Salem
The "Salem" of the Salem witch trials refers not only to Salem Town, but also Salem Village (now Danvers), Ipswich, and Andover. All were towns under the charter for the Province of Massachusetts Bay, which was approved in 1691. In this area life was governed by the precepts of the Puritan church, which was strongly influenced by Calvinism. Music was strictly forbidden excepting the unaccompanied singing of hymns. Dancing and the celebration of holidays such as Christmas and Easter were also frowned upon.
Village life in the area revolved entirely around the meeting house, where lengthy sermons were given every Wednesday and Sunday. Attendance was expected of all. Children were schooled rigorously in religious doctrine and the Bible. The supernatural was considered a part of everyday life during this period. The folk superstitions of the fifteenth century evolved into a belief that Satan was active in the lives of men. This fear of dark magic became associated with demons and evil spirits and led to persecutions of supposed witchcraft. The works of authors like Joseph Glanvill and Cotton Mather played on the fears of the populous and fueled the witch hunt craze of 1692.
Village life in the area revolved entirely around the meeting house, where lengthy sermons were given every Wednesday and Sunday. Attendance was expected of all. Children were schooled rigorously in religious doctrine and the Bible. The supernatural was considered a part of everyday life during this period. The folk superstitions of the fifteenth century evolved into a belief that Satan was active in the lives of men. This fear of dark magic became associated with demons and evil spirits and led to persecutions of supposed witchcraft. The works of authors like Joseph Glanvill and Cotton Mather played on the fears of the populous and fueled the witch hunt craze of 1692.
The Trials
Events began in Salem Village in the winter of 1692, where Betty Parris and Abigail Williams began to have supposedly supernatural fits. They screamed, threw things, made strange sounds, contorted their bodies, and complained of being pricked with needles. Doctors could find no evidence to support a diagnosis of any ailment. The situation began to snowball as more and more young women in the village began to exhibit the strange behavior.
The trials themselves began when three outcast women were accused by the girls as the source of their distress: Sarah Good (a beggar), Sarah Osborne (who remarried an indentured servant), and Tituba (a slave). The women were obvious suspects as outsiders in the village, and nobody came to their defense. The three were brought before local magistrates and interrogated for several days in March of 1692. All were sent to jail. In the wake of these convictions accusations became increasingly common.
The formal prosecutions began when the Court of Oyer and Terminer arrived in Salem Town in June of 1692. The first execution was of Bridget Bishop June 10th by hanging. Following the execution, the court adjourned for 20 days to seek advice from prominent ministers on how to proceed. Cotton Mather responded with a list of eight recommendations garnered
from several ministers. Of the eight points, five urged "critical and exquisite caution," while the the remainder "took away the force of all the others, and the prosecutions went on with more vigor than before." Over 150 people were arrested and imprisoned, of these twenty nine were convicted of the felony of witchcraft. Nineteen were hanged, one man was pressed to death for refusing to enter a plea, and five more died while in prison.
Those convicted were also excommunicated from the church, condemning them not only in this life, but the next. The trials used unfounded testimonies to convict including spectral evidence -- or the report of afflicted seeing the accused as an apparition. As an event, the Salem witch trials represent one of the most notorious occurrences of mass hysteria. The extremism, false accusations, and lack of due process are an important cautionary tale of the dangers of such blind fervor.
To the right is a portion of the notes from the trial of Rebecca Nurse.
The trials themselves began when three outcast women were accused by the girls as the source of their distress: Sarah Good (a beggar), Sarah Osborne (who remarried an indentured servant), and Tituba (a slave). The women were obvious suspects as outsiders in the village, and nobody came to their defense. The three were brought before local magistrates and interrogated for several days in March of 1692. All were sent to jail. In the wake of these convictions accusations became increasingly common.
The formal prosecutions began when the Court of Oyer and Terminer arrived in Salem Town in June of 1692. The first execution was of Bridget Bishop June 10th by hanging. Following the execution, the court adjourned for 20 days to seek advice from prominent ministers on how to proceed. Cotton Mather responded with a list of eight recommendations garnered
from several ministers. Of the eight points, five urged "critical and exquisite caution," while the the remainder "took away the force of all the others, and the prosecutions went on with more vigor than before." Over 150 people were arrested and imprisoned, of these twenty nine were convicted of the felony of witchcraft. Nineteen were hanged, one man was pressed to death for refusing to enter a plea, and five more died while in prison.
Those convicted were also excommunicated from the church, condemning them not only in this life, but the next. The trials used unfounded testimonies to convict including spectral evidence -- or the report of afflicted seeing the accused as an apparition. As an event, the Salem witch trials represent one of the most notorious occurrences of mass hysteria. The extremism, false accusations, and lack of due process are an important cautionary tale of the dangers of such blind fervor.
To the right is a portion of the notes from the trial of Rebecca Nurse.