THE SALEM WITCH
TRIALS
THE BACKGROUND
Belief in magic is, of course, as old as mankind. People have always
believed you could use magic to improve your crop or heal illnesses. In
Greek and Roman times belief in magic was widespread. However it
was not always used for good. People believed they could use magic to
harm by causing sickness or misfortune. Some Roman emperors
banned magic, fearing it might be used against them.
For most of the Middle Ages ‘white magic’, used to heal or increase
fertility was, to a certain extent, tolerated. However in the late Middle
Ages people increasingly believed that some human beings would
actually make a ‘contract’ with the Devil. In return for power they used
magic to harm crops, animals and people.
In the 16th and 17th centuries most people firmly believed in an evil
supernatural power as well as a good one. They also believed that
some human beings were ‘fifth columnists’ who joined the evil power.
The thought that your seemingly ordinary neighbour was a traitor
secretly working for the enemy was very frightening. Witches, in the
17th century were what communists were in the McCarthy era.
Ironically belief in witchcraft was declining in the late 17th century. (In
England the last execution for witchcraft was in 1684). Furthermore in
America witch trials were uncommon. In 1663 three people in Hartford
Connecticut were executed. There were no more executions for 25
years. Then, in an ominous prelude to Salem a woman named Mary
Glover from Boston was executed. She was found guilty of causing four
children to become possessed.
A man named Cotton Mather (1663-1728) was involved in this case and
in 1689 he published a book called Memorable Providences Relating to
Witchcraft and Possessions. Mather was convinced of the reality of
witchcraft and he became involved in the events at Salem. From 1689
he was the minister of a church meeting in Salem Village.
The witch mania began in Salem Village. (In 1752 its name was
changed to Danvers) but it soon spread to other communities.
in 1692 Salem Village had about 600 inhabitants. Officially it was part of
nearby Salem Town. Some of its citizens wanted to become separate
from Salem Town and some did not. There was fierce disagreement
between them.
THE WITCH HYSTERIA
The witch hysteria in Salem began in January 1692. It led to the deaths
of more than 20. Altogether 19 people were executed by hanging. (In
most of Europe witches were burned but in England and the North
American colonies the punishment was hanging). Another man, 80 year
old Giles Corey was pressed to death. He was accused of being a witch
but before the trial could proceed he had to plead guilty or not guilty.
Corey bravely refused to plead. To try and force him heavy weights
were placed on him. The unfortunate man eventually died from this
torture. (At one point his tongue was forced out of his mouth and the
sheriff, George Corwin, pushed it back in with a cane). Furthermore four
people died in prison while awaiting trial (Lyndia Dustin, Ann Foster,
Sarah Osborne and Roger Toothaker).
The witch mania began when two girls, (9 year old Betty Parris and her
11 year old cousin Abigail Williams tried fortune telling. The two were
staying with Betty’s father, Reverend Samuel Parris. During the winter
they and their friends dabbled with fortune telling by cracking eggs into
a glass and interpreting the shapes that were formed.
The family owned a slave called Tituba. She was an Arawak Indian.
(Tituba is often described as a ‘black slave’. In fact, there is no evidence
that she was black. She was actually Native American). She may have
been present when the fortune telling took place. It has also been
suggested that Tituba told the girls tales about witchcraft and so
influenced them.
Whatever exactly happened by 20 January 1692 the two girls were
having strange fits. A doctor called William Griggs was called but he
was unable to explain the fits. He claimed the girls were bewitched.
Unfortunately he started a chain of events.
Later several other girls began to have fits, 18 year old Elizabeth Booth,
20 year old Sarah Churchill, 17 year old Elizabeth Hubbard, 19 year old
Mercy Lewis, 12 year old Ann Putnam, 18 year old Susan Sheldon, 16
year old Mary Walcott, 20 year old Mary Warren. (So the youngest of
the 'afflicted' girls were children while the oldest were young women).
There were cases in England of girls having fits and then accusing
people of witchcraft but what was unusual in Salem was the sheer scale
of the accusations.
Meanwhile on 25 February a woman named Mary Sibley persuaded
Tituba and her husband John to bake a ‘witch cake’. It was made from
rye and the urine of the two original girls, Betty Parris and Abigail
Williams. In those days people believed that if you suspected a person
was bewitched, you could make a witch cake and feed it to a dog. If the
dog then behaved like the afflicted person it was proof that witchcraft
was the cause. In this case a dog was given the cake and its behaviour
afterwards was said to be like that of the afflicted girls. This was taken
as evidence that witchcraft was indeed responsible.
