The Salem Witch Trials In 1692 Colonial America
Salem Witch Trials Essay
Here lies a point in history that is usually passed over without a second thought, but in fact there are some deep truths of society in 1692 Colonial America. With little research, one can find that in 1692 in Massachusetts, a series of charges were held against a group of dangerous witches. Every researcher looking for the truth, though, should ask this serious and important question: Were the Salem Witch Trials truly fair and just? Or were they just the over-reactions of a superstitious community to a childish prank? What are the truths of this time in history?
Research First, before investigating the matter, one must do some research on Puritan views. Puritans held strict laws on religion, and Puritan society …show more content…
catered to the young, strong, healthy, wealthy males. Women, elderly, the poor, and handicapped people were seen as inferior. Any children born with birth defects were seen as the offspring of the Devil himself. Anyone who was nonconforming was entailed as a threat to the moral righteousness of the society. The Puritans took the Bible’s teachings extremely seriously, almost over-zealously. This included the verse “You shalt not suffer witches to live.” These beliefs led to many interesting conflicts, including the Salem Witch Trials.
Investigation The investigation begins with the Paris Household afflictions. In 1692, Betty Paris (age 9) and her cousin Abigail Williams (age 11) began to act unusually. They began to have “fits beyond the effects of any natural disease or epileptic fits.” The girls screamed like wild animals, crawled under furniture, and threw objects across the room. Though they would complain of being pricked by pins, the doctor could find no physical signs of this. Soon other girls in town began to show symptoms similar to the Paris’s.
Arrests At first, three arrests were made. Sarah Good was a homeless woman who would beg for food and shelter, and, if she was rejected and turned out, she would mutter under her breath, making people think she was casting evil spells upon them. She was pregnant at the time of arrest and had a six-year-old child as well. The infant was born and died in prison with Sarah before she was hung. The six-year-old was also accused of witchcraft, and arrested on trumped up charges, but later she was released. She would be psychologically scarred for the rest of her life.
The next arrest was Sarah Osborne, a frail sixty-year old. She rarely attended church meetings, due to her physical illnesses, amounting to suspicions of her being non-religious, and therefore living in the devil’s pay. She was also scorned because her husband had died a while ago and she was living with another man at the time, though not married to him.
Then, Tituba, a Native American slave born in Barbados, was also arrested, especially since she was not from the area. She was accused of telling the girls dangerous spiritual stories and practicing black magic with them. It was also supposed that she taught the girls how to perform voodoo, though no evidence of this was found in support.
Fourteen more women were arrested, and one of them was named Anne Hibbins. Hibbins was already known for her temper and for speaking her mind or arguing with men, which was unheard of among conformist Puritan women. One day in 1654, she spotted two men conversing down the street, and, even though she was too far to hear exactly what they were saying, she deduced that they were talking about her. She later conversed with her neighbors on the strange occurrence. They reported her to the authorities. She was promptly arrested, tried, and hung.
Evidence, Trials, and Outcomes Evidence for the prosecutions was determined several ways. Obviously, witches were seen as elderly women with aging skin, bent over by years of backbreaking work. Some women were so bedridden they were completely unable to get to church, and, since Puritan elders believed everyone, no matter how physically ill, should attend church, this was another horrible mark on their scorecard. Physical evidence such as the search for “witches teats” (a mole or blemish on the body that was insensitive to touch; discovery of these were considered de facto evidence of witches). Also, because of their poverty and low social power, many of these “witches” were easy targets for the elders and Puritan leaders.
As to the prosecutions and trials, the accused withes’ chances of survival plummeted from slim to complete and utter doom. The women were expected to legally represent themselves in court and, if they could, defend themselves, without the right to an attorney. To make matters worse, the afflicted children from town were brought in as witnesses, and declared that each of the accused were at fault for their illnesses and calamities.
The only accused that was not hung for the accusations was Tituba, the slave. She claimed that she had been afflicted the same as the children, and was afraid of the devils. She claimed that her afflictions were caused by Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne. She even said that other witches were in the area, inflicting their evil in silence and secrecy, which made the witch hysteria increase even further. This sealed the fates of the accused, and all three were sent to a Boston jail. Since Tituba had confessed and told the magistrates what they wanted to hear, she was not harmed, just imprisoned. Sarah Osborne died in prison from her frailty.
Amazing Occurrences during the Sentences As for Sarah good, she went to her death on Gallows Hill on July 19. Even to the end, local minister Nicholas Noyes tormented her and criticized her as an evil witch. At the last second, Good loudly yelled in reply, “You are a liar. I am no more a witch than you are a wizard, and if you must take my life, God will give you blood to drink.” Amazingly, this “curse” was fulfilled twenty-five years later, when Noyes choked to death from his blood that was released by internal bleeding.
