Salem Witch Trial Essay

The era of witch trials has come to an end. The last living witch was hanged in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. Despite the fact that there's no proof that witches were actually hunted down and killed by people wearing pointy hats and carrying pitchforks, many people still believe that witches were real and that they could be banished from their homes by burning them alive at the stake.

The Witch Trials were a series of events that took place in the 17th and 18th centuries.The beginnings of the European witch trials actually did not start in England, but Germany and Switzerland. The very first witch trial in Germany was called Wurzburg witch trial 1625-163, it was when the catholic- prince-bishopric formed one of the biggest massacres and mass

Their initial accusations gave way to trials, hysteria, and a frenzy that resulted in further accusations, often between the different factions.

The punishment for being found guilty in the Salem witch trials was sentence to death if found guilty the second time but if it was a minor offense witches could receive up to just a year in prison (“Witchcraft Law Up To the Salem Witch Trials of 1692”). In Europe being found guilty as a witch meant being faced with capital punishment by being either burned at the stake,beheaded or hanging.

At the end of the Salem witch trials all the witches in the Salem witch trials were considered to be not guilty. Many of the charges were dropped but still 16 more people were convicted and indicted but 3 out of the 16 were killed who were Elizabeth Johnson Jr. ,Sarah Wardwell and Mary

While with the European witch trials over all who seemed to end up convicted were christians. A connection between both of them is that all of the witches convicted were poor.

Many people were killed during the many witch trials that went on. In the Salem witch trial more than 200 people were accused of practicing witchcraft- 20 were executed (“Salem Witch Trials”). One 80 year old man was pressed to death for refusing to testify at a trial. In Europe there was a modern estimate of 100,000 trials between 1450 and 1750 with between 40,000 to 50,000 deaths. The years after the witch trials in Salem they realized what they did wrong and issued a full pardon and compensation to the families. In 1706, Ann, one of the main accusers came out with her apology stating “I desire to be humbled by God.It was a great delusion of Satan that deceived me during that sad time. I did not do it out of anger or malice, or ill-will” (famous-trials.com) .While later in Europe they gave a full formal apology to the families stating