Salem Witch TrialsO Christian Martyr Who for Truth could die When all about thee Owned the hideous lie!

The world, redeemed from superstition's sway, Is breathing freer for thy sake today.

--Words written by John Greenleaf Whittier and inscribed on a monument marking the grave of Rebecca Nurse, one of

the condemned "witches" of Salem.

Witchcraft in Puritan Massachusetts

• June through September 1692

• Executions:– At least 19 men & women were hanged– 1 man pressed to death

• Hundreds were accused of witchcraft– Dozens languished in jail for months

• Then it ended

Why did it occur? Why Salem?

• Combination of:–Ongoing frontier war–Economic conditions–Congregational strife–Teenage boredom–Personal jealousies–Gender Issues–Witchcraft?

Trouble Arrives?

• 1689 Samuel Parris became Village minister– John Putnam invited– Parris had been a marginally successful

planter and merchant in Barbados• Parris brought his family

– Wife Elizabeth, Betty, niece Abigail Williams, Indian slave Tituba

Tidewater (S) vs. Piedmont (SV)

• Mercantile elite was developing

• Prominent people were less willing to be town leaders

• Putnams and Porters were competing for control of town and pulpit

• Debate over independence of Salem Village

Witches Strike

• February 1692• Betty Parris became strangely ill

– Dashed about, dove under furniture, contorted in pain, complained of fever

• Cotton Mather Memorable Providences– Described suspected witchcraft of an Irish

washerwoman in Boston• DEVIL WAS CLOSE AT HAND!

Witchcraft Spreads

Friends of Betty Parris became similarly sick• Ann Putnam (11)• Mercy Lewis (17)• Mary Walcott (17?)

• Dr. William Griggs failed to cure suggested possible supernatural causes

Counter Magic

• Mary Sibley proposed to Tituba:– Bake a rye cake with the urine of the victim

and feed the cake to a dog

• This brought more suspicion on Tituba– Had told girls of omens, voodoo, witchcraft

Meanwhile

• Number of afflicted girls continued to grow– Ann Putnam, Elizabeth Hubbard, Susannah

Sheldon, and Mary Warren (now 7)– Girls contorted into grotesque poses, fell

down into frozen postures, and complained of biting/pinching sensations

• Affliction was turning into an village obsession

Witch-hunt Begins

• Between Feb 25-29 arrest warrants for Tituba – Betty Parris, and Abigail Williams named their

afflictors• Stories were remarkably similar

– Ann Putnam and Mercy Lewis began reporting “witches flying through the winter mist”

• Putnam family name gave credibility to accusations and impetus to prosecutions

First 3 Accused

• Tituba– Indian slave

• Sarah Good– Beggar and social misfit who lived with

various people• Sarah Osborn

– Old, quarrelsome, had not attended church for over a year

First Examinations• Scheduled for Ingersoll’s tavern March 1, 1692

• Hundreds showed up so they moved to meeting house– Girls described the attacks by the specters of the accused– When in the presence of the “witches” the girls fell into a pattern

of contortions – Other villagers provided stories

• Food mysteriously spoiling, animals who were deformed after visits from the accused

• Magistrates– Same questions repeatedly asked of each suspect:

• Were they witches?• Had they seen Satan?• How, if they were not witches did they explain the contortions

seemingly caused by their presence?– Guilty until proven innocent?

A Witch!• First denied any guilt – afraid of being the

scapegoat• Claimed she was approached by a tall man from

Boston– Devil

• She was a witch!– And she, Good, Osborn, and two others had flown

through the air on their poles• Tituba became a central figure in the affair• Confession silenced her skeptics and led to

increased vigor in prosecutions

Why the Hysteria Ended

• Doubts grow when respected citizens are convicted and executed

• Accusations of witchcraft include the powerful and well-connected

• The educated elite of Boston pressure Gov. Phips to exclude spectral evidence

• Gov. Phips disbands the Court of Oyer and Terminer

“It were better that ten suspected witches should escape than one innocent

person should be condemned.”-Increase Mather

Have We Learned the Lessons of Salem?

What are the lessons?

Have we had "modern-day witch hunts"?

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/

salem/splashx.html

1. Read the Introduction2. Read the Prologue3. Experience the Trials

– interactive

4. Read the Epilogue5. Ask the Expert

– Answer questions on following slide

Questions1. What is a “witch cake”?

2. Describe who were the judges in 1692.

3. Do you find Richard Trask’s answer about how historians know history satisfactory? Explain.

4. Who is Richard Trask related to?

5. What was the population of Salem in 1692?

6. Combined, how many witches were executed in England and New England?

7. Why were two dogs hanged?

8. What is the definition of witchcraft?

Warrant

Warrant for the arrest of Elizabeth Proctor and Sarah Cloycehttp://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/salem/ASAL_WA.HTM

Map of Salem

Map of Salem: Accusations, households, etchttp://jefferson.village.virginia.edu/%7Ebcr/salem/salem.html

http://www2.iath.virginia.edu/bcr/salem/salem.html

Trial Procedure

Procedure used in Salem Trialshttp://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/salem/salemprocedure.HTM

“Man of Iron”

Man of Ironhttp://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/salem/gilescoreypage.HTM

Death Warrants

Death Warrantshttp://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/salem/ASAL_DE.HTM

You’re Accused

You’re Accusedhttp://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/salem/accused%21.html

Socratic Seminar Guidelines• You are responsible for the seminar.• Stick to the point currently under discussion; make notes

about ideas you want to come back to. • Refer to the text when needed during the discussion.  A

seminar is not a test of memory.  • Discuss the ideas rather than each other's opinions.• Do not stay confused; ask for clarification. • Don't raise hands; take turns speaking. • Talk to each other, not just to the teacher or the leader. • Listen carefully and respectfully. • Speak up so that everyone can hear you. • Do not participate if you are not prepared. 

Inner Circle/Outer Circle Dialogue

The outbreak of witchcraft at Salem

was simply a religious hysteria. Assess the

validity of this statement.

A Salem witchcraft style hysteria could

never happen again. Assess the

validity of this statement.

What aspects of Puritan culture led them to accuse,

convict, and execute so many individuals

for witchcraft?

Why have the Salem Witchcraft

Trials remained so memorable?