The girls then ‘identified’ those responsible. They blamed three women,
Tituba, the slave, Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne. Significantly all
three women had low status. If the girls had accused respected
members of the community they might not have been believed. Tituba
was looked down upon because she was only a slave. Sarah Good was
poor and sometimes begged for food. Sarah Osborne had not been to
church for a year. That earned her disapproval from many of her
neighbours.
On 29 February 1692 the three were arrested. On 1 March Judge John
Hathorne and Judge Jonathan Corwin examined them. Sarah Good and
Sarah Osborne denied the charges but Tituba confessed. Perhaps she
felt that if she denied the charge she would not be believed, after all she
was only a slave. She may also have hoped that if she confessed she
would be spared. If so she was correct. Tituba was imprisoned for a
while but she was not executed. Once the witch hysteria was over
Tituba withdrew her confession.
One of the most horrific aspects of the witch hysteria was that if you
were accused and you confessed your life was spared. However if you
were accused and you denied the charge but where then convicted you
were hanged. Furthermore if you expressed scepticism about the witch
trials you put yourself in danger. You might be accused to being a witch.
The two other women steadfastly continued to deny any involvement in
witchcraft. Sarah Osborne died in prison on May 10 while awaiting trial.
Meanwhile more and more people were arrested. Firstly, In her
confession Tituba claimed that she met a ‘tall man from Boston’ (the
authorities believed he must have been Satan). She said she was
forced to sing a book, which had other named written in it. That
convinced the authorities that there must be other witches in Salem
apart from those originally arrested. Furthermore in Mid-March Ann
Putnam accused a woman named Martha Corey of being a witch. Then
an old woman named Rebecca Nurse was accused.
Soon so many people were arrested that on 27 May 1692 the governor,
Sir William Phips (1651-1695), set up a special court of ‘oyer and
terminer’ to deal with them all.
THE EXECUTIONS
The first person to be executed was called Bridget Bishop. She was a
controversial figure in the community. She had been married three times
and she ran two taverns. Worse, she had been tried for witchcraft
before, in 1680. Yet the evidence against her was feeble. It was said
that dolls with pins in them were found in her house. Despite the
flimsiness of the evidence the unfortunate woman was convicted on 2
June. She was hanged on 10 June.
If the evidence against Bishop was, at best, circumstantial, the evidence
against other people was absurd! The afflicted girls claimed that they
could see the accused person’s ‘spectre’ attacking them even when the
accused was not physically present. (Naturally only they could see the
‘spectres’). Even for the 17th century spectral evidence was very
unusual. Unfortunately the judge William Stoughton 1631-1701 insisted
on admitting spectral evidence.
Another form of 'evidence' was provided by touching. People believed
that if a girl had a fit and if the accused person touched her and the fits
stopped that was evidence that the accused person was a witch!. It did
not seem to occur to them that it is easy to fake a fit and just as easy to
fake it stopping.
Yet another form of 'evidence' sought was the Devil's mark or witch
mark. People believed that when a person agreed to serve the Devil he
kissed or bit them. That left a mark on the person's body. Any mole,
birthmark or abnormal growth could be seen as a witch mark. Obviously
most people have a mole or birthmark somewhere. Anyone accused of
being a witch was likely to be stripped and examined. People believed
that if any unusual mark or growth was pricked but did not bleed it was
evidence you were a witch. (Unlike 'spectral evidence', which was highly
unusual looking for witch marks was common in the 17th century). As
you can see if you were accused to witchcraft you had very little chance
of being found not guilty.
On 29 June Sarah Good, Elizabeth Howe, Susannah Martin, Sarah
Wilds and Rebecca Nurse, were tried. They were hanged on 19 July.
The trial of Rebecca Nurse was a travesty. She was an old lady of good
character and the jury acquitted her. However the girls who accused her
of being a witch had fits or fainted. Incredibly the judge, William
Stoughton, 'invited' the jury to ‘reconsider’ their verdict. This time they
found her guilty. (Perhaps the jurors were afraid they would be accused
of being witches unless they brought the 'right' verdict).
However many people were having increasing doubts about the guilt of
the accused. On 5 August, George Burroughs, Martha Carrier, George
Jacobs, John and Elizabeth Proctor, and John Willard were tired and
found guilty.
