25 disturbing facts about the salem witch trials

After Governor Phips's wife faced accusations of witchcraft, he outlawed spectral evidence in October 1692. The most terrifying part, perhaps, was that anyone could be accused of engaging in witchcraft, and there was little they could do to defend themselves. The salem witch trials hysteria of 1692 was caused by the Puritans strict religious standards and intolerance of anything not accepted with their scripture. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. Witchcraft was considered a crime against the church and the state. Gallows Hill was discovered on a rocky outcropping now located, very unfittingly, near a Walgreens in Salem. One of the most popular points of view was that if you were against the trials, then you were, in fact, an advocate for the witches. This resulted in him being accused as well, and in the end it was he who was executed while Elizabeth was instead sentenced to prison so that her unborn baby would not have to die. Thomas Maule, a Quaker who found himself at odds with the Puritan community at times, was beaten and imprisoned for speaking out against the trials, despite the fact that he himself believed in witches. Unlike the stereotype surrounding witchcraft that indicates that it is primarily done by women, the people of Salem did not discriminate on the basis of gender. Ann Putnam, for example, used spectral evidence to accuse Rebecca Nurse,said, I saw the Apperishtion of [Rebecca Nurse] and she did immediatly afflect me. Such evidence was also used against Bridget Bishop, with many men claiming she had visited them in spectral form in the middle of the night. The first accusations during the Salem Witch Trials were against people who were for various reasons marginalized by society. Learn about the Salem witch trials and their legacy. 2023 Minute Media - All Rights Reserved. The Multitude of Salem Witch Trials Descendants. New England Historical Society. The governor pardoned the rest of the accused witches and they were released from jail. 9 Things You Might Not Know About the Salem Witch Trials, The world's largest online family history resource - Start now, New England, Salem Witches and Others Tried for Witchcraft, 1647-1697, 6 Unusual Last Names You Wont Believe Exist, The Experience of an Ancestral Home Visit, Discovering African American Heroes in My Family Tree. The Salem trials also went on to become a powerful metaphor for the anticommunist hearings led by U.S. Sen. Joseph McCarthy during the Red Scare of the 1950s, famously in the form of Arthur Millers allegorical play The Crucible (1953). Those people lived in quite a horrific time. By May 1693 everyone in custody under conviction or suspicion of witchcraft had been pardoned by Phips. Alexander, Mary Jane. Many read Miller's play as a criticism of McCarthyism, the Red Scare, and intolerance. 10 The Symptoms That Gave Witches Away Make No Sense At All All witches are women, but not every woman is a witch. Spectral evidence refers to the description of harm committed by the specters of the accused, described by those who were bewitched [PDF]. Twenty people were put to death in Salem for the crime of witchcraft. Witch hunts Little is known about Tituba besides her role in the witch trials. In January 1692, two little girls living in Salem began acting strangely. For example, the infamous Putnam family had been one of the earliest settler dynasties to come to the Massachusetts Bay colony and establish themselves there. Due to its association with the supernatural and the haunted, Salem is now a popular destination for Halloween festivities, which run throughout the month of October. They thought that when witches baked cakes, that they were casting a spell in it. When you think of the Salem witch trials, you probably think of a bunch of confused villagers who didnt know any better, but there is so much more to the story. His wife, Elizabeth, had been accused of witchcraft and John tried to step in to defend her. Dont feel too embarrassed if you happen to be from Massachusetts, you guys were not the first to do something like this. Here are 42 wicked facts about the Salem witch trials. By the time it was over, the resulting Salem witch trials had claimed the lives of 20 innocent souls. The Salem witch trails reveal about gender and power in the 17 th century in the US is that the roles men expected of women followed a strict guideline. The feud was over the fact that Kazan had named communist sympathizers during his testimony to Congress. The Salem witch trials are a defining example of intolerance and injustice in American history. Large rocks and boulders were then laid on the planks, which slowly crushed him., After Governor Phips put an end to the witch trials, many involved in the proceedings expressed guilt and remorse about the events that occurred, including judge Samuel Sewall and the governor himself. Villagers shot the dog immediately. The story goes that Corey and her husband, Giles, sat in on the trials early on, causing Martha to express scepticism about the legitimacy of the proceedings. The late comedian Lucille Ball is a descendant of Rachel Vinson, who was acquitted in the witch trials. The dog was also supposed to then point to the people who had bewitched the victim. The witchcraft trials even targeted animals. Apparently they felt