The Salem Witch Trials of 1692

The Salem Witch Trials of 1692

In colonial Massachusetts between February of 1692 and May of 1963 over one hundred and fifty people were arrested and imprisoned for the capital felony of witchcraft. Trials were held in Salem Village, Ipswich, Andover and Salem Town of Essex County of Massachusetts, but accusations of witchcraft occurred in surrounding counties as well. Nineteen of the accused, fourteen women and five men, were hanged at Gallows Hill near Salem Village. Hysteria had swept through Puritan Massachusetts and hundreds of people were accused of witchcraft. Why these accusations came about might account for a combination of an ongoing frontier war, economic conditions, congregational strife, teenage boredom, and personal jealousy among neighbors.* The colonial era was dangerous and the settlers were exposed to much hardship, not only with other inhabitants of the land, but with themselves as well.

The Event

The Witchcraft crisis began in mid-January of 1691, when a young girl named Betty Parris living in the household of the Reverend Samuel Parris of Salem Village, Massachusetts, became strangely ill. She had suffered from fits of hysteria and delusions. The Reverend called upon the local physician, William Griggs, whom could find nothing physically wrong with her and ultimately concluded that she had been bewitched. (It is now believed that Betty Parris may have been suffering from stress, asthma, guilt, boredom, child abuse, epilepsy, and/or delusional psychosis.)* Three women were accused of the bewitching of Betty. She accused Sarah Good, Sarah Osborne, and Tituba, the Reverend Samuel Parris’ slave. Both Good and Osborne claimed their innocence, but Tituba confessed to witchcraft – possibly for feeling guilty of practicing fortune telling. All three women were sent to a prison in Boston, where Osborne later died of natural causes. Soon afterwards, mass hysteria ensued. There were many accusations from people across Essex County that they were suffering from witchcraft, despite the jailing of the three accused, claiming that they were being tortured by ghosts and other apparitions of witches and even accused their neighbors of the horrific acts. Historians believe that social and economic factors were a cause of the anxiety most people inhibited. People were plagued with small pox at the time, were in constant fear of Indian attacks, and King William’s War or what is also known as the Second Indian War was going on. Other factors include teenage boredom, and old feuds between neighbors of disputes within congregations. There was a strong belief by the Puritans that Satan was the cause and more and more people were being accused of working for the Devil. Soon there were so many accused of witchcraft that jails were approaching their capacity. Many of the accused would confess for fear of being sent to the gallows.

A new court was created to hear the witchcraft cases. The judges and magistrates appointed allowed spectral evidence, or testimony of a person accusing another of witchcraft based on dreams and visions. There was little or no hard evidence against any of the accused. Hearsay, gossip, stories, unsupported assertions, surmises were generally admitted. The accused did not have legal counsel, witnesses to testify for them under oath, or an opportunity for appeal if they were convicted. They were allowed to represent themselves and produce evidence however.* Douglas Linder. Many were afraid to criticize the witch trials for fear of being accused themselves. Only nineteen of the accused witches were executed. Five had died in prison from disease, and one man, Eighty year old Giles Corey, was pressed to death. Soon after the executions, people began to ignore the accusations against suspected witches. In May of 1693, Governor Philps ended the witch trials and pardoned the