By: Ilea Coomer, McKay Carter, & Abby Harper
WHAT EVENTS LED TO
THESE TRIALS?
 Strong belief that Satan was acting in the world
 A time of troubles (Smallpox, Congregational strife in
Salem Village, & Frontier wars with Indians)
 Teenage Boredom
 Confessing “witches” made the others accused more
believable.
 Old feuds spurring charges of witchcraft
WHO WAS INVOLVED?
 Betty Parris and her cousin Abigail- They acted as if
they were possessed.
 Tituba-Accused by Betty and Abigail of witchcraft
 Sir William Phips-Governor of Massachusetts during
witch trials.
 William Stoughton-Chief Justice presiding over the
court
WHAT WERE THE OUTCOMES?
 156 people accused---55 pleaded guilty
 When leading people of the colony began to be accused, they
put a stop to the trials.
 Many of the accused still in jail because they couldn’t pay for
their release
 Crop failures and epidemics bothered Salem for years after the
trial
 Reverend Parris and his family left Salem
HOW DO HISTORIANS
INTERPRET THESE TRIALS?
 Unjust
 Became known for mass hysteria and superstition.
SOURCES