that giving gifts took away from ones ability to focus on serious religious thought, and they did not like the pagan origins of some aspects of the holiday. Many possible answers have been proposed, but one likely explanation is that they were suffering from some kind of natural medical afflictions. A crucible is a kind of container used for heating substances at very high temperatures, and the term is often used to describe high pressure situationssuch as the onethe witch trials creates for the accused. The Salem witch trials of the late 17thcentury were a formative episode in Americas early history, and have remained at the forefront of the national consciousness ever since. However, after the dogs death, the local Minister reasoned that if the devil had possessed the dog, it would not have been so easily killed with a bullet. The next time Giles wanted to attend, Martha objected and prevented him from going. Apparently they felt that giving gifts took away from ones ability to focus on serious religious thought, and they did not like the pagan origins of some aspects of the holiday. The infamous Salem witch trials began during the spring of 1692, after a group of young girls in Salem Village, Massachusetts, claimed to be possessed by the devil and accused several local. In mid-January 1692, Elizabeth Betty Parris, the 9-year-old daughter of the local Reverend Samuel Parris, and Abigail Williams, the reverends 11-year-old niece, became the first to be diagnosed with being afflicted by witchcraft. While Wyatt sneaks away from the bunker to face an unbelievable truth, Lucy, Rufus and Flynn chase the Mothership to the 1692 Salem Witch Trials. The town of Andover in northeastern Massachusetts, not Salem Village, had the highest number of accused (42 accused in Andover versus 26 accused in Salem Village).However, it was Salem Village where the witch trials were taken to such drastic lengths. On March 23, 1692, a warrant was issued for the arrest of four-year-old Dorothy Good of Salem Village on "suspition of acts of Witchcraft.". No, it doesnt sound that romantic or comic to me either. It was a time when Christianity was prominent and no one steered away from the biblical beliefs. Brooks, Rebecca Beatrice. Additionally, a man was pressed beneath heavy stones until he died. However, witch trials are not a thing of the past. Because of the similarity in time period, location, and story, people often mix up the Puritans with the Pilgrims, the group of Dutch settlers who created what we now know as the holiday of Thanksgiving. Move over Montagues and Capulets: You might not be the most vengeful families out there. Not that Salem didnt have its problems to begin with, but the community never fully recovered from the witch trials saga, and the divisions and setbacks to the towns development continued in the years following the trials. The Salem witch trials of the late 17th century were a formative episode in America's early history, and have remained at the forefront of the national consciousness ever since. Millers famous play about the Salem witch trials is called The Cruciblebut what is a crucible anyway? Even some members of his congregation at the time wanted to see him dismissed from his pew in response to his aggressive prosecuting role in the episode. Ann Putnam testified that Good tried to choke and bite her, a claim that Mary Walcott corroborated. Maybe theres another reason that people still find themselves intrigued with the Salem witchcraft trials, besides the possibility of sorcery or the specter of mass delusions convulsing into violence. Because of the similarity in time period, location, and story, people often mix up the Puritans with the Pilgrims, the group of Dutch settlers who created what we now know as the holiday of Thanksgiving. They found it by following clues in an accused witchs writings and through guesses on where prisoners would be transported. Rebecca Beatrice Brooks Post author October 25, 2017 at 3:28 pm. One exception was Giles Corey, who refused to stand for trialhe believed the court had already decided his fate, and he didn't want his property to be confiscated upon his verdict of being found guilty. His wife, Elizabeth, had been accused of witchcraft and John tried to step in to defend her. Animals in the Salem Witch Trials. History of Massachusetts Blog, February 20, 2012. https://historyofmassachusetts.org/animals-in-the-salem-witch-trials/. For everyone who remains intrigued by Salem, here are a few lesser-known facts about the witchcraft trials. For everyone who remains intrigued by Salem, here are a few lesser-known facts about the witchcraft trials. There was a social divide between the leading families as well as a split between factions that were for and against the villages new pastor, Samuel Parris. Tituba ultimately survived the saga and was not hanged. Photos and Videos See All Videos and Images Related Topics and References Topics witchcraft Here are 42 wicked facts about the Salem witch trials. It seems that a shocking number of accusations were made by members of the Putnam family. After weeks of informal hearings, Sir William Phips, governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, interceded to add some formality to the proceedings. They began in 1692, a full 73 years before the start of the American Revolution and some 40 years before