Salem Witch Trials Justified Essay

During the Salem witch trials many women were accused of practicing witchcraft. The accusation of the women who were thought to be witches was the result of many deaths in Salem, Massachusetts. The trials began with two young girls, Elizabeth “Betty” Parris and her cousin Abagail Williams, who began having violent contortions and random outbursts of screaming. The girls were thought to have been under an evil hand or suffering from a witch’s curse. The girls began giving the names of the witches that were harming them beginning with the Parris family slave Tituba. Along with Tituba many others were accused of practicing witchcraft. The witchcraft trials were the reasoning behind many deaths; nineteen hangings, one crushed to death, and seven

The women who were accused of practicing witchcraft were given a chance to confess and had their trial presented in front of a jury. These people at the time did not know much about illnesses at the time to explain what exactly was going on with the two young girls. The actions that they took were to keep the devil from coming after them in order to protect themselves. However, there is a stronger argument that the trials were not at all justified. Many believe the trials were not justified simply because innocent people were killed because of the accusations of two young girls. There was never any solid evidence to prove that these women were actually witches or practicing witchcraft. The evidence that was used included dreams and visions which cannot be established as hard evidence. The only ones who could validate the evidence of these visions were the ones that were afflicted; there were no true witnesses throughout the trials. No one could prove that the women who were accused were the ones afflicting the two young girls. This however goes back to an earlier point that in the 1600s there was not much knowledge on mental illnesses such as the ones