Salem Witch Trials Research Paper

February 1692- Eleven year old, Abigail Williams, and nine year old, Elizabeth Parris, experienced hysterical fits of violence and odd behavior. The two young girls were taken to a doctor who diagnosed the use of witchcraft. What people didn’t know is that the girls had been having their own secret conferences involving the forbidden play. “On 29 February 1692, warrants went out for their arrest.” (Lindenauer, Leslie J. "Salem Witch Trials." Dictionary of American History. Ed. Stanley I. Kutler. 3rd ed. Vol. 7. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2003. 229-230. Student Resources in Context. Web. 16 Feb. 2016.) Four women were convicted of witchcraft. Uneducated citizens made preconceived ideas after hearing about the incident. The smallest assumption

There wasn’t much to say about Bishop besides that she was known to gossip and be promiscuous. The site of where she was hanged soon became identified as Gallows Hill. Multiple hangings followed Bishop’s. Sara Good’s was the next. Good was convicted with tormenting little girls and working with the devil. She was pregnant at the time of her conviction. In result, the hanging was held off until she could give birth. In July of 1692, Good’s child died in prison and she was hung. Women were not the only people to be convicted of witchcraft though. Farmer, John Proctor, was sent to Boston and hung in August of 1692. Proctor’s servant accused him and his wife of witchcraft. He had not agreed with the young girls who were accusing witches. Proctor thought that all the young girls should be whipped, or even hung for lying about such things. His wife, who was pregnant at the time, was not hung and her life had been

After becoming minister in 1692, a feud came up about Salem and he did not take it well. He set off a mutual feel about witches. He began talking about how they had invaded the churches and they were taking over. His daughter and his niece (their stories can be found in paragraph one) were the first two of the girls to experience these unknown fits. The girls talked about being annoyed by these witches. They said they were pinched or that ghosts that had been killed by the witches, came to them. It is thought that these girls experienced these fits and visits because it was their father and uncle that was the minister and spoke of the witches. The whole situation could have possibly been avoided if Parris had not made such a big deal about the witches in