Another remarkable case of the other 14 accused, Rebecca Nurse, occurred next. Thirty-nine local residents mustered the nerve to sign a petition on her behalf. Part of the document stated that the residents had no justifiable cause or grounds to denounce the accused. The members of the jury found themselves agreeing with the petitioners, as Nurse presented herself in court as a respectable Christian woman. The jury initially found her innocent. Immediately after the verdict was announced, the girls went into spasms. At the same time, hundreds in the crowd cried out in loud voices. Outside, the news caused dozens of other people to have fits almost as bad as the girls inside. The terrified judges concluded that the jury had made a mistake and quickly told the jurors to reconsider their case. They recalled Nurse to the stand to clarify some information from the earlier trial. At that time a juror asked her a question. Nurse, old and hard of hearing, did not hear it and remained silent. Later, she was told she had not answered a juror’s question. The jury found her to be guilty because of it. Then, again at the last second, Governor Phipps granted her a reprieve. But another public outcry caused him to recall it. Nurse was hung.
Possible Explanations People become afflicted through an endless list of possible explanations.
The most reasonable come to the following: physical ailment, mental illness, and outright fakery. A few modern day historians lean towards the first two and the possibility that the girls were having physical and mental illnesses. No explanations seemed plausible to anyone in the town of how the girls were acting so. This and the presence of old and unusual women living in the area led the girls and the community towards the belief that witches and their curses were to blame. But some believe that the children of the town, who were bored with the lifestyle they had, started to behave odd and claim witches were to blame. This entertained them for a while, seeing as how the adults took it so seriously, so they continued with their “game”. The adults were so dutiful to their children that they took the matter farther. This caused the innocent deaths of many unsuspecting people in the area. To further conclude this explanation, the “afflicted” girls would surely have realized that if their accusations were proved wrong or they were exposed as fakers, they would be severely punished as murderers. This would lead to a continuation of accusations, arrests, trials, and deaths, to continue to mislead the suspicions of the susceptible
society.
Closure After reviewing the facts stated above, one should take careful measures to investigate every plausible answer. The facts present what happened during the time, but not why it truly started. To that affect, the answer to the question would have to be based on personal belief. A perfect conclusion would be hard to find, nay, even impossible to find. So the question remains: What caused the Salem Witch Trials?
Here lies a point in history that is usually passed over without a second thought, but in fact there are some deep truths of society in 1692 Colonial America. With little research, one can find that in 1692 in Massachusetts, a series of charges were held against a group of dangerous witches. Every researcher looking for the truth, though, should ask this serious and important question: Were the Salem Witch Trials truly fair and just? Or were they just the over-reactions of a superstitious community to a childish prank? What are the truths of this time in history?
Research First, before investigating the matter, one must do some research on Puritan views. Puritans held strict laws on religion, and Puritan society …show more content…
catered to the young, strong, healthy, wealthy males. Women, elderly, the poor, and handicapped people were seen as inferior. Any children born with birth defects were seen as the offspring of the Devil himself. Anyone who was nonconforming was entailed as a threat to the moral righteousness of the society. The Puritans took the Bible’s teachings extremely seriously, almost over-zealously. This included the verse “You shalt not suffer witches to live.” These beliefs led to many interesting conflicts, including the Salem Witch Trials.
Investigation The investigation begins with the Paris Household afflictions. In 1692, Betty Paris (age 9) and her cousin Abigail Williams (age 11) began to act unusually. They began to have “fits beyond the effects of any natural disease or epileptic fits.” The girls screamed like wild animals, crawled under furniture, and threw objects across the room. Though they would complain of being pricked by pins, the doctor could find no physical signs of this. Soon other girls in town began to show symptoms similar to the Paris’s.
Arrests At first, three arrests were made. Sarah Good was a homeless woman who would beg for food and shelter, and, if she was rejected and turned out, she would mutter under her breath, making people think she was casting evil spells upon them. She was pregnant at the time of arrest and had a six-year-old child as well. The infant was born and died in prison with Sarah before she was hung. The six-year-old was also accused of witchcraft, and arrested on trumped up charges, but later she was released. She would be psychologically scarred for the rest of her life.
The next arrest was Sarah Osborne, a frail sixty-year old. She rarely attended church meetings, due to her physical illnesses, amounting to suspicions of her being non-religious, and therefore living in the devil’s pay. She was also scorned because her husband had died a while ago and she was living with another man at the time, though not married to him.
Then, Tituba, a Native American slave born in Barbados, was also arrested, especially since she was not from the area. She was accused of telling the girls dangerous spiritual stories and practicing black magic with them. It was also supposed that she taught the girls how to perform voodoo, though no evidence of this was found in support.
