 Has someone ever accused you of doing something
you did not do OR has anyone ever claimed you were
someone you are not?
 How did you prove your innocence?
 Can you ever reclaim who you are in the midst of a
scandal that was not of your own making?
 Have you ever falsely accused someone of something
and then apologized when you found out the truth or
was it too late?
 https://school.discoveryeducation.com/schooladven
tures/salemwitchtrials/story/story.html
 They wanted to reform their national church by
eliminating every shred of Catholic influence
 Their attempt to “purify” the Church of England
and their own lives was based on the teachings of
John Calvin
 Left for the new world in 1620 to escape religious
persecution and established the Massachusetts
Bay Colony.
 Total depravity: “In Adam’s fall we sinned all”
Humankind is totally sinful through the fall of
Adam and Eve and damned for eternity.
 Predestination: You are “elect” (saved) or
“unregenerate” (damned). Salvation belongs to
the “elect”, or God’s chosen. No good works will
help you become saved.
 Limited atonement: Christ died only for the
“elect”.
 Grace: You could feel God’s grace in an intense
emotional fashion. After receiving grace, you were
“reborn” have thenceforth full power to do the will
of God and the ability to live uprightly to the end.
 The Puritan community was a theocracy, a
government which blends church and state.
The church’s officials were the government’s
officials. Thus, church and state were not
separate.
 City upon a Hill Theory: That the new MA
Colony would be a place of complete reform
(utopia) where God would be found in scripture
and a strong work ethic.
 Education: A strong belief in education was
established in order to read the Word of God.
The first public school was founded in 1635 and
Harvard College became an icon for educating
ministers
 .
What do we take away from the Puritans, Planters
and Pilgrims?
 Independence, patriotism, industry, practicality,
tolerance,
 These people were the first to build upon the idea
of the American Dream. The idea that a new path
could be forged and goals attained.
 We inherited an emphasis on hard work, a strong
sense of religion, duty to country and freedom
from oppression.
 In January 1692, the Salem witch trials began and
changed life dramatically for the small farming
community of Salem Village, part of the Massachusetts
Bay colony. Believing themselves God's chosen people,
the Puritan inhabitants of the village followed a strict
Puritan code of hard work and religious devotion. They
remained vigilant to the workings of the devil in their
everyday lives and were dedicated to rooting out evil
wherever they perceived its existence

However, the restrained and solemn appearance of
the Puritan village belied fundamental economic,
political, and interpersonal difficulties, which
wrought fear, mistrust, and uncertainty throughout
the community. This climate gave rise to the witchhunt that followed.
 Salem Village faced daily challenges closer to home
as well. Most families had to support themselves,
making their own clothes, planting vegetables,
raising meat. Farming was often a painstaking task
in the harsh climate and rough, rocky terrain—and a
drought or flood could ruin a year’s harvest. An
epidemic of smallpox could kill a family. In a world
where people saw the Devil lurking behind every
misfortune, it is little wonder they believed evil
spirits were at work.
 Church was the cornerstone of 17th century life in
New England. Most people in Massachusetts were
Puritans—colonists who had left England seeking
religious tolerance. But the strict Puritan code was
far from tolerant. It was against the law not to attend
church—where men and women sat on opposite
sides through long services. The Puritan lifestyle was
restrained and rigid: People were expected to work
hard and repress their emotions or opinions.
Individual differences were frowned upon. Even the
dark, somber Puritan dress was dictated by the
church.
 Since Puritans were expected to live by a rigid moral
code, they believed that all sins—from sleeping in
church to stealing food—should be punished. They
also believed God would punish sinful behavior.
When a neighbor would suffer misfortune, such as a
sick child or a failed crop, Puritans saw it as God’s
will and did not help.
 Puritans also believed the Devil was as real as God.
Everyone was faced with the struggle between the
powers of good and evil, but Satan would select the
weakest individuals—women, children, the insane—
to carry out his work. Those who followed Satan were
considered witches. Witchcraft was one of the
greatest crimes a person could commit, punishable
by death.
 In keeping with the Puritan code of conformity, the
first women to be accused of witchcraft in Salem
were seen as different and as social outcasts: Tituba,
a slave; Sarah Good, a homeless beggar; and Sarah
Osborne, a sickly old woman who married her
servant.
