Salem Witch Trials

When did this begin?

1691-1692 in Salem Village, where minister Samuel Parris, their 9 year old daughter Betty, and niece Abigail Williams felt ill

Who was accused of it?

Mostly women, specifically Sarah Good, Sarah Osbourne, and Parris’s Indian salve Tituba were arrested

• 14 of the accused witches, 12 lived in the east

• 32 of who testified against the accused, 30 lived in the west

• 29 who publicly defended the accused, 24 lived in the east

What happened when they were arrested?

(Voodoo dolls were found as evidence)

• Prisoners were checked for any abnormal marks on their body b/c of “witch’s tit”

Puritains were forgiving for this since they were not interested in punishment for its own sake

• They would reduce or suspend the sentence if lawbreakers gave evidence of sincere regret for their misdeeds

  • this led to innocent women being accused

What about men and higher classes?

• Nathaniel Saltonstall resigned in protest after the first execution

• Some ministers in public supported the trials, but privately they wrote letters to magistrates warning them

• Mather Sermon convinced governor William Phips to dismiss anymore arrests

Hysteria

behavior of the bewitched with the neurotic syndrome

• they convert their mental worries into physical symptoms such as blindness, paralysis of various parts of the body, choking, fainting, or attacks of pain