The Salem Witch Trials

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The Salem Witch Trials
Salem, Massachusetts 1692 1693
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The Puritans considered Indians to be devilish
and barbaric. They lived in constant fear of
attack. This caused great fear among the
citizens, some believe even hysteria.
Hysteria - behavior exhibiting excessive or
uncontrollable emotion, such as fear or panic
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Key People
Tituba Indian slave from Barbados
(Caribbean) Reverend Samuel Parris minister of
Salem daughter was
bewitched Ann Putnam Jr. the
leader of the bewitched girls Betty Parris
daughter of Rev Parris one of the
bewitched Mary Warren one of the bewitched
girls Abigail Williams one of the bewitched
girls
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Rev. Samuel Parris

• minister in Salem during the trials
• preached harsh sermons
• his house was the center of the witch hunt

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Tituba entertains Salem girls with supernatural
tales of her native land.
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• the girls fall into trances
• they cant bear to hear the Lords name
• they feel pricked by pins and stabbed by knives
• doctors examine the girls and believe the devil
  is loose in Salem

As a young girl swoons under the influence of
witchcraft as the pilgrims pray to cast out the
evil spirits afflicting her.
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• the girls accuse Tituba of bewitching them
• Tibuba confesses to witchcraft and accuses others

(Summons for Witnesses)
A summons for witnesses
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Accused witches were arrested and brought in for
questioning
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• the afflicted girls cry out in court claiming to
  be pinched and harmed by unseen forces controlled
  by the accused witches

Spectral Evidence the belief that a witch can
send his/her spirit out of their body to cause
harm
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Increase Mather

• a powerful minister
• viewed witchcraft and supernatural happenings as
  Gods growing displeasure with New England
• cautioned against using spectral evidence

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• Swimming a Witch
• person was tossed into a body of water
• if they floated they were guilty and if they sank
  they were innocent because water rejects evil
• innocence seldom mattered because they usually
  drowned before being pulled to safety

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• Witchs Mark
• believed witches had a mark left by the Devil
• searched the body for these marks
• often pierced them with needles to see if they
  bled

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• The Lords Prayer
• they believed witches could not recite the Our
  Father
• often made suspected witches do this to prove
  they were innocent

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The courts followed guidelines set forth in books
such as the Malleus Maleficarum (Hammer of the
Witches)
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• Governor of the colony
• called forth the court of Oyer Terminer
• (To Hear Determine)

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The Trial of George Jacobs
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The Death Warrant of Rebecca Nurse and others
issued by the court of Oyer and Terminer
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No witches were burned in Salem.
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Bridget Bishop

• she was an outcast in Salem
• had been accused of witchcraft several times in
  the past
• the first to be hanged

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Bridget Bishop is hanged on an oak limb on
Gallows Hill as onlookers jeer and condemn her
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Condemned witches were excommunicated (kicked out
of the church)
After being hanged, the bodies were disposed of
in a shallow grave since they did not deserve a
proper burial.
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The Outcome

• 141 were arrested
• 19 were hanged
• 1 man was pressed to death
• several died while in prison

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Bridget Bishop George Burroughs Martha Carrier
Martha Corey Mary Easty Sarah Good Elizabeth
Howe George Jacobs, Sr. Susannah Martin
Rebecca Nurse Alice Parker Mary Parker John
Proctor Ann Pudeator Wilmott Redd Margaret
Scott Samuel Wardwell Sara Wildes John Willard
Nineteen accused witches were hanged on Gallows
Hill

• Pressing is when a board is placed on the
  victims chest rocks are placed on the board
  until they talk

• Giles Corey , an accused witch, was pressed to
  death

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Samuel Sewall

• Deputy Governor of MA judge during the trials
• after the hysteria, he publicly acknowledged his
  shame and regret
• he kept an annual day of fasting and prayer in
  memory of his sins

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Judge Samuel Sewall delivers a public apology for
his involvement in the trials.