why did this travesty of justice occur? Why did it occur in Salem? Nothing about this tragedy was inevitable. Only an unfortunate combination of an ongoing frontier war, economic conditions, congregational strife, teenage boredom, and personal jealousies can account for the spiraling accusations, trials, and executions that occurred in the spring and summer of 1692.” (Linder)

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In the years that followed, the colonies and its leader admitted the trials were a mistake and compensated the families of those convicted. The story of the trials has become synonymous with paranoia and injustice, and the events continue to bewitch the imagination more than three centuries later.

Though the madness and subsequent executions that accompanied the Salem witch trials were a dark period in American history, there is much to be learned from them. The trials should warn us to think hard about how to best safeguard and improve our system of justice.

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The hysteria that swept through Salem Village, Massachusetts began in January 1692 when several young girls began to display unusual behavior. The community was at a loss to explain the seizures, senseless screaming, and trance-like states that afflicted the young women. Physicians who examine the girls could find no cause of the disturbing behavior. Since the source of their afflictions were not attributable to a physical malady, it was reasoned that it must be the work of Satan.

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Later, in February the village began fasting and praying in hopes to cast away the influences of the devil. The afflicted girls were pressured to reveal who in the community was to blame for their behavior. A total of three women were identified and examined. One, Tituba, confessed to seeing the devil who appeared to her “who sometimes appeared as a dog or a hog and who asked her to sign in his book and to do his work.” Even more troubling, Tituba confessed that a conspiracy of witches permeated Salem Village. Tituba’s confession succeeded in transforming her to a central figure in the expanding prosecutions as well as silence most skeptics. Salem began witch hunting with zeal.

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Primary Sources

http://historyofmassachusetts.org/the-petition-to-free-rebecca-nurse/

The Petition to free Accused Witch, Rebecca Nurse

http://salem.lib.virginia.edu/texts/tei/swp

Verbatim Transcripts of Court Records

http://salem.lib.virginia.edu/letters/index.html

A Collection of letters written by Salem citizens

http://xtf.lib.virginia.edu/xtf/view?docId=modern_english/uvaGenText/tei/BurNarr.xml

Narratives of the Witchcraft Cases, 1648-1706

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Secondary Sources

http://www.salemwitchmuseum.com/

The official website of the Salem Witch Museum in Salem, Massachusetts

http://www.salemweb.com/memorial/

A timeline of the events in Salem surrounding the famous trials

http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/salem/SAL_ACCT.HTM

The Witchcraft Trials in Salem: A Commentary, by Douglas Linder

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The last of the so-called “witches were released from prison in Salem Massachusetts on September 22nd of 1693 and the Salem Witch Trails officially ended. During the previous year, one to two hundred people in the Salem area had been imprisoned. Twenty-four died and fifty-five falsely admitted to witchcraft.

It wasn’t until 1957, more than three centuries after they were accused, tried and hanged on Gallows Hill in Salem, Massachusetts, that the last “witches" were exonerated by the state, and in 1992 a memorial was erected in the town of Salem to honor the deaths of people accused of witchcraft.

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The effect of the trials did not end at the release of the witches. The aftermath can be realized even today. Depictions of the Salem witch trials are abound in art, literature and even Hollywood. Though an allegory of McCarthyism, when the government blacklisted accused communists, Arthur Miller’s famous 1953 play, The Crucible, is a stylized story of the Salem witch trials. In the Doctor Who Past Doctor Adventures novel, The Witch Hunters, by Steve Lyons, the main characters visit Salem in the heat of the witch trials and meet many historical figures such as Reverend Samuel Parris, Rebecca Nurse, and Abigail Williams. There’s an abundance of cinematic depictions of the Salem witch trials as well. In the summer of 1993 Disney released Hocus Pocus, a farce about a trio of Salem witches, starring Bette Midler. Though it was met with negative reviews, time has turned this film into a cult classic and Halloween favorite. Years later, in 1996 a film adaptation of Miller’s The Crucible, starring Daniel Day-Lewis and Winona Ryder was released. While the film was not a box office success it did prove that even after over 300 years, the occurrences in Salem are an important part of American history that will never be forgotten.

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Salem Witch Trials

In 17th-century colonial North America, the supernatural was considered part of everyday life; many people believed that Satan was present and active on Earth. This concept emerged in Europe during the fifteenth century and spread with the later colonization of North America. Peasants used a kind of witchcraft to invoke particular charms for farming and agriculture. Over time, the idea of white magic transformed into dark magic and became associated with demons and evil spirits. From 1560 to 1670, witchcraft persecutions became common as superstitions became associated with the devil.

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Abigail Williams was one of the main accusers in the Salem Witch trials. The 11-year-old niece of Reverend Samuel Parris showed signs of fits and hysterics in mid-January 1692.  She and her 9-year-old cousin Betty were the first two afflicted girls in Salem Village.  Abigail gave formal testimony at 7 cases, and she was involved in as many as 17 capital cases.

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It is important to take away all that can be learned from the trials so that we can prevent repeats in the future. The trials and ways in which panic spread through a small community can be studied to truly understand what happened. The witch trials were an example of hysteria people can experience when faced with fear. They also showed the time it takes for a community to fully heal, after a tragedy. The Salem Witch Trials were an important part of American history, but even more important is what is learned from them. Though the witches disappeared, witch hunting in America did not. Every generation must learn the lessons of history or risk repeating its mistakes.

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The citizens of Salem believed that to become bewitched a witch must cast a spell upon an individual. Soon the young girls who were afflicted were questioned and began to name their tormentors. The witch trials began as the young  girls began to identify townspeople as witches.

There were five types of evidence presented at the trials of witches. First, the accused would be asked to pass a test, such as reciting the Lord's Prayer. Though this seems simple, the young girls who attended the trials were said to have screamed and convulse the floor during the tests.

Second, physical evidence was considered. Birthmarks, warts, or moles were all seen as potential portals through which the devil could enter the body.

Third was witness testimony. Anyone who could attribute their misfortunes to the sorcery of an accused person might help get a conviction.

Spectral evidence was a fourth consideration. The Puritans in Salem believed that Satan could not take possession of any unwilling individual. Therefore, if anyone saw a ghost/spirit in the form of the accused, the person in question was undoubtedly a witch.

Finally was the confession. Confessing seems seems like a foolish thing for an innocent person to do, but in many cases, it was the only way out. The accused would throw themselves to the mercy of the court and promise repentance.

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As 1692 turned into 1693, the hysteria that plagued Salem began to lose steam. Upon hearing that his own wife was accused of witchcraft, the governor of Salem ordered an end to the trials. However, for 20 people and 2 dogs it was already too late.

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No one knows with absolute certainty what happened in Salem. Many factors come to light once witchcraft is ruled out. In the years prior to the witch trials, the town had suffered from many Indian attacks. As the town became more populated, land became harder to acquire and a smallpox epidemic had broken out a few years prior. The motives of the young girls themselves can be questioned. In a society where women had no power, is it justifiable that a few young girls, drunk with unforeseen attention, allowed their imaginations to run wild? Historians make educated guesses, but the real answers lie with the ages.