Salem Witch Trials

The year 1692 marked a major event in history in the town of Salem, Massachusetts. The Salem Witchcraft Trials still leaves this country with so many questions as to what happened in that small town. With all the documentation and accounts of the story, people are still wondering why 19 people died as a result of these trials. The events leading up to the Salem Witch Trials and the events that took place during and after the trial are all still looked at today by historians. Many historians interpret the Salem Witch Trials in different ways depending on their opinions. There were also many different people involved in the Salem Witch Trials. Some historians ask questions like why did so many people have to die during this time? Also what was the real reason behind all of the people being accused of being witches? In 1692 many people had already believed in witchcraft in Salem. Also in 1641 witchcraft was declared a capital crime (Linder). In 1692 a girl named Tituba confessed to witchcraft which led to more searches for witches in Salem. Anne Hibbins was the first witch trial to occur in New England (Kallen 24). Hibbins was said the be the sister of the governor of Massachusetts (Kallen 25). In Salem Village in 1692, Betty Parris and her cousin Abigail Williams, the daughter and niece of the Reverend Samuel Parris, began to have fits described as "beyond the power of Epileptic Fits or natural disease to effect" by John Hale, minister in nearby Beverly. The girls screamed, threw things about the room, uttered strange sounds, crawled under furniture, and contorted themselves into peculiar positions, according to the eyewitness account of Reverend Deodat Lawson, a former minister in the town. The girls complained of being pinched and pricked with pins. A doctor, historically assumed to be William Griggs, could find no physical evidence of any ailment. Other young women in the village began to exhibit similar behaviors. When Lawson preached in the Salem Village meetinghouse, he was interrupted several times by outbursts of the afflicted. The first three people accused and arrested for allegedly afflicting Betty Parris, Abigail Williams, Ann Putnam, and Elizabeth Hubbard were Sarah Good, Sarah Osborne and Tituba. The accusation by Ann Putnam are seen by historians as evidence that a family feud may have been a major cause of the Witch Trials. Salem was the home of a vicious rivalry between the Putnam and Porter families. The people of Salem were all engaged in this rivalry. Salem citizens would often engage in heated debates that would escalate into full-fledged fighting, based solely on their opinion regarding this feud. The victims were mostly women and were tried unfairly (Linder). With the arrest of Martha Corey the entire pattern of witchcraft fever changed (Jackson 35). In October of 1692, the witchcraft trials were called to an end. All in all 19 people had died because of simple feuds that occurred in Salem. All those who had been accused of witchcraft were pardoned. Those who were still in prison had to pay for the food they ate while in jail, otherwise they would have to remain there. Many people lost everything they owned. The Salem Witch Trials helped officially bring an end to people believing in witchcraft. This also showed that people deserved the right to a fair trial. The person is now innocent until proven guilty whereas in Salem in 1692 you were guilty until proven innocent. The year 1692 clearly was a big year in Salem. The Salem Witch trials took many people by storm. People that were innocent died just because of some feuds and false beliefs that people had. The Salem Witch Trials could be interpreted in many different ways and historians view the Salem Witch Trials with different opinions. The Salem Witch trials may be long gone and have been done for a long time but people today still look back and study the horrors that took place during them.

Works Cited
Discovery Education. Salem Witch Trials.

http://school.discoveryeducation.com/schooladventures/salemwitchtrials/
Famous American Trials. Salem Witch Trials of 1692. http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/salem/salem.htm Kallen, Stuart A. The Salem Witch Trials. San Diego, CA: Lucent, 1999. Print.
Jackson, Shirley. The Witchcraft of Salem Village. New York: Random House, 1956. Print.

Cited: Discovery Education. Salem Witch Trials. http://school.discoveryeducation.com/schooladventures/salemwitchtrials/ Famous American Trials. Salem Witch Trials of 1692. http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/salem/salem.htm Kallen, Stuart A. The Salem Witch Trials. San Diego, CA: Lucent, 1999. Print. Jackson, Shirley. The Witchcraft of Salem Village. New York: Random House, 1956. Print.