Salem Witch Trials Research Paper

Salem Witch Trials The Salem Witch Trials were a series of accusations of witchcraft brought against the women, men, and children of Salem, Massachusetts, during the late 1600s. This event in early American history shaped not only how America conducts its justice, but also how we view it. The Salem Witch Trials were started in Salem, Massachusetts in February of 1692. These witch trials resulted in 25 deaths which at the time was considered to be a very large number of deaths for one singular event, and also is possibly one of the most known and covered mass persecutions for witchcraft in history. Although we do not know for certain what caused the trials, there were many speculated ideas and events that played a part in creating the paranoia that led to what is known as the

The end of the Salem Witch Trials came not long after the start, ending in May of 1963. In total, the duration of the Salem Witch Trials lasted only a little over a year. Had it not been for the fact that the Governor's wife was accused, the trials may not have ended so soon. As more and more accusations came to light, people started to blame more prominent community members, this made people look back and start to question the validity of the statements when eventually someone did the unthinkable and accused Governor William Phips’ wife of witchcraft. After Governor Philips heard of this accusation, he knew he had to put an end to it, so he released the 150-plus people from jail and shut down the arrests and trials for accusations of witchcraft. This is the only information that is available at the conclusion of the Salem Witch Trials. Although it was a short duration of time and not a major number of deaths, it is intriguing that there are no more records and sources on how the Salem Witch Trials