Salem Witch Trials Essay

In Salem, Massachusetts the year was 1692. Bridget Bishop hung from wooden scaffolds on Gallows Hill with a noose around her neck, the villagers watched as she took her last breath. This event took place during the Salem Witch Trials, where more than 200 people were accused of practicing witch craft. Over twenty-three people and two dogs were executed for that reason. In 1693, the wife of the governor of Salem was accused of practicing witch craft, so naturally, he ordered the trials to cease at that point.

In 1628, King Charles I granted the puritans a royal charter to colonize the colony of Salem, the beginning of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. However, King Charles II rescinded this charter in 1684, following the colonist’s violations of

The “afflicted girls” included Elizabeth Booth, Elizabeth Hubbard, Mercy Lewis, Betty Parris, Ann Putnam Jr, Susannah Sheldon, Abigail Williams, Mary Walcott, and Mary Warren. Doctor William Griggs examined the girls and could find nothing wrong with them and proposed that they were bewitched. The girls began to experience fits of rage, hiding under furniture, twisting in pain, and came down with a fever, which were all believed to be symptoms of witchcraft. Betty Paris was the first girl to experience the symptoms, Elizabeth Booth was the final girl to experience the same symptoms. Two of the nine girls accused three women of bewitching them. These three woman were social outcasts, and could have easily been considered targets for the allegations. Their names were Sarah Good, Sarah Osborne, and a slave of Betty Paris’ father, Tituba. When Tituba was being scrutinized, she admitted that she had been approached by the Devil, in the company of Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne, all three had decided to follow his command as witches. That event began the hunt for witches throughout the village. The plagued girls were the main accusers in the trial, several historians consider the girl’s parents, mainly Thomas Putnam (Ann Putnam Jr’s father,) and Samuel Parris (Betty Paris’ father,) were

They have made public apologies, and on January 14th, 1697, they participated in the “Day of official humiliation,” where they fasted in order to honor the victims. Bills have been passed in an attempt to right the colonies wrong. In 1711, the colony passed a bill reestablishing the names of the accused and paid a total of £600 in compensation to their successors. However, a few of the families of the dead did not want their family member registered, so not every victim was named. In 1957, Massachusetts as a state officially apologized for the Salem witch trials and erased the names of some of the remaining victims not registered in the 1711 law: ‘“One Ann Pudeator and certain other persons” yet did not state the remaining victim’s names.” However, On Halloween in the year 2001, the state amended the apology, stating: “Chapter 145 of the resolves of 1957 is hereby amended by striking out, in line 1, the words ‘One Ann Pudeator and certain other persons’ and inserting in place thereof the following words:- Ann Pudeator, Bridget Bishop, Susannah Martin, Alice Parker, Margaret Scott and Wilmot Redd.”