Research Paper On The Salem Witch Trials Of 1692

A very famous episode in American history, the Salem witch trials of 1692 resulted in the execution by the hanging of at least 20 or more people that were accused of being witches. In addition, there was a man that was pressed to death by heavy weights for refusing to enter a plea; at least ten people died in prison, including one infant and a child; and more than two hundred and fifty individuals were in jail while awaiting trial. Due to the survival of many records, including notes, depositions, and official rulings, trials, arrests, the main facts of the accusations and executions are known. What has always been interesting to scholars is the search for the causes of the "witch hysteria." The offered explanations for the witchcraft occurrence

The court met next on June 29th and had heard the cases of five accused women. All five pleaded innocent. They took them in for questioning and when they returned they had changed their verdict to guilty. The women were hanged on July 19. By this time the witchcraft hysteria had spread not only to Salem Town but to Andover. August and September had brought many more convictions and hundreds of hangings. The last eight accused witches were hanged on September 22, in which turned out to be the final executions. On October 3, Increase Mather, father of Cotton Mather, delivered a sermon at a gathering of ministers in Cambridge. The sermon was soon published as Cases of Conscience Concerning Evil Spirits Personating Men (1692). The elder Mather insisted that proper evidence should be used in witchcraft cases just as in any other capital cases. He strongly opposed spectral evidence, or evidence based on ghost sightings. As accusations mounted against people of higher and more respectable positions, skepticism grew in the public as to the appropriateness of witchcraft charges. Thomas Brattle wrote an insightful letter to

Because the actual crime involved an agreement made between the accused witch and the devil, in which the devil was given the right to assume the witch's human form, and because, by its very nature, this compact would not have witnesses, finding acceptable evidence was difficult. Spectral evidence included testimony by the afflicted that they could see the specters of the witches tormenting their victims; the evil deeds were not perpetrated by the accused themselves, but by the evil spirits who assumed their shapes. One problem with spectral evidence was that apparitions of demons were invisible to other people in the same room; only the afflicted girls could see the shapes. Another concern was the possibility that Satan could appear in the shape of an innocent person. To overcome these obstacles, confessions were vigorously sought. The Salem cases are unusual in that the defendants who confessed were generally not executed, while those who were hanged adamantly maintained their innocence. Considered trustworthy was testimony to some supernatural attribute of the accused. George Burroughs was accused by six persons of performing superhuman feats of strength. One witness claimed Burroughs could read his thoughts. Another test made on the accused was for any "supernatural weaknesses" such as the inability to recite prayers correctly. Yet another criterion was the presence of a "witch's tit"—any small,