ipl-logo

Salem Witch Trials Research Paper

446 Words2 Pages

The Innocence of People During The Salem Witch Trials why did so many people during the colonial era devote their time to witchcraft? where they falsely accused or did they actually make a deal with a devil? The people that had to die or suffer were either witches or innocent peopIle.The colonial people back in 1692 were unaccepting of differences in people; therefore, they killed anyone they believed practiced witchcraft whether it was true or not. Court Trials
In January 1692, 9-year-old Elizabeth Parris and 11-year-old Abigail Williams began having fits, including violent contortions and uncontrollable outbursts of screaming. After a local doctor, William Griggs, diagnosed bewitchment, other young girls in the community began to exhibit similar symptoms, including Ann Putnam Jr., Mercy Lewis, Elizabeth Hubbard, Mary Walcott and Mary Warren. In late February, arrest warrants were issued for the Parris’ Caribbean slave, Tituba, along with two other women–the homeless beggar Sarah Good and the poor, elderly Sarah Osborn–whom the girls accused of bewitching them.
Confession and Innocence …show more content…

Though Good and Osborn denied their guilt, Tituba confessed. Likely seeking to save herself from certain conviction by acting as an informer, she claimed there were other witches acting alongside her in service of the devil against the Puritans. As hysteria spread through the community and beyond into the rest of Massachusetts, a number of others were accused, including Martha Corey and Rebecca Nurse–both regarded as upstanding members of church and community–and the four-year-old

Show More
Related
105 Words | 1 Pages

An arrest warrant was issued out against for Tituba Indian in Salem Village on February 29, 1692. There were also arrest warrants out for Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne. All three of these women were accused of witch craft and examined the day after they were captured. They were examined at Nathaniel Ingersoll’s tavern in the Salem Town. This examination was performed by Jonathan Corwin and John Hathorne.

Read More
618 Words | 3 Pages

they had a feud of some kind with the accused. It all started when little Betty Parris and her cousin Abigail met an Indian slave named Tituba and asked for their fortunes. After that, the girls were seen, as put by Reverend Samuel Parris, “getting into Holes, creeping under Chairs and Stools,...” and were questioned on the matter. Under pressure, they identified two local white women and Tituba herself. Throughout the spring, a large chunk of the Salem population was accused, executed, and jailed for being witches.

Read More
1926 Words | 8 Pages

The Salem Witch Trials of 1692: Misunderstood Reasons for Behavior How can people tell what actually happened during the Salem Witch Trials? How and why did these trials begin in the first place? The Salem Witch Trials began in Salem Massachusetts in 1692, soon after Samuel Parris and his family moved to the town. Parris brought with him two slaves but one, Tibuta, was in charge of looking after the girls Betty Parris, age 9, and her cousin Abigail Williams, age 11. Tibuta told the girls and their friends about voodoo and magic and even made them “witch cakes.”

Read More
745 Words | 3 Pages

The Salem witch trial hysteria of 1692 may have been instigated by religious, social, geographic and even biological factors. During these trials, 134 people were condemned as witches and 19 were hanged. These statistics also include 5 more deaths that occurred prior to their execution date. It is interesting to look into the causes of this stain on American History, when as shown in document B, eight citizens were hanged in only one day.

Read More
764 Words | 4 Pages

Rosalyn Schanzer’s Witches! The Absolutely True Tale of Disaster in Salem, is a Short, breakneck paced book discussing what happened, and possibly why it happened, in the tragedy of 1692. Betty and Abigail, wife and niece of Samuel of Parris, fell ill experienced numerous convulsions. A doctor’s unvarnished diagnosis was that they were bewitched! A deluge of accused puritans surged into Salem Village and neighboring town.

Read More
896 Words | 4 Pages

9 and 11 year old girls started to scream, cry unstoppably and have said to see a ghostly figure of their fellow townspeople. The diagnosis was easy, it was witchcraft. This sent the colony of Salem into a frantic state of matter. They had started to see that other children in the town had the same symptoms. They had began to accuse people left and right.

