Salem Witch Trial Research Paper

The town Salem decided that the people in their town that resembled witches would be put on trial and persecuted, but the people weren’t witches and were being killed for being different from the rest of society. The convictions of the first people started a continuous strain of executions and imprisonments throughout the community. The courts of the time were corrupted with religious views and biased, so convictions were not far when it came to the accused. No one from this community was safe from the chance of being accused of being a witch.

Salem, Massachusetts was a very religious community that held a fairly large amount of power over the people and laws. John Putnam, in 1688, was an extremely important person in Salem, and he wanted

This was against their puritan religious beliefs in many different ways (Brandt). Bridget Bishop was the first accused witch in Salem to go on trial (Burgon). The accused witches were not allowed to speak in court, so she was convicted and sentenced to death. She was hung on June 10, 1692, and this started a chain of hangings and executions throughout this witch era. In 1692, one hundred and fifty people were charged from suspicions of being witches in the town (Hamilton 24). Rebecca Nurse, one of the accused witches, joined Salem’s church in 1972, but even though she was a loyal member of the church, she had to prove that she was truthful to God (Brandt). She and her family were very supportive of the community by helping in charity and helping support others. Her family had been rarely involved in any confrontation with the law, but only had the occasional land dispute, which was normal in their time (Brandt). Rebecca Nurse was accused of being a witch even with all her contributions to society. She was hung on June 29. She died asking God to turn his cheek to her accusers (MacBain 25). Nurse’s family did as much as they could to prove her innocence (MacBain 25). In 1711, her family was given money for the wrongful death of Rebecca (MacBain 25). These convictions were wrong, unjust, and recognized by the government, but were sadly accepted at the