Many would assume that after the witch trials that occurred in Salem in 1692 people would be terrorized or cautious, but is that really what happened? Out of the almost two hundred people accused of witchcraft only "nineteen were hanged on Gallows Hill" (Brooks, 2011). After this gruesome event one would think that people would be disgusted by themselves for randomly blaming innocent people. The few who were pardoned continued their lives normally seemingly not caring about the ones who had passed away due to false accusations.
Who Started These Crazy Accusations
One of the main accusers during the witch trials in 1692, according to History.com (2011), was an eleven year old named Abigail Williams and a nine year old Elizabeth Parris. By the
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According to Richard Sibbes, a Puritan Minister, "The whole life of a Christian should be nothing but praises and thanks to God, we should neither eat nor sleep, but eat to God and work to God and talk to God, do all to His glory and praise" (Faiza,2008). Their belief that the devil could be amongst them was one of the main factors of the start of the Salem witch trials. The Puritans wanted their communities to only be made up with believers and followers of God and they thought that by hanging anyone suspicious of being "touched" by the devil they would accomplish that goal. According to Faiza (2008), one theory remains that ministers spread the rumor of witchcraft to bring more people into the churches. However the witch trials started one thing is for sure, many lives and families were affected by these tragic events. In 1693 the people remaining in jail were released and four years later a day of fasting was declared for the many tragedies caused by the Salem witch trials. Eighteen years down the road in 1711, the Massachusetts colony tried hard to clean up the names of the people accused of witchcraft and even went as far as providing compensation to the family members affected by the false accusations (Staff,