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Salem Witch Trials Research Paper

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Salem, 1692.
20 executed. 55 tortured until they said whatever people wanted them to. 150 suspects arrested. More than 200 people got accused of practicing witchcraft. The aftermath of the Salem Witch Trials was horrible: Families got split apart und life for the accused ones was hard. Nothing was as it has been before. The families of those that did not survive never received closure. The families didn’t get any aid from the state. Nobody apologized, nobody wanted to take responsibility for what has happened. The United States is impacted by the Salem Witch Trials because people have always liked to point fingers at others. Just like Tom Robinson, the people in Salem got accused of doing things they haven’t done.
But how did it all start? In January 1692 a group of young girls started to behave really strange. The first ones of the group were the Reverend’s daughter Elizabeth Parris and his niece Abigail Williams. They experienced symptoms like suffering “fits”, unexplained screaming, trance-like states, barking like a dog, uttering peculiar sounds, anxiety and disappearing into the woods in the middle of the night and dance a “black magic” dance. Soon after that five other girls started developing the same symptoms. Since none of them got better a doctor was called after a while to take a look at them. He examined them …show more content…

Due to the consistent growth of cases Governor William Phips set up a special court, the Court of Oyer and Terminer (“hear and determine). The court was there to listen to especially extraordinary cases like these. Bridget Bishop was the first person to get found guilty. Her statement “I am innocent, I know nothing of it, I have done no witchcraft.” didn’t help at all so she got hanged on June 10, 1692. Over the next four months 18 more people got hanged on Gallows Hill and Giles Corey was tortured for three days until he died.

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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."

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In Salem, Massachusetts, 1692, tensions were elevated. Many of the Massachusetts colonists experienced satanophobia, or the fear of Satan, for many years. This fear became heightened after three girls, 9-year-old Elizabeth Parris, 11-year-old Abigail Williams, and 11-year-old Ann Putnam began showing strange symptoms: extreme outbursts of screaming, violent contortions, and uncontrollable fits. But there were several other girls who showed similiar signs; they were all known as the 'Afllicted Girls'. After Elizabeth Parris's father questioned the doctor about her condition, the doctor came to the conclusion that the girls were bewitched since he found nothing physically wrong with them.

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