Salem Witch Trials

Throughout history millions of people have been scorned, accused, arrested, tortured, put to trial and, persecuted as witches. One would think that by the time the United States was colonized, these injustices on humanity would have come to an end, but that was not so. In 1692 a major tragedy occurred in America, the Salem witch trials. It all began when a group of girls accused others, generally older women, of consorting with the devil. The witchcraft hysteria in Salem, Massachusetts resulted from the strict Puritan code which aroused the girls' interest in superstition and magic caused strange behavior.

Life in Salem Village was not easy at the best of times. Gaiety and merrymaking were regarded as irreligious, and the people of the village were somber and severe. Their lives were spent in hard work and religious observance.

Even their relaxation was associated with the meeting house. On the Sabbath there was a long service in the morning and another in the afternoon. Village residents who came from outlying farms were not able to get home before the services, and it gradually became regular practice for the time before the services to be spent in visiting and conversation. This was the time when gossip and news were spread from one to another. Children would accompany their parents twice a week to listen to Samuel Paris' three-hour sermons, Parris would strictly discipline any child who wiggled, fell asleep, or showed any signs of impatience.

Christmas and Easter were not celebrated by puritans because they believed they were not truly religious and came from pagan ideas. They occasionally got holidays from school during the harvest time. Toys were fronded upon, they were thought of as frivolous and time-wasting. Dolls were especially harmful because they were supposed to be used by witches to work magic. Any child caught playing with toys would be taken to Parris for a long "talking to." In the seventeenth century there was never respect for the privacy of any individual.

The community as a whole was expected to bring any deviants to the courts' attention. Each citizen was expected to report even members of his own family who deviated from the strict puritan code. People were appointed to walk about every Sunday and take note of those backsliders who did not attend church services. People were familiar with each other's affairs and willing to interfere at the slightest hint of sin or scandal. Any deviant behavior was criminal.

The Puritans did not take into account the myriad of shading between various forms of misbehavior; everything not white was black. No distinction was made between persons who flatly violated the law and those infringed on prescribed customs. The court took instant notice of anyone who drank too much, who dressed in inappropriate clothes, or indulged some other form of scandalous behavior, who let their hair grow too long, who talked too much or played frivolous games.

The word of God governed everything and was to be protected. Punishments were severe: stocks, banishment, whipping, and executions. All of these strict Puritan codes resulted in the deaths of twenty people in the Salem witch trials.

The so-called witch hunt started as innocent play in the parsonage of the Reverend Parris. In his household were two slaves whom he had brought from Barbados, John Indian and his wife Tituba. Tituba was familiar with magic, fortune-telling, incantation and necromancy (spirit communication with the dead) from her native West Indies.

Tituba had been converted to Christianity, and was a sincere church goer even though the puritans considered where she came from a place of heathen voodoo faith. Tituba's magic was fascinating to the neighbor children and during the winter of 1691-1692 a small circle of girls got in the habit of meeting with Tituba and pretended to practice the black art. The girl's fascination soon turned to enchantment. By February 1692 the girls began acting in strange and bizarre manners. They went into fits in which they seemed to lose touch with the real world. They frequently did not answer when spoken to. They uttered foolish and nonsensical speeches. They made odd gestures and contorted themselves into freakish postures. When the town began to notice what had happened to the girls they got scared and wanted to know who the witches were who were tormenting the girls.