The trials came about because of the action of a small group of teenage girls who had spent the winter of 1691-92 at the home of their friends, Elizabeth and Abigail Paris. There the girls became fascinated with the tales of the slave Tituba who told of black magic and of spells being placed on people. The 9 girls were Elizabeth Paris, Abigail Paris, Ann Putnam, Elizabeth Hubbard, Mary Warren, Mercy Lewis, Mary Wolcott, Elizabeth Booth and Susan Sheldon. Of these nine girls, only one is related to me, Ann Putnam. Her grandmother was Priscilla Gould, the sister of Zaccheus Gould. Ann was born in 1680 to Thomas Putnam and Ann.
The affair, which led to the Witch Trials, as a matter of fact turn out in what is now the town of Danvers, then a district of Salem Town, recognized as Salem Village. Propelling the frenzy was the grotesque, apparently unexplainable behavior of two young girls; the daughter, Betty, and the niece, Abigail Williams, of the Salem Village minister, Reverend Samuel Parris.
Magistrates Jonathan Corwin and John Hathorne in February 1692, thought over three accused women. Corwin’s home, known as the Witch House, still stands at the corner of North and Essex Streets in Salem, furnishing supervised tours and tales of the first witchcraft trials. John Hathorne, an ancestor of author Nathaniel Hawthorne, is buried in the Charter Street Old Burying Point. (Jones, 163)
To comprehend the happening of the Salem witch trials, it is essential to explore the times in which allegation of witchcraft occurred. There were the customary stresses of 17th-century life in Massachusetts Bay Colony. A strong belief in the devil, factions surrounded by Salem Village extremists and competition with not far from Salem Town, a recent small pox epidemic and the intimidation of attack by warring tribes constructed a fertile ground for apprehension and skepticism. Soon prisons were occupied with more than 150 men and women from towns enclosing Salem. Tormented young girls as the cause of their suffering had cried out their names. All would await trial for a crime punishable by death in 17th-century New England, the practice of witchcraft.
“Beginning with June through September of 1692, nineteen men and women, all having been sentenced of witchcraft, were carted to Gallows Hill, an infertile slope near Salem Village, for hanging. One more man of over eighty years was crushed to death under massive stones for repelling to surrender to a trial on witchcraft charges.” (Jones, 163)
Hundreds of others faced accusations of witchcraft. Dozens languished in jail for months sans trials. At that time, almost as soon as it had begun, the delirium that swept through Puritan Massachusetts ended.
Why did this travesty of justice turn out? Nothing with reference to this catastrophe was inevitable. Particularly an unfortunate combination of economic circumstances, congregational conflict, teenage dullness, and personal envy can account for the winding allegation, tribulations, and executions that befall in the spring and summer of 1692.
“In today's legal system, an accused person is presumed innocent until proven guilty. Quite the opposite held true during the Salem witch trials. The honesty and honor of the accuser, and not of the accused, were highly regarded. The accused had no lawyers to defend them, no witnesses to help prove their innocence, nor was there any procedure for appealing a conviction. Evidence did not have to be proven and it consisted mostly of gossip, stories, and hearsay—none of which would be allowed in today's courtrooms.” (Bush, 96)
Recovering from the witch trials took longer than the actual witch hysteria itself. Families struggled for years to recover their lands. Properties of the executed and the accused were confiscated. Families who managed to hang onto their land were unable to care for their crops and farms.
The witches disappeared, however witchhunting in America did not. Every generation must master the lessons of history or danger repeating its error. Salem should admonish us to contemplate hard about how to best protect and rectify our system of justice.
In common opinion the Salem Trials were the most horrifying thing that has ever befall in American history. It is thought that no one was given a fair trial. Betty Paris was the cause of the problem. She was probably simulating to be sick for more care. Then, all the other girls saw how much attention she was getting, so they started to do the same. It is thought that Betty did not intended for all this to transpire. As years passed, apologies were offered, and compensation was made to the victim’s families. Historians and sociologists have carefully thought about this most complex event in our history so that we may grasp the issues of that time and apply our understanding to our own society. Finally in the year 1711 the colony passed a bill, which restored the rights and good names of those accused of witchcraft. It also granted 600 pounds to their heirs as a form of compensation.
Works Cited
Bush, Margaret A. Witch-Hunt: Mysteries of the Salem Witch Trials. Horn Book Magazine, Jan/Feb2004, Vol. 80 Issue 1, p96.
Jones, Trevelyn E.; Toth, Luann; Charnizon, Marlene; Grabarek, Daryl; Larkins, Jeanne; Medlar, Andrew. Witch-Hunt: Mysteries of the Salem Witch Trials. School Library Journal, Dec2003, Vol. 49 Issue 12, p163.