Salem Witch Trials

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Salem Witch Trials
By Karisa Millington
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Background

• In England, witchcraft was punishable by death
• 16 people had been hanged in America prior to the
  Salem Witchcraft Trials for being witches

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Quick Facts

• The Salem Witch Trial was the largest witch hunt
  in American history
• Was held in 1692 in the Salem Village, Mass. Bay
  Colony
• 19 people were killed by hanging
• About 150 other people were imprisoned on
  witchcraft charges
• Lasted 1 year

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Details

• Early 1692 in the Salem Village
• Beth Parris and Abigail Williams were behaving
  strangely
• Crawled under tables
• Uttered weird noises
• Screamed as if being torture
• Pressure led to the naming and arresting of 3
  women Tibuta, Sarah Good, Sarah Osborne
• Tibuta confessed to being a witch and said that
  there were more witches in Salem

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Details
Continued

• More arrests followed
• Prominent members of the village
• Former minister and his wife
• Wealthy merchants
• Samuel Parris
• Was a small local minister who led the witch hunt
• Represented the traditional values in the
  community
• Didnt like the increasing number of merchants
  and new ministers
• Some of those who were arrested were only
  Anti-Parris, not witches

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Details
Continued

• The witch hunt was stopped by Reverend Mather
• It would be better that ten suspected witches
  should escape, than one innocent person should be
  condemned.

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Aftermath

• 1693
• People in jail for witchcraft charges were
  released by Governor Phips
• 1711
• The legislature of the colonies made payment to
  the families with witch-hunt victims

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Ironics / Fun Facts

• Salem is the English version of the word
  Shalom, a Jewish word that means peace
• Nathaniel Hawthorne claims that he found the
  Scarlet Letter in a trunk in the Salem Custom
  House (In the Salem Village)
• One man was crushed to death by stones instead of
  being hung

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Salem Witch Trials - The Story -
DiscoverySchool.com
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Citations

• World Book Encyclopedia, 1993
• http//salemwitchtrials-the story-discoveryschool.
  com
• http//www.salemweb.com/memorial/default.htm
• http//www.nationalgeographic.com/features/97/sale
  m/