Fear of magic and witchcraft was common in New
England, as it had been in Europe for centuries. Over
100 alleged witches had been tried and hanged in
New England during the 1600s. But the hangings in
1692 Salem would be the last ones in America.
 In 1692, children were expected to behave under the
same strict code as the adults—doing chores,
attending church services, and repressing individual
differences. Any show of emotion, such as
excitement, fear, or anger, was discouraged, and
disobedience was severely punished. Children rarely
played, as toys and games were scarce. Puritans saw
these activities as sinful distractions.
 But unlike young girls, boys had a few outlets for
their imagination. They often worked as apprentices
outside the home, practicing such skills as carpentry
or crafts. Boys were also allowed to explore the
outdoors, hunting and fishing. On the other hand,
girls were expected to tend to the house, helping
their mothers cook, wash, clean, and sew.
 Many children learned to read, but most households
owned only the Bible and other religious works—
including a few that described evil spirits and
witchcraft in great detail. There were a few books
written for children, but these often warned against
bad behavior and described the punishment that
children would suffer for sinful acts.
 Such was the world of Abigail Williams and Betty
Parris during the long, dark winter of 1692. There
was little to feed their imagination that did not warn
of sin and eternal punishment. It is no wonder that
the young girls were so captivated by Tituba’s
magical stories and fortune-telling games. These
activities were strictly forbidden, which must have
filled them with fear and guilt. This may have been
one reason for their hysterical behavior. And at a
time when young girls were forbidden to act out or
express themselves, it is easy to see why they were so
enraptured by the attention they received when they
became “bewitched.”
Betty Parris became strangely ill. She dashed about, dove under
furniture, contorted in pain, and complained of fever. The cause
of her symptoms may have been some combination of stress,
asthma, guilt, boredom, child abuse, epilepsy, and delusional
psychosis.
Talk of witchcraft increased when other playmates of Betty,
including eleven-year-old Ann Putnam, seventeen-year-old Mercy
Lewis, and Mary Walcott, began to exhibit similar unusual
behavior.
A doctor called to examine the girls, suggested that the girls'
problems might have a supernatural origin. The widespread
belief that witches targeted children made the doctor's diagnosis
seem increasingly likely.
-Douglas Linder
 11. Strong belief that Satan is acting in the world.
---------"The invisible world": disease, natural catastrophes, and bad
fortune
 2. A belief that Satan actively recruits witches and wizards
---------Prior witchcraft cases
 3. A belief that a person afflicted by witchcraft exhibits certain
symptoms.

4. A time of troubles, making it seem likely that Satan was active.
---------Congregational strife in Salem Village
---------Frontier wars with Indians
 5. Stimulation of imaginations by Tituba (slave).
 6. Teenage boredom.
 7. Confessing "witches" adding credibility to earlier charges.
 8. Old feuds (disputes within congregation, property disputes)
between the accusers and the accused spurring charges of witchcraft.
 Tituba, a slave from Barbados, makes a witch
cake, drawing suspicion on herself.
 A witch cake is composed of rye meal mixed with
urine from the afflicted children. It is then fed to
a dog. The person is considered bewitched if the
dog displays similar symptoms as the afflicted.
“The girls contorted into grotesque poses, fell down into frozen
postures, and complained of biting and pinching sensations. In
a village where everyone believed that the devil was real, close
at hand, and acted in the real world, the suspected affliction of
the girls became an obsession.” Douglas Linder
By the end of 1692, over 200 people were jailed
and standing accused of witchcraft.
 Nineteen men and women were hanged, all
having been convicted of witchcraft
 Another man of over eighty years was pressed
to death under heavy stones for refusing to
submit to a trial on witchcraft charges
 Many languished in jail for months without
trials
 At least four died in prison
 1. Doubts grow when respected citizens are convicted and executed.
-------Rebecca Nurse (jury first acquits, then told to reconsider)
-------George Burroughs (recites Lord's Prayer perfectly at hanging)
2. Accusations of witchcraft include the powerful and wellconnected.
-------Wife of Governor Phips (and others)
3. The educated elite of Boston pressure Gov. Phips to exclude
spectral evidence.
-------Increase Mather points out the Devil could take the shape of
an innocent person: "It were better that 10 suspected witches should
escape than one innocent person should be condemned."
4. Gov. Phips bars spectral evidence and disbands the Court
 You have been accused of being a witch and if found
guilty you will be executed.
 You will write a letter to the judge and tell him why
you should be spared and the reasons you give that
show you are not a witch.
 Remember – your life is on the line and this is your
only chance for mercy.
 The judge is Judge Mather and you must write one
page (isn’t your life worth that much?)