Witch Hunts: The Salem Witch Trials

In 1692, in the Essex County of Massachusetts, particularly in the community of Salem Village, a series of witchcraft afflictions, accusations, trials and executions began to take place. Afflicted with spells of black magic and sorcery, men, women and children were all rapidly involved in the activities of the witchcraft outbreak. As Salem's witchcraft outbreak began to spread throughout the community like a virus, more and more men, women and children were being arrested, tried, hung and executed. The very first incident of the Salem witch outbreak began when a group of young girls in the Salem Village met in their usual small, informal gatherings where they discussed their future.

She was an enslaved Native American woman. When she confessed, she also made claims that two other women, Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne, participated in said witchcraft. Although there were many other contributing factors, Tituba’s confession is the main reason why the Salem Witch Trials happened. The Massachusetts Bay colonists had accused and convicted people of witchcraft before, starting with Margaret Jones in 1648, but nobody in the colony had ever confessed to being a witch before or ominously stated that there were other witches out there. Tituba’s simple confession reinforced all of the colonist’s underlying fears.

Abigail Williams and Betty Parris were the first two girls in Salem Village to exhibit behaviors in mid-January of 1692 which were soon identified as being caused by witchcraft. Abigail and Betty accused Tituba of causing

Salem Village, as part of the colony of Massachusetts Bay experienced turmoil from external and internal factors that contributed to the crisis known as the Salem Witchcraft Trials in 1692 to 1693. Being accused of witchcraft that lead to a trial was not unheard of before this event, however the scale and hysteria of the event can be attributed to a few factors. The mass hysteria experienced by Salem Village did not appear out of nowhere. There was a sense of unease and fear due to the ongoing war between New France and New England, King William’s War. Not far North of Salem Village there were raids of towns by Native American’s on behalf of the French, including Andover, Massachusetts where they burned the village, and in the following year

The events in Salem in 1692, were but one chapter in a long story of witch hunts that began in Europe between 1300 and 1330 and ended in the late 18th century (britannica). In the Spring of 1692, paranoia broke out that is much too familiar to us today. Adolescent girls, in an effort to shift blame for their own delinquent behavior, used their current social climate to start a wave of mass hysteria and panic that involved multiple communities. Salem Village was half of the overall Salem community, and the other half was the more influential Salem Town (britannica). Salem Village leaders, that included the minister, the doctor, and the magistrates supported the girls unsubstantiated and otherwise false claims against villagers.

In January of 1692, the reverends daughter, Elizabeth, and niece, Abigail, started having “fits.” These fits included screaming, throwing items, and being in weird positions. Of course, the colony blamed the supernatural (Wallenfeldt). Witches were considered followers of Satan and were often identified by hearing rumors or suspicions. Tituba, a local slave, was one out of the three women that was blamed by the two girls.

The Salem Witch Trials were a dark time in history for the American colonies in 1692. Colonists were wrongly accused and killed because others thought they were witches. The trials affected the beliefs of people’s thoughts on witches and other mystical beings. Also, it has impacted both Salem and America equally. The Salem Witch Trials are a dark chapter in American history that helped define societal beliefs.

Abigail Williams, niece of Reverend Parris, led the girls and threatened to kill them if they spoke of what really happened the night in the woods with Tituba, Parris’s slave from Barbados. “Giles Corey,

Nearly anyone from the New England has heard of the famous Salem Witch Trials. A year of persecution, leading to the accusation of nearly 200 citizens of all ages. No one was safe; men, women, children, even pets stood trial and 20 were hung for the supposed crime of witchcraft (Blumberg). 1692 was a year of witch hunting. Most today blame the trials on hysteria, or perhaps a bad case of paranoia.

Doctor William Griggs declared all those afflicted bewitched and the village agreed with this statement. Indian slave couple Tituba and John were accused in the making of the witch-cake which all those afflicted had had. Tituba was reverend Parris slave, caretaker of Abigail and Betty. February 25 and 28 Sarah Osborne and Sarah Good also accused as the tormentors. The first three women to be accused witches were not originally born in Salem and Tituba was also linked towards the Indian war.

Funny thing was, Reverend Parris’s daughter, Betty, and Abigail Williams, his niece, were involved in these demonic actions. A “Reverends” daughter and niece participating in questionable activities

Since England had their own witch hunts, it was said that the anxiety spread to New England mainly because of a pamphleteer Cotton Mather. It started early 1692 when the daughter and niece of Salem local minister, Samuel Parris had strange violent convulsions and loud outbursts. The only local doctor of the village which only could read but not write, then concluded that the girls were bewitched. There were three primary “suspected” witches, the minister’s slave Tituba, Sarah Good

The Salem Witch Trials On a day that had started out the same as any other, in January of 1962, Reverend Parris’ nine year old daughter, Elizabeth, and 11 year old niece, Abigail Williams, began having manic episodes. The girls would shout blasphemies, utter peculiar sounds, throw things, hide under or behind things, enter into trances, contort their bodies in odd and unnatural positions, and would run around pretending to be different creatures. Reverend Parris did not know what had gotten into the two. Reverend Parris summoned the local doctor to try and find an explanation as to why the children were acting out.

One cause of the witch trial hysteria was the story of Betty Parris and Abigail Williams, the two were cousins, they decided to visit a fortune teller. This occurred on February 29, 1692, shortly after receiving their fortunes Parris’s father, who was a priest, began to notice that his daughter was acting strange, he eventually found out about the session with the teller and was

These refugees were from northern New York, Nova Scotia, and Quebec. The displaced people created a strain on Salem’s resources because they did not have their own resources and they used others. That aggravated existing rivalries between families with ties to the wealth port of Salem. (“Salem Witch Trials”, 1). The first witch case involved Reverend Parris’ daughter Elizabeth, age 9, and his niece Abigail Williams, age 11, in January 1692.