Witches ! The Absolutely True Tale Of Disaster In Salem By Rosalyn Schanzer

Witches! The Absolutely True Tale of Disaster in Salem was a book written by Rosalyn Schanzer. The book covered a set of trials that took place in Salem. Many people accused twenty other people of being witches or wizards. There were even some people who were executed for being witches. It was a time full of hatred, heartbreak, and unfairness. Speaking of unfairness, there was a lot of it in the questioning and trials. The Salem witch trials were unfair because of the lack witnesses in court, the way that spectral evidence was used, and the defendant not having any protection. In the witch trials, the person who was accused would probably be hanged because of all the witnesses testifying against him and the lack of witnesses defending him.

Most accused witches seemed doomed from the start because the people who questioned the witches had already predetermined what they thought was the verdict. "Only one suspect was brought into the room at a time, but even before the defendants spoke a single word, it was obvious that the magistrates thought all three of them were witches" (Schanzer 32). Even when the defendant got any sort of protection, the judges overlooked the real evidence and continued to believe the fake stuff. " Only one person came forth to defend Good. When one of the girls accused Good of stabbing her with a knife and produced a broken knife tip to prove it, a man came forward showing that it was his knife from which the tip had been broken in the presence of the accusing girl. Far from invalidating the girl's testimony against Good, Judge Stoughton simply asked the girl to continue with her accusations with a reminder to stick to the facts" (Sarah Good - Salem Witch Trials). It seemed like some people just wanted someone dead because they just ignored the fact that some accusers confessed that they lied. "Though she had risked her own life by recanting, it didn't do a bit of good for her grandfather or Burroughs" (Schanzer 96). It just goes to show how some people can be so oblivious that someone