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The Salem Witchcraft Trials Of 1692

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Giles Corey, an innocent man, was crushed by large rocks and killed for refusing a trial and confession. Rebecca Nurse, a highly respected church member, was hung for not supplying a guilty plea. These two people are examples of the many guiltless folks who were hung during the salem witchcraft trials of 1692. This era of time is engraved in american history for its unreasonable assumptions, massive amounts of fear and insane trials based on invisible evidence. The salem witchcraft trials began swiftly and just kept running until people were accusing neighbors and even family members left and right. Overall, over 100 people were accused, 50 people admitted to being a witch or wizard, 26 were found guilty in court and 19 were executed. Accordingly, …show more content…

The girls were having their futures told with charms from a slave named Tituba. In this foretelling of the future, they played a game in which you crack an egg into a glass and whatever shape it became would determine your future husband. Once the girls cracked the egg into a glass, the first shape to appear was a coffin which terrified them, for it symbolized death. Soon after this “game” was played, the girls began falling into fits and or seizures from an unknown illness during January of 1692. During these fits the girls had many symptoms aside from seizures such as; lethargy, temporary paralysis, distraction, bite-marks, barking, uncontrollable cursing and their eyes rolling back into their heads. Their father was quite worried and had a doctor to come and assess the situation. The doctor told them that they were being bewitched and the girls immediately took the chance to accuse the first three “witches” of …show more content…

The public began seeing many were being accused due to town gossip.They were all beginning to register this because they saw that many of the accused were ethical persons and that the accusers seemed to be in perfect health outside of the courtroom. Along with this, far too many people were being charged as witches, clearly not all of them were witches. Once this was realized, the questionability of validity caused the governor to release those accused after September 17th, 1692. Furthermore, in early 1963 the trials of witchcraft ended for good. However, it wasn’t up until 1711 that the survivors of this tragedy were

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The Salem Witch Trials wrongly convicted over one hundred fifty people through unfair court cases in 1692, due to the bias of the people, the unpassable tests used, and the illegal way they were run. The convictions were all done in the Court of Oyer and Terminer, which was created by the current Governor Sir William Phips, and led by Chief Judge William Stoughton, along with 6 other judges (EB 1) (Boraas 24). This court was closed within the year, and a new court was opened, the Superior Court of Judicature, which was less unfair, and made no convictions during the time it was open. This court was then also closed after a few months (EB 1). During the trials, every sort of person was accused, from rich to poor.

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In 1692, a group of young girls from Massachusetts named Elizabeth and Abigail, believed they were being possessed by the devil and falsely accused several woman, men and children of witchcraft. Once the men and woman were accused they were ordered to attend multiple trials in which would be help in the Massachusetts general court. Once the men and woman were taken to trial they were proven guilty by the girls actions that proved the court these men and woman were apart of witchcraft. After the accuses were proven guilty in front of the court they were either held in prison and eventually died or hanged and died. There were multiple young girls who were apart of the witchcraft accusing other than just Elizabeth and Abigail.

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Of those who confessed to being a witch, not one would be executed. All fifty-five people who confessed survived the crisis. Only those who refused to confess were put to death. All twenty-eight people to be tried by the Court of Oyer and Terminer would plead not guilty but would be found guilty and then put to death. Of those twenty-eight people, nine received temporary stays of execution due to pregnancy or to have time to prepare their

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The remaining accused witches were pardoned and freed

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Soon, the people of Salem began accusing everyone from neighbors to children (the youngest being 5 years old) of witchcraft, causing widespread hysteria by the end of the trials in 1693. The accused were tried and around 20 people and 2 dogs were put to death, others were imprisoned. No one knows

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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.

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Nineteen individuals was hanged because it was unacceptable to use witchcraft. If you had been known to use witchcraft, you was basically shunned. (history.com) Was these people men or women? There were eighteen teenage girls hanged, and one man.

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The town itself was on edge, and things only got worse when two young girls, Abigail Williams and Elizabeth Parris, began suffering in January from a series of seizures and other illnesses. But no matter what was done, nothing seemed to cure or help the girls, and things only began to get worse in late February when they began to enter trance-like states and shouts followed along with their fits. Feeling pressured and desperate to explain their predicament, the two girls blamed three women for using unforeseen forces and factors against them to cause the illnesses. Sarah Good, Sarah Osborne, and an Indian slave, Tituba, were the first to fall victim to the Salem Witch Trials, and blamed for witchcraft. After these accusations against them, more and more were called to trial, and thus began the infamous Salem Witch Trials.

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Accused, trial, guilty, executed, devil, jury - the news spreading around Salem, Massachusetts was deathly. Starting with women, and then expanding to men, there were accusations of witchcraft encompassing the whole town. The arraigned did not stand a chance against the court. The accused witches went through one of the most arduous times of all people in Salem; however, after a well-abounding amount of trials, the cases were closed and the issue was solved. “It was the darkest and most desponding period in the civil history of New England.”

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One of the most notorious periods of American history, the Salem witch trials of 1692 resulted in the execution by hanging of fourteen women and five men who were accused of being witches during a period of mass hysteria. In addition, one man was pressed to death by giant stones for refusing to even plea innocent. At least eight people died in prison, including infants and children alike. Additionally, nearly two hundred people were jailed for months awaiting a trial that never came. Due to the survival of a large multitude of records, including notes and official rulings, the true facts of accusations, trials, and even the executions are known by the public.

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The minister called upon others in the community and surrounding areas to observe the behaviors. The children acted as if they were being pinched and bitten by things that no one else could see. Their actions led to a town pitting neighbor against neighbor. The townspeople were fueled by fear and anxiety that they may be accused of being witches themselves. The townspeople began to point fingers towards anyone they thought may be a witch or practicing witchcraft.

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There were 19 men and women hanged, which consisted of 6 men and 13 women. There was also one man pressed. Four others died in prison from being accused of witchcraft . They were accused of being a witch by defending someone else who was being accused of being a witch or warlock (Salem Witchcraft

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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.

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1012 Words | 5 Pages

The year of 1692 identified a significant event in history in the town of Salem, Massachusetts. The Salem Witch Trials revealed series of prosecutions of people being accused of witchcraft, which resulted in the executions of twenty innocent people. Out of the twenty people, fourteen of them were women were hung to death and the others died in prison. It all began with several girls that experimented with magic, which the Puritans believed they were collaborating with the Devil. Based on the Puritan beliefs, the meaning of witchcraft was the Devil’s magic.

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1223 Words | 5 Pages

How two little girls (Abigail and Betty) where the first to suffer from fits of hysterical outbreaks and how many accusers came forward and described how they or their animals had been bewitched. It mentions the court cases and how there were more woman than men accused of practicing witch craft. It also states how historians believe the girls were faking their fits from the start. Also mentions how religious Salem was at the time which influenced the trials. •

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