Background on Salem Witch Trials

8/3/2019 Background on 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, Giles Corey, was pressed to death over a

two day period under heavy stones for refusing to submitto 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 Massachusettsended.


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Although there had been international witch hunts for

several years, the outbreak in America was rather new. There

were many causes for these hunts (both real and imaginary),

but it was the hunts in Salem that became the epitome of whatfear, hate and hysteria can do to otherwise sane people.


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In England, witch hunts had been commonplace for quite

some time. It was a time of great religious strength and belief, yet

a time of fear and belief in otherworldly powers as well.

In a society based heavily on the belief, worship and

adherence to biblical law, it is not hard to see why people soreadily believed that witches and warlocks were about them.

Spiritual crimes were completely acceptable in court, and

spiritual evidence was enough to earn a person their death

sentence.


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In America, the strict Puritans were settled all across the

north east. Puritans lived a simple life which revolved in all waysaround bettering their lives spiritually.

They worked six days a week, resting only on Sunday

when they would attend mass which would last from 5-8 hours. If

they were not working or in church, they should be praying orreflecting on their spiritual lives.

They were aware at all times that Satan and God were at

war and that the battleground was the Puritans souls. For

this reason, life was quite somber. They did not dance, singanything but hymns, write anything but religious journals or

poems (except womenwomen should not write at all), nor

could they participate in any idle activity like

athletics.especially bowlingtrue story.


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Another case was due to children pretending to be dogs.

Two ten-old-year girls were pretending to be dogs.

They were witnessed by a pair of adults who automatically thought the

behavior must be due to witch possession.Within a few weeks, the jail

was filled.


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Reverend Parris (bettys father) had a slave woman from

Barbados named Tituba. It was known that Tituba practiced

Voodoo, and she was therefore the first person to be accused as a

witch.

During a clear night in 1692, Tituba and a group of young

ladies gathered together in the woods around a fire. Tituba was

helping them cast love spells for the boys in the village that theywanted to marry.here the story diverges. One account says that

Reverend Parris stumbled across the dancing girls (some nude), thus

causing panic and fear in the girls. Another case claims that Abigail

Williams turned from a love spell to a death spell. She wanted to

kill a mans wife so she could marry him.


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In Salem, all a person had to do was

accuse a person of witchcraft. They were then

arrested, jailed and tried. Heres the

kicker.there was no way to win.

If a person plead innocent to witchcraft,

they must obviously be lying and must thereforebe hanged as a witch.

If they admitted to being a witch, they

could be spared and be set free for coming clean

and converting back to Christianity..but

Puritan belief strictly enforced the knowledge thatif a person purposely lies, they damn their soul.

So you could save your life but lose your

soul, or lose your life but save your soul.either

way, youre shafted.

Documents

Background on Salem Witch Trials