Salem witch trials 1692-93

Causes

Religious context and the Glorious revolution

  • Mid-1600s religious context:

    • Charles I and William Lord punishing radicals in the star chamber for dissenting non-puritan policies in 1630s. 10,000 protestants migrated to Massachusetts 1630-42

    • James II united New England colonies under governor Andros, which was unpopular for lack of puritans in the council

      • He tried to implement church of England services in puritan churches

      • He introduced new taxes and removed land ownership titles from puritans unless they paid fees

    • The Glorious Revolution:

      • 1687 declaration of indulgence suspended penal laws against Catholics. James II also dissolved parliament

      • Dissenters invited William of Orange to fight him in 1688. He defeated him in the battle of Boyne 1690, after passing the Toleration act to give protestants religious freedom

      • Puritans revolted against Andros and had him arrested. The rebels were led by two puritan ministers, Increase and Cotton Mather

      • The colony received a new charter in 1691, but William III, fearing religious rule in Massachusetts, enforced voter eligibility based on property ownership and appointed all officials himself. He also had the ability to block any of the council’s laws

      • The puritans in Salem felt that their way of life had been disturbed, but they didn’t see many changes, despite rebelling against Catholic oppression. The revolution led to a lack of strong legal authority in Massachusetts, and the puritan presence in the colony meant it was common for people to blame diabolism on their misfortunes

Native American and inter-community tensions

  • 1/10 military aged men killed and many towns destroyed in the first Indian war in the 1670s. The overthrow of Andros meant the town’s defences were and there was less troops available, making Native American attacks more common

  • Puritans believed Natives were devil-worshippers due to their polytheistic religion and refusal to convert to puritanism. They had disagreements over land because puritans wanted to farm, but Native Americans believed this was ‘scarring’ the land. The use of scalping was considered traumatic, and Natives were accused of plunder. Their culture of healing and spirituality was also suspicious as diabolical. The white settlers believed they were God’s chosen people and were superior to the Natives in the eyes of God

  • Tituba, one of the instigators of the craze, was believed to be Native American. Court testimonies also mentioned sightings of a ‘black man’ that is said to resemble a Native American

Cotton Mather

  • He and his father were 2 senior clergymen and had preached about the danger of witches

  • He published the ‘memorable providences’ in 1689 (in the midst of the glorious revolution) which is considered the inspiration for the Salem witch hunt:

    • In the book, he gave an account of the Goodwin possessions of 1688, where the daughter Martha had accused the laundress of stealing bedsheets for witchcraft. Mary Glover, the mother of the laundress, was a Gaelic-speaking Catholic that swore at Martha, leading her to be afflicted with fits. Doctor Oakes examined the children and believed that they had been bewitched, Mather then exorcised Martha to remove her fits

      • Mary Glover was arrested, admitted to be making dolls for witchcraft and being unable to recite the Lord’s prayer

    • Cotton Mather didn’t publish the names of the other suspects because he believed witches couldn’t be trusted and would lie in confessions

Escalation

Samuel Parris

  • He was a puritan minister and educated plantation owner

  • He looked for financial gain and indulgence, by trying to increase his salary and buy unnecessary items for the church like gold candlesticks. Local congregation and the Porter family had begun to criticise Parris before he delivered his sermon on witchcraft

  • He had introduced the idea that his daughter and niece were afflicted by the devil, and had been the person who filed charges against Tituba

  • His devout puritanism meant he would have increased scepticism and paranoia towards people who deviated from this faith, including women like Bridget Bishop

The role of child testimonies

  • 1691 — Elizabeth Parris and cousin Abigail experimented with fortune telling using a ‘Venus glass’. Parris believed his daughter was bewitched as she lost concentration and threw a bible. They both began to have fits, which doctors insisted was witchcraft

  • Other girls possessed include Mary Walcott and Ann Putnam, who is mentioned 400 times in court documents. Child testimonies were important because they were seen as innocent and truthful in the court

  • Role of Tituba:

    • She was a servant and slave to the Parris family

    • Mary Sibley, Mary Walcott’s aunt, asked her to make a ‘witch’s cake’ which worsened the girls’ fits instead of revealing a suspect, causing Parris to file charges

    • She is said to be of Caribbean and African descent and to have brought magical practices like voodoo from the West Indies

    • She confessed quickly because she didn’t want to be executed, and provided further accusations that escalated the trials

The court of Oyer and Terminer

  • First 3 witches also included Sarah Good (begging, 40 year old outcast) and Sarah Osbourne (high-status widow living with an Irish indentured servant) accused by Tituba

  • Another witch was Bridget Bishop who was an independent innkeeper that allowed non-puritan activities like drinking and gambling. She was first to be executed

  • ‘Spectral evidence’ like possessions, spirits and dreams were used as evidence in court, allowing for many convictions to be secured with little tangible evidence. Devil’s marks were also used as evidence, and one judge resigned because he was suspicious about the legitimacy of the trials

  • Confessions improved chances of being freed rather than executed, which exacerbated the number of accusations.

  • 20 out of 200 accused were killed, including Bridget Bishop and Reverend Burroughs

End

The role of Increase Mather

  • Puritan minister and president of Harvard. Initially supported the trials but criticised the evidence used

  • He wrote ‘cases of conscience’ which suggested cases of witchcraft were rare and that the trials were subject to miscarriages of justice because of the use of spectral and other dubious evidences.

  • He embraced scepticism and believed witches were lying in confessions, arguing their accusations shouldn’t be trusted

The role of Governor William Phips

  • He was influenced by Increase Mather, who spoke with officials including Phips about his concerns

    • He was previously baptised in Cotton Mather’s church and worked with Increase to renew Massachusett’s charter, leading to Phips being put into governor position under the new charter

  • Closure of ‘Oyer and Terminer’ in 1692 due to disagreeing with Staughton and the influence of Increase Mather

    • Initially set up court and appointed Staughton to act w/o interference

    • He realised that innocent people were being executed and became doubtful of the trials when his wife was accused

    • General pardon in 1693, where 8 who were sentenced to death were excused

    • Acquittal of Tituba, whose life was spared

The fall of William Staughton

  • He was chief justice of the colonial courts and a staunch puritan, who approved of spectral evidence in the courtroom

  • He wrote to King William III to criticise Staughton and argued he was pressured to set up court

  • 1695 witchcraft legislation repealed 1692 laws that enabled for swift prosecutions, meaning laws were the same as England and proper proceedings with concrete evidence, credible witnesses and jury were needed. Judges like Sewall also apologised to Massachusetts officials for the trials