George Washington was even born. Descendants of the Salem community have made constant efforts to clear the names of those ancestors and relatives who were falsely accused and convicted back in the 1690s, with some being officially recognized as innocent by the Massachusetts government as recently as the beginning of the 21st-century. Thanks for your time! Additionally, he is an accomplished scriptwriter, having written the successful AA Meeting series for the stage and the award-winning film Depth of Pyaar. Credits: Danvers Lunatic Asylum: CHRONICLES- Danvers State Hospital | Danvers Family History Proves Bewitching to Descendants of Salem Witches : Colonial America: Three Presidents, Clara Barton, Walt Disney, Joan Kennedy and One Unborn Child Are among Those Whose Ancestors Were Accused of Consorting with the Devil 300 Years Ago. Los Angeles Times. It is not known why Abigail was living with the Parris family but many historians assume her parents . Animals were the "familiar spirits" of witches. From Henry Wadsworth Longfellow to Hocus Pocus, Arthur Miller to American Horror Story, American pop culture is saturated in retellings of this horrifying episode in colonial history. Please submit feedback to contribute@factinate.com. Salem witch trials, (June 1692-May 1693), in American history, a series of investigations and persecutions that caused 19 convicted "witches" to be hanged and many other suspects to be imprisoned in Salem Village in the Massachusetts Bay Colony (now Danvers, Massachusetts). They were eventually assumed to be possessed. Some of the families now only remembered for their connection to the trials had actually been important and well-known people before that. Thanks for your help! There's something about the family structure that encourages secrets. The Enemy of My Enemy. Brooks, Rebecca Beatrice. Twenty of those people were executed, most by hanging. In January of 1692, the daughter and niece of Reverend Samuel Parris of Salem Village became ill. William Griggs, the village doctor, was called in when they failed to improve. The people of Salem often ate rye bread,and in wet, swampy conditions (which Salem had at the time), rye can foster a fungus called ergot. Factinate is a fact website that is dedicated to finding and sharing fun facts about science, history, animals, films, people, and much more. The Salem Witch Trials that took place in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692 was most defiantly a time when one could attribute "moral panic" to the deaths of 20 people who were hung for being what society deemed as witches. List three facts about each and three opinions. She went as far as to say that she did not even know what a witch was. Make sure to leave us a comment after you watch this video to tell us what you learned and what video youd like to see next! The Salem witch trials have gripped American imaginations ever since they occurred in 1692. It was a time of hysteria, when courts believed in the devil, spectral evidence and teenage girls. List of People of the Salem Witch Trials. Wikipedia. Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. Between February 1692 and May 1693, colonial Massachusetts was the scene of a mass hysteria sparked by false accusations from several young girls. The Salem Witch Hunt: A Captivating Guide to the Hunt and . This often led to panicked citizens pointing out their innocent neighbors, adding to the rising toll of victims. Many possible answers have been proposed, but one likely explanation is that they were suffering from some kind of natural medical afflictions. Between 1692 and 1693, more than two hundred people were accused. A complicated and long-lasting feud between the Putnam and Porter families of Salem may have been a motivating factor in some of the witchcraft accusations. Over the following year many trials were held and many people imprisoned. Millers famous play about the Salem witch trials is called The Cruciblebut what is a crucible anyway? They screamed, made odd sounds, threw things, contorted their bodies, and complained of biting and pinching sensations. In 1702, the court declared the trials unlawful. Witches were considered to be followers of Satan who had traded their souls for his assistance. In the late 1600s the Salem Village community in the Massachusetts Bay Colony (now Danvers, Massachusetts) was fairly small and undergoing a period of turmoil with little political guidance. At the end of the 17th century, after years of mostly resisting witch hunts and witch trial prosecutions, Puritans in New England suddenly found themselves facing a conspiracy of witches in a war against Satan and his minions. There is little doubt that some individuals did worship the devil and attempt to practice sorcery with harmful intent. Unlike the others who were hanged, this unfortunate fellow was crushed to death by stones. William Stoughton, who presided over the Salem witch trials, studied theology at Harvard College and Oxford, but never became a minister and chose to enter politics instead. This resulted in him being accused as well, and in the end it was he who was executed while Elizabeth was instead sentenced to prison so that her unborn baby would not have to die. Directed by Guy Ferland. The Salem witch trials were also the subject of Arthur Miller's The Crucible, written in the 1950s. All