Salem Witch Trials Essay

Some of the most unique and historical events regarding witches, took place right here in Massachusetts. The witch trials of the late 1600’s were full of controversy and uncertainty. The Puritan town of Salem, Massachusetts was home to most of these trials, and became the center of much unwanted attention. The trials which took place during 1692 resulted in the hanging of fourteen women and five men that were accused of being witches. Also, one man was pressed to death by heavy weights for refusing to enter a plea. At least eight people died in prison, including one infant and one child. Another fact includes that more than one hundred and fifty individuals were arrested and put in jail while awaiting trial. Due to the survival of many relevant

A Reverend named Samuel Parris' nine-year-old daughter, Elizabeth, and his eleven-year-old niece, Abigail Williams, began revealing odd behavior, including shouting random things. Samuel Parris called in the local doctor, William Griggs, who found the girls experiencing confusion and shouting random things. The doctor was unable to offer a medical explanation or diagnosis, but did suggest that it might be the work of evil forces. Soon after the doctor had seen the girls, word of the unexplained fits had already spread around Salem Village, and soon several other girls were accused of exhibiting similar behavior. Therefore, pressure from the people of Salem was extraordinarily high because they wanted to know why such strange events were happening. Since word was spread so fast and vastly, people jumped to find more witches because they were in fear and

One of the accused witches was Tituba, another was Sarah Good, an unpopular woman, and the final witch was Sarah Osborne. It’s great knowing many of these so called, witches, share my name but add the H to the end! Warrants for these three were issued on February 29. Two men named John Hathorne and Jonathan Corwin examined the women in the Village meeting house. Good and Osborne declared that they were innocent and knew nothing of witchcraft, but Tituba confessed and claimed that witchcraft was practiced by many in the area. Her confession excited the villagers. On March 21 Martha Corey became the fourth woman of Salem to be arrested. While she was examined in the meeting house in front of hundreds of people, the afflicted girls cried out in what appeared to be extreme agony. More individuals were accused and jailed as the weeks passed by, but no trials could legally take place because for the first three months of the witchcraft uproar, Massachusetts was without a legally-established government. The chief justice for the Court of Oyer and Terminer was William Stoughton, which is really bizarre considering I've lived in Stoughton, Massachusetts ever since I moved to America. The court's first session were held on June 2 and resulted in a death sentence for the accused witch Bridget Bishop, she was hung on June 10. The court next met on June 29 and heard the cases of five accused women. When the jury tried