Read More
612 Words | 3 Pages

With the town and the areas around Salem started to freak out so with pressure from the town’s people the girls blamed three women for bewitching them. The three women were

Read More
1321 Words | 6 Pages

In January of 1692, the reverends daughter, Elizabeth, and niece, Abigail, started having “fits.” These fits included screaming, throwing items, and being in weird positions. Of course, the colony blamed the supernatural (Wallenfeldt). Witches were considered followers of Satan and were often identified by hearing rumors or suspicions. Tituba, a local slave, was one out of the three women that was blamed by the two girls.

Read More
820 Words | 4 Pages

Have you ever wondered how the Salem Witch Trials impacted your daily life? For many, the Salem Witch Trials was a tragedy that may have had a major or minor impact on their lives. Although people were wrongly executed due to the Salem Witch Trials, it had an overall positive impact on media and culture due to the justice system improving, advances in modern science, and the improvements in the fashion industry. This essay will establish how the Salem Witch trials had a profound impact on modern media and culture and why it is important for the improvement of today's society. In spite of the Salem witch trials, black and white belief system allowed for many improvements in today's modern society.

Read More
151 Words | 1 Pages

Three Puritan girls who lived in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692 began to act strange; they would cry out in pain, start screaming, and stop speaking for a long time. Doctors could not find out what was wrong with them and jumped to the conclusion that the cause was supernatural. The Puritan girls accused three other women of witchcraft, but only one of them confessed. The only one to come forward and admit to witchcraft was a slave named Tituba. Tituba stated that the Devil came to her and made her write in his book.

Read More
946 Words | 4 Pages

Even after being diagnosed with bewitchment, five other girls began having the same symptoms as the original two girls. The validity of the diagnosis is in question due to the fact that all seven girls, displaying the same behaviors, within days apart, would all be possessed, especially in such a religious culture. Secondly, the accused women were easy targets (Blumberg). Tituba, the governor’s family slave from the Caribbean, was accused after being in close proximities with one of the first victims. Slaves barely had any rights at this time, making Tituba an easy candidate.

Read More
721 Words | 3 Pages

The Salem Witch Trials The belief of witchcraft can be traced back centuries to as early as the 1300’s. The Salem Witch Trials occurred during 1690’s in which many members of Puritan communities were accused and convicted of witchcraft. These “witch trials” were most famously noted in the town of Salem, Massachusetts. Many believe this town to be the starting point for the mass hysteria which spread to many other areas of New England.

Read More
845 Words | 4 Pages

One cause of the witch trial hysteria was the story of Betty Parris and Abigail Williams, the two were cousins, they decided to visit a fortune teller. This occurred on February 29, 1692, shortly after receiving their fortunes Parris’s father, who was a priest, began to notice that his daughter was acting strange, he eventually found out about the session with the teller and was

Read More
801 Words | 4 Pages

The Salem witch trials was one of the most absurd and tragic events in history of pre-colonial America. A fine example of how believing in accusations and hearsay could affect a lot of people in a short span of time. the justice system is flawed and prejudice was allowed to reign over the people. I found this topic very interesting even though it is one of the most regretted in history. I’ve always been the type of person who likes reading all those weird and peculiar things on the internet.

Read More
1223 Words | 5 Pages

Doctor William Griggs declared all those afflicted bewitched and the village agreed with this statement. Indian slave couple Tituba and John were accused in the making of the witch-cake which all those afflicted had had. Tituba was reverend Parris slave, caretaker of Abigail and Betty. February 25 and 28 Sarah Osborne and Sarah Good also accused as the tormentors. The first three women to be accused witches were not originally born in Salem and Tituba was also linked towards the Indian war.

Read More

More about Salem Witch Trials Research Paper

Related Topics

Open Document