John Proctor was a farmer aged about 60. He was an outspoken man
who was openly sceptical about the witch trials. Nevertheless it was his
wife Elizabeth who was accused first. John Proctor bravely defended
her and as a result he was accused of being a witch. John Proctor wrote
a letter to the Boston clergy denouncing the unfairness of the trials. His
letter probably did have some effect but unfortunately it did not save his
life.
Elizabeth Proctor was spared because she was pregnant but the others
were hanged on August 19. Before John Proctor died he said the Lords
Prayer (the ‘Our Father)’, without making any mistakes. Witches were
not supposed to be able to do that and he sowed seeds of doubt in
many people’s minds. Some people demanded that Burroughs should
be set free but Cotton Mather managed to persuade the people to go
ahead and hang him.
Giles Corey was pressed to death on 19 September. Finally on 22
September Martha Corey, Mary East, Alice Parker, Mary Parker, Ann
Updater, Wilmot Reed, Margaret Scott and Samuel Waddell were
hanged.
THE END
However public opinion was now turning against the witch trials. So
many people were being accused of witchcraft it started to seem
absurd. People could not believe that so many of their neighbours were
witches. Furthermore people were increasingly worried that innocent
people were being executed. There were also increasing doubts about
the value of ‘spectral’ evidence. Finally on 8 October 1692 Sir William
Phips eventually forbade the court to allow ‘spectral’ evidence. Also on
29 October he dissolved the special court he had set up to try ‘witches’.
However the trials continued in an 'ordinary’ court, which formed in
November 1692. The last trials for witchcraft were held in January 1693.
Three more people were convicted but were reprieved by the governor.
Unfortunately judge William Stoughton at first, presided over the court.
He was a zealous believer in witchcraft was determined to root out any
remaining 'witches'. Thankfully he left in early January 1693. Finally in
May 1693 Governor Phips pardoned all those in prison (either convicted
or awaiting trial).
In 1696 some jurors admitted they had made a terrible mistake.
In 1697 a day of fasting and praying for forgiveness was held. It was
called the Day of Official Humiliation. One of the judges who presided
over the witch trials, Samuel Sewall, publicly apologised.
ANSWERS
So what caused this tragedy? Nobody is certain but a number of
theories have been put forward. It has been suggested that the people
of Salem felt insecure and this was a contributing factor to the hysteria.
They were afraid of Indian attacks and afraid of smallpox. Furthermore
in 1684 King Charles II revoked the Massachusetts Bay charter.
Although he gave another charter in 1691 this may have increased the
atmosphere of fear and uncertainty. The winter of 1692-93 was also
harsh adding to people's anxiety. Perhaps that made the people more
susceptible to outbreaks of hysteria than usual.
Furthermore there were conflicts between the wealthy families in Salem
village. There was also conflict between Salem village and Salem town.
It has been suggested that the witch hysteria was really an excuse for
one group to attack another.
Or perhaps there was some psychological explanation. Perhaps some
psychological condition caused the girl’s symptoms. Perhaps the girls
enjoyed the attention and power they received and perhaps the whole
thing got out of hand. Maybe once the girls had started they felt they
could not stop.
There is also a theory that a fungus called ergot caused the hysteria. It
grows on rye and caused hallucinations and bizarre and erratic
behaviour. It has been blamed for the ‘dancing crazes’ in Europe in the
Middle Ages when loads of people started ‘dancing’ uncontrollably.
We will probably never know exactly what happened but the Salem
witch trials passed into legend. They formed the basis of Arthur Miller’s
play The Crucible, which was written in 1953 at the McCarthy’s ‘witch
hunts’. After Salem nobody else was executed for witchcraft in America.
However in 1706 a woman named Grace Sherwood from Virginia was
convicted of witchcraft and sentenced to 8 years in prison. The same
year, 1706, one of the 'afflicted' girls, Ann Putnam, apologised to the
congregation of her church. She claimed that 'It was a great delusion of
Satan that deceived me at that sad time'. So she blamed the Devil for
the deaths of many innocent people rather than accepting responsibility.
In 1702 the General Court (legislature) of Massachusetts overturned the
convictions for witchcraft and in 1711 they granted compensation to the
relatives of the victims bringing the whole sorry episode to an end.
In the early 18th century belief in witches died out.
Finally in 1992 a memorial was erected to those who were wrongly
executed at Salem.