Salem Witch Trials Research Paper

The Salem Witch Trials The Salem Witch Trials took place in 1692 in Salem Town and Salem Village. They were a devastating event that took place in the 1690’s several girls began to have fits and it was declared that an evil hand was doing this to them so they were asked to name the ones who were doing this to them, men and women were accused, imprisoned, sentenced and some even hanged and one man pressed to death because he would not appear in court. These trials took place in Salem Town and Salem Village. This happened because children were to act as adults and there was nothing for these in between girls so they took up amusement of their own; forming a circle of girls, going into fits of an evil nature and then gaining attention of the

The circle of afflicted girls was Elizabeth Hubbard, Mercy Lewis, Betty Paris, Ann Putnam Jr, Susannah Sheldon, Abigail Williams, Mary Walcott, Mary Warren, and Elizabeth Booth. The first one to go into a fit was Betty Paris, the reverend’s daughter, the other girl saw how much attention she got and decided to follow her lead. So when the first few girls were inspected by a doctor he declared an evil hand was haunting them and the church asked them to name their tormentors they took it to their advantage and called out those who were different from the rest. (Brooks, 2011) The accused were innocent people who were called out by the girls mainly because they were different or looked down on. “The first set of the witches named were named on March first. The accused were Tituba, Sarah Good, and Sarah Osborn.” (Brooks, 2011) Following these first named witches were over 200 people, they were accused, sentenced, and some were killed. Included in the accused were two dogs that were suspected and shot and killed. Out of the accused twenty four people died. Nineteen were hung, one pressed to death, and the other four perished in prison. (salem witch trials,