The Salem Witchcraft Trials Of 1692

Mary Beth Norton (2002) explains that new accusations of witchcraft would spread beyond Salem’s outcasts and onto more respected members of society. Typically witchcraft was viewed as a working- class crime, but soon two upstanding Salem church members, Martha Corey and Rebecca Nurse, were accused. Rebecca Nurse was one of six women tried during the Court of Oyer and Terminer’s second sitting, from June 28th to July 2nd. Her trial proved to be particularly shocking. Nurse was convicted despite a petition of support from thirty-nine friends and neighbors, and active family efforts to discredit her accusers.

The Salem Witch Trials wrongly convicted over one hundred fifty people through unfair court cases in 1692, due to the bias of the people, the unpassable tests used, and the illegal way they were run. The convictions were all done in the Court of Oyer and Terminer, which was created by the current Governor Sir William Phips, and led by Chief Judge William Stoughton, along with 6 other judges (EB 1) (Boraas 24). This court was closed within the year, and a new court was opened, the Superior Court of Judicature, which was less unfair, and made no convictions during the time it was open. This court was then also closed after a few months (EB 1). During the trials, every sort of person was accused, from rich to poor.

Since the witchcraft was such a confusing and terrible time for everyone, people were getting accused by these girls all the time, a lot of the time the court and the church would look for signs of being a witch, like making the accused take the test i talked about before but sometimes they just trusted the girls and didn't look for evidence at all. They just convicted the person to be a witch. This seems crazy to me because it doesn't seem fair at all, they didn't even have a chance to prove that they were innocent, instead they were automatically a witch. The Salem Witch Trials finally came to an end when the whole town felt that it was getting way out of control.

Soon, the people of Salem began accusing everyone from neighbors to children (the youngest being 5 years old) of witchcraft, causing widespread hysteria by the end of the trials in 1693. The accused were tried and around 20 people and 2 dogs were put to death, others were imprisoned. No one knows

This would cause the accuser to report them to the government, or the church, for being a witch. IT soon changed into a series of mass hangings that the entire town would watch. These killings could range 5 – 8 deaths at a time, they normally would hold these hangings once a month. So why did the Salem Witch trial start in 1692? The Salem Witch Trial hysteria of 1692 was caused by, the fear of being hung due to a false accusation, the belief of witches, and the possibility of others being a witch and affecting your life.

One of the most notorious periods of American history, the Salem witch trials of 1692 resulted in the execution by hanging of fourteen women and five men who were accused of being witches during a period of mass hysteria. In addition, one man was pressed to death by giant stones for refusing to even plea innocent. At least eight people died in prison, including infants and children alike. Additionally, nearly two hundred people were jailed for months awaiting a trial that never came. Due to the survival of a large multitude of records, including notes and official rulings, the true facts of accusations, trials, and even the executions are known by the public.

The Salem Witch Trials of 1692 have become a prominent event in American culture. A series of the witch trials took place near Salem, part of the Massachusetts colony, in which more than 150 men and women were accused of witchcraft and dozens deteriorated in jail for months without trials. Those who were found guilty were hanged on nearby Gallows Hill. Only a combination of economic conditions, teenage boredom, and personal jealousies can account for the mass hysteria, spiraling accusations, trials, and execution that occurred in Salem Village, Massachusetts.

As a result of the Salem Witch Trials, there were multiple improvements made to the court procedures. Because one could be sentenced by someone simply accusing them, with no viable proof, there were lots of random, petty accusations as aforementioned. The first of these corrections was the right to legal representation. When one was accused of witchcraft, there was no opportunity for their side of the story to be told or represented. Next: the right to cross-examine the accuser; before The Salem Witch Trials, the accuser had no responsibility or consequence to their accusation.

Nineteen individuals was hanged because it was unacceptable to use witchcraft. If you had been known to use witchcraft, you was basically shunned. (history.com) Was these people men or women? There were eighteen teenage girls hanged, and one man.

Accused, trial, guilty, executed, devil, jury - the news spreading around Salem, Massachusetts was deathly. Starting with women, and then expanding to men, there were accusations of witchcraft encompassing the whole town. The arraigned did not stand a chance against the court. The accused witches went through one of the most arduous times of all people in Salem; however, after a well-abounding amount of trials, the cases were closed and the issue was solved. “It was the darkest and most desponding period in the civil history of New England.”

These individuals may or may not been witches, yet the jury many times to chose to hang any accused individuals with or without reasonable cause. Due to fear of being wrongly accused during the salem witch trials erratic and chaotic behaviours stemmed across the town. People feared of being called witches so they hid, lied, cheated, and wrongfully their friends and family. Chaos grow across the town and more and more people were hung. Like on the day 9/11 when the planes hit the twins tower and the buildings fell, people hid, cried, and hurt, due to the destruction.

A quote from this text that supports my claim is “The trials were swift. Anyone who suspected that some untoward event or development was the work of a witch could bring the charge to a local magistrate. The magistrate would have the alleged evil-doer arrested and brought in for public interrogation where the suspect was urged to confess. Whatever his or her response, if the charge of witchcraft was deemed to be credible, the accused was turned over to a superior court and brought before a grand jury.” (1).

There were 19 men and women hanged, which consisted of 6 men and 13 women. There was also one man pressed. Four others died in prison from being accused of witchcraft . They were accused of being a witch by defending someone else who was being accused of being a witch or warlock (Salem Witchcraft

How two little girls (Abigail and Betty) where the first to suffer from fits of hysterical outbreaks and how many accusers came forward and described how they or their animals had been bewitched. It mentions the court cases and how there were more woman than men accused of practicing witch craft. It also states how historians believe the girls were faking their fits from the start. Also mentions how religious Salem was at the time which influenced the trials. •

The Salem witch trial hysteria of 1692 may have been instigated by religious, social, geographic and even biological factors. During these trials, 134 people were condemned as witches and 19 were hanged. These statistics also include 5 more deaths that occurred prior to their execution date. It is interesting to look into the causes of this stain on American History, when as shown in document B, eight citizens were hanged in only one day.