The Hunt of 1692 The Salem Witch Trials

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The Hunt of 1692The Salem Witch Trials
History of Salem
Timeline of Events
The Crucible

• Presentation By
• Jason Lemley

The Victims
Outcome of Trials
The End
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History of Salem, Massachusetts

• During the winter of 1623-1624, a fishing
  settlement was established on
• Cape Ann by Englandâs Dorchester Company. After
  three years of
• struggle on rocky, stormy Cape Ann, a group of
  the settlers, led by Roger
• Conant, set out to establish a more permanent
  settlement. They found
• sheltered, fertile land at the mouth of the
  Naumkeag River.
• The new settlement, called Naumkeag, or comfort
  haven by the Native
• Americans, thrived on farming and fishing. In
  1629 the settlement was
• renamed Salem for Shalom, the Hebrew word for
  peace.

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Timeline Of Events of 1692

• 1688
• November
• Rev. Samuel Parris preaches in Salem Village for
  the first time.
• 1689
• June 18
• Samuel Parris is officially hired as the Salem
  Village minister.
• 1691
• October
• Joseph Porter, Joseph Hutchinson, Joseph Putnam,
  Daniel Andrew and Francis Nurse become the
  elected majority to the Salem Village committee.
• 1692
• January 20
• Samuel Parris' nine year old daughter, Betty,
  falls ill.
• More young girls in Salem Village also fall ill.
• February
• The Salem Village physician, Dr. William Griggs,
  concludes the girls are bewitched.
• February 25
• Parris' servant, Tituba, and her husband, John
  Indian, are advised by Mary Sibley to bake a
  witch cake. She hopes the cake will help the
  girls identify the person(s) who are bewitching
  them.
• February 29
• Thomas and Edward Putnam, Joseph Hutchinson and
  Thomas Preston swear complaints against Tituba,
  Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne. They are later
  arrested for suspicion of witchcraft.

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Timeline (Cont.)

• March 1
• Salem Town Magistrates John Hathorne and Jonathan
  Corwin examine Tituba, Sarah Good and Sarah
  Osborne.
• Tituba confesses to witchcraft.
• March 7
• Sarah Osborne, Sarah Good and Tituba are sent to
  a Boston prison.
• March 14
• Martha Corey is summoned to appear before the
  magistrates and answer questions.
• March 19
• A warrant is issued for Martha Corey's arrest.
• Rebecca Nurse is accused of witchcraft by Abigail
  Williams.
• March 21
• Martha Corey's hearing begins.
• March 23
• Edward and Jonathan Putnam file complaints
  against Rebecca Nurse.
• March 24
• Rebecca Nurse appears before the Salem
  Magistrates.
• March 28
• One of the afflicted girls, possibly Mercy Lewis,
  accuses Elizabeth Proctor of witchcraft.
• April 4

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Timeline (Cont.)

• April 11
• Sarah Cloyce and Elizabeth Proctor appear before
  the Salem Magistrates.
• John and Elizabeth Proctor, Rebecca Nurse, Sarah
  Cloyce, Martha Corey and Dorcas Good are sent to
  a Boston prison on this night.
• April 19
• Mary Warren appears before the Salem Magistrates
  under witchcraft charges.
• April 21
• Arrest warrants are issued for Mary Easty, Edward
  and Sarah Bishop, Deliverance and William Hobbs,
  Sarah Wilds, Mary Black, Nehemiah Abbott, Jr. and
  Mary English.
• Abigail Williams identifies the Rev. George
  Burroughs as the "Black Minister."
• April 22
• Mary Easty is found guilty of witchcraft by the
  Salem Magistrates.
• April 30
• Upon the request of the Salem Magistrates, Boston
  Magistrate Elisha Hutchinson issues a warrant for
  the Rev. George Burroughs' arrest.
• May 4
• George Burroughs is arrested at his home in
  Wells, Maine. He is then extradited to Salem
  Town.
• May 8
• George Burroughs is examined by the Salem
  Magistrates.
• May 10
• Arrest warrants are issued for George Jacobs, Sr.
  and John Willard for the suspicion of witchcraft.
  
• Sarah Osborne dies in prison

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Timeline (Cont.)

• May 18
• Mary Easty is released from prison.
• May 20
• Mercy Lewis becomes gravely ill and Mary Easty is
  blamed for her illness. She is arrested again for
  witchcraft.
• May 21
• An arrest warrant is issued for John and
  Elizabeth Proctor's daughter, Sarah.
• May 23
• An arrest warrant is issued for John and
  Elizabeth Proctor's son, Benjamin.
• Susannah Sheldon testifies Joseph Rabson, a
  deceased man, appeared to her and stated that
  Philip English had murdered him.
• May 27
• Gov. Phips establishes a Court of Oyer and
  Terminer to investigate the allegations of
  witchcraft. Lieutenant Gov. William Stoughton,
  Nathaniel Saltonstall, Bartholomew Gedney, Peter
  Sergeant, Samuel Sewall, Wait Still Winthrop,
  John Richards, John Hathorne and Jonathan Corwin
  are its members.
• May 28
• An arrest warrant is issued for John and
  Elizabeth Proctor's second son, William.
• An arrest warrant is issued for John Alden.
• Martha Carrier is arrested upon the complaints of
  Joseph Holton and John Walcott.
• May 31
• Philip English, husband of Mary English, is
  examined by the court.
• June 1
• Mary English testifies that Mary Warren had
  confessed to lying in court.

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TimeLine (Cont.)