Rights Reserved. When all was said and done, 25 people lost their lives because of the trials. Giles had actually been accused and found guilty of murdering one of his farm hands years earlier, but was let off with just a fine! Madame de Pompadour was the alluring chief mistress of King Louis XV, but few people know her dark historyor the chilling secret shared by her and Louis. Significantly, those that they began identifying as other witches were no longer just outsiders and outcasts but rather upstanding members of the community, beginning with Rebecca Nurse, a mature woman of some prominence. She was taken into custody the next day and jailed with her mother, Sarah, who had been accused of the same capital crime three weeks earlier. Squabbles over property were commonplace, and litigiousness was rampant. Although Massachusetts has given up its fight against witchcraft, there are still places in the world where witchcraft is legitimately feared by the public, sometimes even leading to real modern day witch hunts. In Salem Massachusetts in 1692 the Salem Witch Trials took place. Some of the families now only remembered for their connection to the trials had actually been important and well-known people before that. Not that Salem didnt have its problems to begin with, but the community never fully recovered from the witch trials saga, and the divisions and setbacks to the towns development continued in the years following the trials. One of the most famous victims of the trials was a prominent woman in the local community named Martha Corey. The 1942 romantic comedy filmI Married a Witch, starring Veronica Lake and Frederic March, told the story of two witches from Salem placing a revenge curse on the descendants of their accuser. No, it doesnt sound that romantic or comic to me either. Even more interesting, the summer of 1692 was a dry one, and coincided with the apparent end of the bewitchments. With Abigail Spencer, Matt Lanter, Malcolm Barrett, Paterson Joseph. Spooky stories abound at the Witch House in Salem, Massachusetts. The most famous witch trial in history happened in Salem, Massachusetts, during the winter and spring of 1692-1693. While there was no need to provide evidence for accusing someone of witchcraftjust pointing fingers was enoughspectral evidence was often used during the trials. Tituba: The Slave of Salem. History of Massachusetts Blog, January 2, 2013. https://historyofmassachusetts.org/tituba-the-slave-of-salem/. The Salem Witch Trials began in spring 1692 and lasted for seven months, during which more than 150 people where arrested, 19 were hanged and one was tortured to death. According to the warrant for her apprehension, she was called for trial on March 23, 1692, under suspicion of witchcraft after being accused by Edward Putnam. After months of trials, the governor finally decided to put an end to the trials with the last trials being held in May of 1693. Initially, Tituba also claimed to be blameless, but after being repeatedly badgered (and undoubtedly fearful owing to her vulnerable status as a slave), she told the magistrates what they apparently wanted to hearthat she had been visited by the devil and made a deal with him. The best revenge might be living well, but that doesn't mean we can always turn the other cheek. One person was even executed for refusing to testify at the hearings. The phrase witch hunt, commonly used to refer to an unjustified or falsely conjured-up prosecution, is thought to originate as a reference to this time period in American history. History. Lynch, Patrick. Episode 44 Danvers State Mental Hospital & Salem Witch Trials: Carol checks herself in with the lunatics at the legendary Danvers asylum while Holly confesses to witchcraft on the stand in Salem, Massachusetts. In February, unable to account for their behaviour medically, the local doctor, William Griggs, put the blame on the supernatural. That May release included Elizabeth Proctor, who had been found guilty of witchcraft in August of the previous year and sentenced to death,but had her execution postponed due to pregnancy. Philip and Mary English Home, Site Of. Salem Witch Museum. Salem Witch Trials: 25 DISTURBING Facts About The Salem Witch Trials | Salem Witch Trial Full Documentary The Geographic Channel | Samuel Parris | Dorothy Good | Familiar | Giles Corey | Salem Witch Trials - Events, Facts & Victims - HISTORY | George Corwin | Haunted Salem - Where Are the Most Haunted Sites? The Salem Witch Trials, 1692 17th Century Pocahontas Saves John Smith, 1608 Aboard the Mayflower, 1620 The First Thanksgiving, 1621 The Price of Adultery in Puritan Massachusetts, 1641 Living Among the Mohawks, 1644 The Execution of Charles I, 1649 The Great Fire of London, 1666 Inside the Court of Louis XIV, 1671 New York City, 1679 New Hampshire. Log in or try Ancestry 14 days free to start finding the survivors, the outspoken, or the ones who did things differently in your family tree. She added a hog, a great black dog, a red rat, a black rat, and a yellow bird, among other animals, to her storys cast. The number of trials and executions varied according to time and place, but it is generally believed that some 110,000 persons in total were tried for witchcraft and between 40,000 to 60,000 were executed. The Evil Justice William Stoughton Was the Ultimate Hanging Judge at the Salem