Essay On The Salem Witch Crisis

The Salem witch crisis, which occurred during the 17th century, involved a series of hearings and prosecutions of individuals in the Salem community who were accused of witchcraft. This crisis began in mid-January when the daughter and niece (Betty Parris and Abigail Williams) started having fits after playing with white magic (Wilson, 7). This was followed by more cases of alleged afflictions as other girls in the neighborhood started showing similar behaviors. The more afflictions also led to a long wave of accusations against those said to have been the cause of the little girls’ afflictions due to their association with witchcraft.
There are numerous factors as to what led to this crisis in Salem, as explained by Lori L Wilson, Sarah Norton, and Sarah Cloyce, who was also one of the many accused of witchcraft during the witch trials. The main factors that led to the crisis in Salem can be concisely said to be a combination of “politics,
The first three persons who were accused of witchcraft by the afflicted girls were Tituba (Reverend Parris’s servant), Sarah Good, and Sarah Osbourne. During her hearing, Tituba confessed of being a witch and “gave credibility to the girl’s claims of seeing specters” (Wilson, 10). Tituba’s confession led to a long wave of accusations with sightings of specters being the main piece of evidence used to identify those who were allegedly witches. Worth mentioning is the scenario in the film “Three Sovereigns for Sarah” where Tituba tells Sarah Cloyce that the reason for her confession was being beaten repeatedly. As mentioned by Wilson, King Phips appointed Justice Stoughton to deal with the witch crisis. However, things only got worse as even more people were accused and prosecuted after Stoughton opened the Court of Oyer and Terminer, where emphasis was placed on spectral