During the summer of 1692, nineteen people were hung and one pressed to death, because they were accused of practicing or aiding the process of witchcraft. The Salem Witch Trials were started by a preconceived notion that witchcraft was real based on religious texts and ministers, or that being in a wrong place at the wrong time was the doing of witch. In addition, all of the accused were tried with in the sights of four young girls who I believe were faking it to gain attention or political gain for their parents. Puritans, called fundamentalists, followed the Bible to the T and anything outside of the Bible was considered unheard of.
This is where I believe the witch accusations started. They disliked anyone who didn’t act the way the fundamentalists considered normal or they didn’t go to church were accused of being a witch. In addition, church attendance was down dramatically and so the fear of witches and demons, since witches and demons couldn’t stand to listen to the word of God, anyone who went to church could deny being one themselves. The first speculations of witchcraft being real can be found in Exodus 22:18,”Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.”(doc. 1) and in Cotton Mather’s, a leading minister at the time, quote, “These evil spirits are all around… Go tell mankind, that there are devils and witches… New England has had examples of their existence… and that not only wigwams of Indians…but the houses of Christians…have undergone the annoyance of evil spirits.”(doc. 3).
During the actual witch trials, you needed actual proof that the person you were accusing was actually a witch. One of the easier ways to tell if a person was a witch was looking for non-natural moles or devil’s marks, on the accused, like in the painting from the Peabody Essex Museum that actually shows a women being examined in front of a crowd (doc. 4).
Before you actually were tried for witchcraft you were brought in for a pre-examination in front of an Examiner and the four “afflicted” girls to determine if there was enough concrete evidence to make an official trail. Like the examination of Bridget Bishop at Salem Village, 19 April 1692, as recorded by Samuel Parris, (doc. 6).
The whole witch conspiracy abruptly ended in September 22nd, whenever Governor Philip’s wife was accused. Even the Puritan church had finally agreed that things had gotten out of hand and with the help of Cotton Mather and Charles W. Upham, the Salem Witch Trials ended. However, to those twenty people who the four “afflicted” girls, sent to their deaths were questioned, and in my opinion were falsely accused. As Charles W. Upham had said, “What are we to think of those persons who…continued the accusations – the “afflicted children” and their associates? … They soon…became intoxicated…by the terrible success of their imposture (acting), and were swept along by the frenzy they had occasioned… Once or twice they were caught in their own snare; and nothing but blindness of the bewildered community saved them from…well – deserved punishment… It is dreadful to reflect upon the enormity of their wickedness… there can be no doubt that they were great actors.” (doc. 7).
During the summer of 1692, nineteen people were hung and one pressed to death, because they were accused of practicing or aiding the process of witchcraft. The Salem Witch Trials were started by a preconceived notion that witchcraft was real based on religious texts and ministers, or that being in a wrong place at the wrong time was the doing of witch. In addition, all of the accused were tried with in the sights of four young girls who I believe were faking it to gain attention or political gain for their parents.