• July 23
• Fearing that they can't get a fair trial in Salem
  Town, John Proctor and other prisoners write a
  letter from prison to the Reverends Increase
  Mather, James Allen, Joshua Moody, Samuel Willard
  and John Bayley. In the letter, they ask the
  ministers to support their request for a change
  of venue for the trials.
• August 2
• William Beale testifies before an Essex County
  grand jury that when he was laid up in bed sick
  in March, Philip English's specter appeared to
  him. The next day his son, James--who had been
  recovering from smallpox--complained of a pain in
  his side and later died.
• August 5
• The Court of Oyer and Terminer reconvenes to try
  the Rev. George Burroughs, John and Elizabeth
  Proctor, George Jacobs Sr., John Willard and
  Martha Carrier.
• August 19
• George Burroughs, John Proctor, George Jacobs
  Sr., John Willard and Martha Carrier are hanged
  on Gallows Hill.
• September 9
• Six accused are tried and condemned by the court.
  
• September 16
• Giles Corey refuses to stand trial, so the Court
  of Oyer and Terminer orders the sheriff to pile
  rocks on him.
• September 17
• Nine accused are tried and condemned by the
  court.
• September 19
• Giles Corey is pressed to death.

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Timeline (Cont.)

• September 22
• Martha Corey, Mary Easty, Alice Parker, Ann
  Pudeator, Margaret Scott, Wilmot Reed, Samuel
  Wardwell and Mary Parker are hanged on Gallows
  Hill.
• Mary Herrick of Wenham, Massachusetts reports
  that the ghost of Mary Easty appeared to her and
  proclaimed her innocence of witchcraft.
• October 19
• Increase Mather visits the Salem jail and finds
  that several confessors wish to renounce their
  earlier testimonies.
• October 29
• Gov. Phips dissolves the Court of Oyer and
  Terminer
• November 25
• A Superior Court of Judicature is created to try
  the remaining persons accused of witchcraft.
  William Stoughton, Samuel Sewall, John Richards,
  Wait Still Winthrop and Thomas Danford are its
  members. Spectral evidence is no longer
  considered in the remaining trials.
• 1693
• May
• Gov. Phips pardons the remaining accused of
  witchcraft.

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Arthur Millers, The Crucible

• The Crucible is told from a third
• person objective point of view.  The
• characters do not address the
• audience in the first
• person.  Arthur Miller shows the
• audience the good and evil
• within people and bring out the
• mad hysterical qualities in a
• mob.  He displays that even deeply
• religious people make mistakes in
• their lives.  He does this through
• his characters who through their
• own imperfections and beliefs,
• bring the witch hunts to a complete
• chaos.

• The Crucible is set against the
• backdrop of the mad witch hunts
• of the Salem witch trials in Salem,
• Massachusetts in the late 17th
• century.  Since this story is based
• on a true story, its setting is
• real.  The fact that the story takes
• place during the 17th century is
• important.  the community needed
• to be superstitious and gullible in
• order for this incident to have
• happened.  Also, the event
• occurred within a Puritan society
• with a strong aversion to witches.

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The Crucible (cont.)

• The theme of this play was rising over adversity,
  and standing for truth
• even to death.  This is the theme for many
  stories and is always an
• exciting one.  john, in the beginning, wanted to
  keep distant from the
• trials.  he did not want to have a part, whether
  good or bad.  When
• Elizabeth was arrested, he was forced to become a
  part of it.  Through the
• trail, he confessed of his affair and cleansed
  himself of his sin.  He stood
• for what he knew to be the truth, and died as a
  martyr learning what
• truth meant through his sufferings.  Through
  Proctors struggle, Miller displays the struggles
  within each
• of our own hearts.  Many times we have witnessed
  some wrong happening
• to some person and wished not to get involved. 
  Proctor was forced into it
• and stuck to his guns throughout.  There is
  also another theme about the frantic hysteria of
  the
• mob.  They were easily manipulated by Abigails
  lies and easily
• maneuvered into murdering many of the
  townspeople.  Their hysteria was
• unfounded and absurd.  Through this theme,
  Miller comments on the
• similar McCarthy trials during his time.

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the Victims

• Hanged on June 10
• Bridget Bishop, Salem
• Hanged on July 19
• Sarah Good, Salem Village
• Rebecca Nurse, Salem Village
• Susannah Martin, Amesbury
• Elizabeth How, Ipswich
• Sarah Wilds, Topsfield
• Hanged on August 19
• George Burroughs, Wells, Maine
• John Proctor, Salem Village
• John Willard, Salem Village
• George Jacobs, Sr., Salem Town
• Martha Carrier, Andover
• September 19
• Giles Corey, Salem Farms, pressed to death
• Hanged on September 22
• Martha Corey, Salem Farms
• Mary Eastey, Topsfield

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The Victims (Cont.)

• Other accused witches that were not hanged, but
  died in prison
• Sarah Osborne, Salem Village
• Roger Toothaker, Billerica
• Lyndia Dustin, Reading
• Ann Foster, Andover
• Thirteen others may have also died in prison, but
  sources conflict on the exact number.

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Outcome of Trials

• The aftermath of the Salem witch trials was
  severe. Even with the witch trials
• over, many were still in jail because they could
  not pay for their release. The
• law stipulated that prisoners had to pay for
  their food and board before being
• released. Unless the prisoners or someone else
  could pay for these expenses,
• they could not be freed. Additionally, those who
  were convicted of witchcraft
• had their property confiscated by the government.
  This left their families
• without money and, in some cases, a home.

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Outcome (Cont.)

• No one died as a convicted witch in America again
  after the Salem witch trials.
• It was also the last of the religious witch
  hunts. Salem Village separated from
• Salem Town in 1752 and became the town of
  Danvers. However, this
• separation did not wipe away the history of the
  witch trials from its past. For
• over 300 years, historians, sociologists,
  psychologists and others continue to
• research and write about them to this day, and
  they continue to serve as a
• reminder of how politics, family squabbles,
  religion, economics and the
• imaginations and fears of people can yield tragic
  consequences.

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The End