Witch Trials and Heres Why. HistoryCollection.com, January 29, 2018. https://historycollection.com/william-stoughton-ultimate-hanging-judge-salem-witch-trials/. Mid-February- After a month of fasting, prayer, and home remedies, Betty and Abigail have not improved. The community, beleaguered with hardships already, then overreacted. Witches could change from human to animal form or from one human form to another. Let those stories inspire you to start your family history research today. We want our readers to trust us. The Salem Witch trials occupy a large space in the American imagination. Make sure to watch this video all the way to the end to see which crazy witchcraft fact made our top 10! This is the event that Salem is most known for, in only three months' time 19 innocent people, 14 women and 5 men, were hanged, and one man was pressed to death. Los Angeles Times, August 29, 1993. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-08-29-mn-29128-story.html. Despite the Salem witch trials occurring centuries ago, researchers only just found the execution site for the trials in 2016. The grave of Martha Corey, the wife of Giles Corey . During the trials, two dogs were killed based on suspicions of witchcraft. One of the most famous victims of the trials was a prominent woman in the local community named Martha Corey. In response, John found himself accused as well. These 10 lesser-known facts about the . More than 200 people were accused of practicing witchcraft and 20 were killed during the hysteria. Fourteen women and six men were executed for witchcraft, and five others died in prison during the trials. By the end of the Salem witch trials, 19 people had been hanged and 5 others had died in custody. Another more disturbing theory proposed by researchers like behavioral psychologist Linnda Caporael suggests that Salem suffered from ergot poisoning. Tituba eventually confessed to using witchcraft. The three convicted individuals received pardons. Nineteen were executed by hanging. While Miller maintained that he kept everything historically accurate, some have noted that he made changes to the real record for the sake of the play. The Salem Witch Trials (1692) Cartoon - YouTube (2:10) https://youtu.be/jJJLy5_DlqY Its time for a Halloween special! Other girls and young women began experiencing fits, among them Ann Putnam, Jr.; her mother; her cousin, Mary Walcott; and the Putnamss servant, Mercy Lewis. This often led to panicked citizens pointing out their innocent neighbors, adding to the rising toll of victims. People thought that witches used demons to do magic. The episode is heavily ingrained in American history and perpetuated through pop culture, but the souls lost and persecuted during that time aren't just present in our literature, media, and popular culture. Given the subsequent spread of the strange behaviour to other girls and young women in the community and the timing of its display, however, those physiological and psychological explanations are not very convincing. "Examination of a witch" by Tompkins Harrison Matteson (1853) Several episodes of the original Bewitched TV series were actually filmed on location in Salem. Hoffer, who has written extensively on the Salem witch trials, is one of those who believes the girls who accused their neighbors of witchcraft were carrying out a prank. Both Good and Osborn protested their own innocence, though Good accused Osborn. Our editors are instructed to fact check thoroughly, including finding at least three references for each fact. In 1689, through the influence of the Putnams, Samuel Parris, a merchant from Boston by way of Barbados, became the pastor of the villages Congregational church. This series of prosecutions and hangings of those accused of practicing witchcraft provoked a major backlash, and the event still haunts us today. Facts Did You Know? Husbands hiding things from wives, mothers from children, and generation from generation. Accessed May 6, 2021. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Phips. Life, woman, life is Gods most precious gift; no principle, however glorious, may justify the taking of it.Arthur Miller, in The Crucible. A crucible is a kind of container used for heating substances at very high temperatures, and the term is often used to describe high pressure situationssuch as the onethe witch trials creates for the accused. This series of prosecutions and hangings of those accused of practicing witchcraft provoked a major backlash, andthe event still haunts us today. Another famous incident from the trials was the case of John Proctor. Unlike the others who were hanged, this unfortunate fellow was crushed to death by stones. This period of witch trials later came to be known as the Salem witch trials, named after the town of Salem and Salem Village (present-day Danvers). Arthur Miller, the famous playwright who authored Death of a Salesman, responded to the McCarthy hysteria by writing The Crucible, a play about the Salem witch trials, as a metaphor for what the country was going through in the 1950s. The process of identifying witches began with suspicions or rumours. Tituba initially denied the claim that she was a witch, but notoriously later decided to confess that it was true and accused two other women as well in the process.

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