The Salem Witch Trials

Salem, Massachusetts

1692 – 1693

The Puritans considered Indians to be devilish and barbaric. They lived in constant fear of attack. This caused great fear among the citizens, some believe even hysteria.

Hysteria - behavior exhibiting excessive or uncontrollable emotion, such as fear or panic

Key PeopleTituba: Indian slave from Barbados (Caribbean)

Reverend Samuel Parris: minister of Salem; daughter was

bewitched

Ann Putnam Jr.: the “leader” of the bewitched girls

Betty Parris: daughter of Rev Parris; one of the bewitched

Mary Warren: one of the bewitched girls

Abigail Williams: one of the bewitched girls

Rev. Samuel Parris

• minister in Salem during the trials

• preached harsh sermons

• his house was the center of the witch hunt

Tituba entertains Salem girls with supernatural tales of her native land.

As a young girl swoons under the influence of witchcraft as the pilgrims pray to cast out the

evil spirits afflicting her.

•the girls fall into trances

•they can’t bear to hear the Lord’s name

•they feel pricked by pins and stabbed by knives

•doctors examine the girls and believe the devil is loose in Salem

(Summons for Witnesses)

A summons for witnesses

•the girls accuse Tituba of bewitching them

•Tibuba confesses to witchcraft and accuses others

Accused witches were arrested and brought in for questioning

•the afflicted girls cry out in court claiming to be pinched and harmed by unseen forces controlled by the accused witches

Spectral Evidence: the belief that a witch can send his/her spirit out of their body to cause harm

Increase Mather• a powerful minister

• viewed witchcraft and supernatural happenings as God’s growing displeasure with New England

• cautioned against using spectral evidence

Swimming a Witch

•person was tossed into a body of water

•if they floated they were guilty and if they sank they were innocent because water rejects evil

•innocence seldom mattered because they usually drowned before being pulled to safety

Witch’s Mark:•believed witches had a mark left by the Devil

•searched the body for these marks

•often pierced them with needles to see if they bled

The Lord’s Prayer:

•they believed witches could not recite the Our Father

•often made suspected witches do this to prove they were innocent

The courts followed guidelines set forth in books such as the

Malleus Maleficarum

(Hammer of the Witches)

• Governor of the colony

• called forth the court of Oyer & Terminer

(“To Hear & Determine”)

The Trial of George Jacobs

The Trial of George Jacobs

The Death Warrant of Rebecca Nurse and others

issued by the court of Oyer and Terminer

No witches were burned in Salem.

Bridget Bishop

• she was an outcast in Salem

• had been accused of witchcraft several times in the past

• the first to be hanged

Bridget Bishop is hanged on an oak limb on Gallows Hill as onlookers jeer and condemn her

After being hanged, the bodies were disposed of in a shallow grave since they did not deserve a proper burial.

Condemned witches were excommunicated (kicked out of the church)

The Outcome

• 141 were arrested• 19 were hanged • 1 man was pressed to

death• several died while in

prison

Bridget Bishop George Burroughs Martha Carrier Martha Corey Mary Easty Sarah Good Elizabeth Howe George Jacobs, Sr. Susannah Martin

Nineteen accused witches were hanged on Gallows Hill

Nineteen accused witches were hanged on Gallows Hill

Rebecca Nurse Alice Parker Mary Parker John Proctor Ann Pudeator Wilmott Redd Margaret Scott Samuel Wardwell Sara Wildes John Willard

• Giles Corey , an accused witch, was pressed to

death

•Pressing is when a board is placed on the victim’s chest; rocks are placed on the board until they talk

Samuel Sewall• Deputy Governor of MA;

judge during the trials• after the hysteria, he

publicly acknowledged his shame and regret

• he kept an annual day of fasting and prayer in memory of his sins

Judge Samuel Sewall delivers a public apology for his involvement in the trials.