Fourteen more women were arrested, and one of them was named Anne Hibbins. Hibbins was already known for her temper and for speaking her mind or arguing with men, which was unheard of among conformist Puritan women. One day in 1654, she spotted two men conversing down the street, and, even though she was too far to hear exactly what they were saying, she deduced that they were talking about her. She later conversed with her neighbors on the strange occurrence. They reported her to the authorities. She was promptly arrested, tried, and hung.
Evidence, Trials, and Outcomes Evidence for the prosecutions was determined several ways. Obviously, witches were seen as elderly women with aging skin, bent over by years of backbreaking work. Some women were so bedridden they were completely unable to get to church, and, since Puritan elders believed everyone, no matter how physically ill, should attend church, this was another horrible mark on their scorecard. Physical evidence such as the search for “witches teats” (a mole or blemish on the body that was insensitive to touch; discovery of these were considered de facto evidence of witches). Also, because of their poverty and low social power, many of these “witches” were easy targets for the elders and Puritan leaders.
As to the prosecutions and trials, the accused withes’ chances of survival plummeted from slim to complete and utter doom. The women were expected to legally represent themselves in court and, if they could, defend themselves, without the right to an attorney. To make matters worse, the afflicted children from town were brought in as witnesses, and declared that each of the accused were at fault for their illnesses and calamities.
The only accused that was not hung for the accusations was Tituba, the slave. She claimed that she had been afflicted the same as the children, and was afraid of the devils. She claimed that her afflictions were caused by Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne. She even said that other witches were in the area, inflicting their evil in silence and secrecy, which made the witch hysteria increase even further. This sealed the fates of the accused, and all three were sent to a Boston jail. Since Tituba had confessed and told the magistrates what they wanted to hear, she was not harmed, just imprisoned. Sarah Osborne died in prison from her frailty.
Amazing Occurrences during the Sentences As for Sarah good, she went to her death on Gallows Hill on July 19. Even to the end, local minister Nicholas Noyes tormented her and criticized her as an evil witch. At the last second, Good loudly yelled in reply, “You are a liar. I am no more a witch than you are a wizard, and if you must take my life, God will give you blood to drink.” Amazingly, this “curse” was fulfilled twenty-five years later, when Noyes choked to death from his blood that was released by internal bleeding.
Another remarkable case of the other 14 accused, Rebecca Nurse, occurred next. Thirty-nine local residents mustered the nerve to sign a petition on her behalf. Part of the document stated that the residents had no justifiable cause or grounds to denounce the accused. The members of the jury found themselves agreeing with the petitioners, as Nurse presented herself in court as a respectable Christian woman. The jury initially found her innocent. Immediately after the verdict was announced, the girls went into spasms. At the same time, hundreds in the crowd cried out in loud voices. Outside, the news caused dozens of other people to have fits almost as bad as the girls inside. The terrified judges concluded that the jury had made a mistake and quickly told the jurors to reconsider their case. They recalled Nurse to the stand to clarify some information from the earlier trial. At that time a juror asked her a question. Nurse, old and hard of hearing, did not hear it and remained silent. Later, she was told she had not answered a juror’s question. The jury found her to be guilty because of it. Then, again at the last second, Governor Phipps granted her a reprieve. But another public outcry caused him to recall it. Nurse was hung.
Possible Explanations People become afflicted through an endless list of possible explanations.
The most reasonable come to the following: physical ailment, mental illness, and outright fakery. A few modern day historians lean towards the first two and the possibility that the girls were having physical and mental illnesses. No explanations seemed plausible to anyone in the town of how the girls were acting so. This and the presence of old and unusual women living in the area led the girls and the community towards the belief that witches and their curses were to blame. But some believe that the children of the town, who were bored with the lifestyle they had, started to behave odd and claim witches were to blame. This entertained them for a while, seeing as how the adults took it so seriously, so they continued with their “game”. The adults were so dutiful to their children that they took the matter farther. This caused the innocent deaths of many unsuspecting people in the area. To further conclude this explanation, the “afflicted” girls would surely have realized that if their accusations were proved wrong or they were exposed as fakers, they would be severely punished as murderers. This would lead to a continuation of accusations, arrests, trials, and deaths, to continue to mislead the suspicions of the susceptible
society.
Closure After reviewing the facts stated above, one should take careful measures to investigate every plausible answer. The facts present what happened during the time, but not why it truly started. To that affect, the answer to the question would have to be based on personal belief. A perfect conclusion would be hard to find, nay, even impossible to find. So the question remains: What caused the Salem Witch Trials?