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The Salem Witch Trials

The Salem Witch Trials. Witch Hunting. Long history in Europe Devil’s Mark Water Test Puritans brought their beliefs about witches with them to the New World. Margaret Jones. First woman to be executed for witchcraft in the American colonies Between 1648 –1662- at least 14 witches hanged

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The Salem Witch Trials

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  1. The Salem Witch Trials

  2. Witch Hunting • Long history in Europe • Devil’s Mark • Water Test • Puritans brought their beliefs about witches with them to the New World

  3. Margaret Jones • First woman to be executed for witchcraft in the American colonies • Between 1648 –1662- at least 14 witches hanged • No interest in witchcraft 1662-1692 • Why the resurgent interest in 1692 ?

  4. Causes of the Resurgence in Witch Hunting • Growing lack of interest in the church • Loss of church members • Disrespectful ways that some colonists behaved • Fear that these things would bring punishment from God to the colony

  5. Salem : The First Accusations • Betty Parris ( 9 years old) • Abigail Williams (11 years old) • Ann Putnam ( 12 years old) Developed strange behaviors Diagnosed as bewitched

  6. Who bewitched the girls ? • Reverend Parris ( father of one of the girls) suspected his slave Tituba • The girls confessed to participating in Fortune Telling sessions with Tituba • Rev. Parris interrogated and beat Tituba into a confession of being a witch

  7. The original Accused • Tituba • Sarah Good • Sarah Osborne

  8. The original Accusers: seven afflicted girls • Betty Parris , Abigail Williams, Ann Putnam • Mercy Lewis ( a servant in the Putnam home) • Elizabeth Hubbard ( Dr. Grigg’s neice) • Susanna Sheldon & Mary Wolcott (neighbors of Reverend Parris)

  9. The First HearingsThree kinds of Proof • Devils Mark • Testimony from villagers about past incidents • Spectral Evidence

  10. Sarah Good • Beggar woman • Claimed she was innocent • Found guilty based on • Girl’s Spectral Evidence • Testimony from some villagers • Blamed Sarah Osborne for tormenting the girls

  11. Sarah Osborne • 60 years old woman who was ill • Denied hurting the girls • Said she was a victim and bewitched herself • Found guilty based on • Sarah Good’s accusation

  12. Tituba • Confessed to being a witch • Found guilty by confession • Named Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne • Accused two other unnamed witches • 3 day testimony

  13. March – April 1692 • Whenever the girls could identify or “cry out” on someone the accused were arrested • At first the accused were unpopular or powerless people in the community • Eventually the accused included some of the most respected people in the community

  14. Rebecca Nurse • 70 year old , respected church member • Accused by Abigail Williams at the insistence of Rev. Parris to name the “shape” she saw • Plead NOT GUILTY • Two spoke out in her behalf and were later accused and jailed

  15. The Proctors • Rival family of the Putnams (who supported Reverend Parris) • Mary Warren ( one of the girls ) said the Proctors were innocent and the other girls were lying • Then she changed her story and joined the accusers

  16. Sir William Phips • Newly appointed Governor of the Massachusetts colony • Upon hearing that the jails were full of accused witches he ordered the trials to begin at once • He left for an expedition to Canada and left the details of the trial to the Deputy Governor

  17. Trial Procedures Established • Jury would be 12 male church members • Lawyers would not be allowed to advise suspects • Same evidence allowed as in hearings • Spectral evidence • Village testimony of past • Devils Mark

  18. June 10, 1692 • Bridget Bishop • First tried • Found guilty sentenced to death • Hanged

  19. First Challenge to the legitimacy of the Trials • One Judge resigned questioned the legitimacy of spectral evidence • Many Puritan leaders advised against the use of spectral evidence and the touch test • The Deputy Governor and other judges decided to continue to use these “proofs”

  20. June, 1692 Trials • Sarah Good • Rebecca Nurse • Sarah Wildes • Elizabeth Howe • Susanna Martin Accused by the girls and other villagers Village protest ignored

  21. July 19 , 1692 • All five women hanged • Jury required by judge to reconsider innocent verdict for Rebecca Nurse • On reconsideration found her guilty

  22. August , 1692 Trials • First Males accused (wizards) • George Burroughs • John Proctor • John Willard • George Jacobs • No one missed the fact that no confessed witches had been hanged

  23. August 19, 1692 • Four convicted wizards and one convicted witch ( Martha Carrier ) were hanged • Signs of questioning in the crowd

  24. The Cory’s • Witchcraft was seeming to run in families • Carrier, Jacobs, Proctor, Good, Hobbs, Nurse and Cory families targeted • Martha Cory • Challenged the girls testimony and the validity of witchcraft ; found guilty • Giles Cory • Would not enter a plea ; tortured to death • Economic reasons for not entering a plea

  25. Mary Easty • Convicted and sentenced to death • Wrote a letter to the judges challenging the proof used in the trials • False confessions to save themselves by naming others • Judges ignored her plea

  26. September 22, 1692 • Eight more women including Martha Cory and Mary Easty hanged • Much sadness among the spectators • Beginning to feel something was wrong • Total of 19 hanged and one tortured to death by this date

  27. More Objections to the Trials • Many colonial ministers outside of the village objected to the use of spectral evidence • Town of Andover resisted the accusations made by Ann Putnam and Mary Wolcott • Governor Phips on return from Canada took action to bring the trials to an end

  28. Objections Force Change • Governor Phips released most of the accused from jail on a kind of bail • Determined the rest of the trials would be held in surrounding towns ( where the jury would not know the accused and accusers) • Jurors would be any male property owner not only church members • Spectral evidence not allowed

  29. January 3, 1692 : First Trial under new rules • Charges dropped on most without spectral evidence • Only three of 52 suspects found guilty • Phips pardoned those three later • The rest of the trials followed same pattern above

  30. The End of the Hysteria • Accused witches started bringing lawsuits against their accusers • Accusations ended • The girls “fits” disappeared • Public apologies made • Some property returned and financial compensation made to families of victims • Memorials made in remorse

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