The Accused: The Salem Witch Trials

of a mirror, stopped it with a touch of a finger, and then released it. As soon as it was released, the egg began to spin again, as if by magic.” Then they would stare into the mirror in hopes of seeing their future. During a session of this white magic, the group of girls, it is believed that Betty, Abigail, and other neighborhood teens played, one or two claimed they had seen a casket looking shape. Some historians believed that this was a basis of what happened in Salem with the girls. Others believe that Tituba had retold stories and tales that involved good and evil spirts, possibly to entertain or to instruct them with the morals of the stories. All of this led up to the first day that would change the lives of people in Salem forever

What were they going to do? Are there other witches out there that could hurt them? The hysteria quickly grew and accusations were flying left and right (Wilson) In the same month, four other women were accused and arrested. Most of these women that were accused were social outcasts. The mass mentality of the people made the problem soon become out of hand. More and more women and some men were accused; the numbers soon grew to over fifty supposed witches. Many of the accusations were made by the three original girls who were afflicted. However, some historians believe that the parents of the girls were telling them who to accuse as revenge (@rbeatricebrooks). By the end of May 1692, local prisons were full and over one hundred people were on the charge of witchcraft. Realizing that the prisons were full, Governor Phips ordered that a special court, named Court of Oyer and Terminer, to come into existence only for witch hearings in June 1692. Bridget Bishop was the first accused witch to be tried. According to historian Bishop claimed that she did not know what a witch was, however she said something that possibly sealed her fate. She stated that if she was a witch, they would know it. The justices then took this statement as an admission of guilt and that she was an invisible threat. Bridget Bishop was proved by little evidence to have practiced black magic, thus the justices found her guilty. Bridget

One reason was because a vast majority of the people accused were family and friends of other people. These people began to question the righteousness of the court and felt that innocent people were being executed. The main reason for the end of the trials was, because the accusations soon became too bold. In the beginning, people of low class were being accused, making it seem more believable. As the hunt continued, accusations were aimed at higher classed people. This made people of the village question the accuracy of the accusations and it was harder to prove them guilty. Finally, in 1693, Governor Phipps dissolved the Court of Oyer and Terminer and all the trials were then moved into a higher court. This new court did not allow “spectral evidence” and, because most of the older cases were solely based on this, all the remaining “witches” were ruled innocent. This led to people of Salem soon realizing that they were wrong and that innocent people suffered. Many theories are surround what happened in Salem, although many are far-fetched some may somewhat explain what happened in Salem (The three