Salem Witch Trials

The Salem witch trials have been discussed and re-discussed many times over! but we do so because we never want to forget.

The whole thing began during the spring of 1692, after a group of young girls in Salem Village, Massachusetts, claimed to be possessed by the devil and accused several local women of witchcraft. 

As the hysteria spread throughout colonial Massachusetts, a special court convened in Salem to hear the cases; the first convicted witch, Bridget Bishop, was hanged that June.

Eighteen others followed Bishop to Salem’s Gallows Hill, while some 150 more men, women and children were accused over the next several months. 

By September 1692, the hysteria had begun to fade and public opinion turned against the trials. 

Though the Massachusetts General Court later annulled guilty verdicts against accused witches and granted indemnities to their families, the damage was already done and the painful legacy of the Salem witch trials would endure, even until now.

ORIGINS OF THE SALEM WITCH TRIALS

Belief in the devil’s practice of giving certain humans (witches) the power to harm others had started in Europe in the 14th century, and was widespread in colonial New England. 

By the way, a scientific study published in Science magazine in 1976 cited the fungus ergot (found in rye, wheat and other cereals), which toxicologists say can cause symptoms such as delusions, vomiting and muscle spasms.

So maybe that could explain a few things, who know?

In January 1692, 9-year-old Elizabeth (Betty) Parris and 11-year-old Abigail Williams (the daughter and niece of Samuel Parris, minister of Salem Village) began having fits, including violent contortions and uncontrollable outbursts of screaming.

A local doctor, William Griggs, diagnosed bewitchment as the only explanation, other young girls in the community began to exhibit similar symptoms, including Ann Putnam Jr., Mercy Lewis, Elizabeth Hubbard, Mary Walcott and Mary Warren.

SALEM WITCH TRIALS ARE OUT OF CONTROL

The three accused witches were brought before the magistrates Jonathan Corwin and John Hathorne and questioned, even as their accusers appeared in the courtroom in a grand display of spasms, contortions, screaming and writhing. 

Though Good and Osborn denied their guilt, Tituba confessed. 

Likely seeking to save herself from certain conviction as an informer, she claimed there were other witches working with the devil against the Puritans. 

As hysteria spread through the community and beyond into the rest of Massachusetts, a number of others were accused, including Martha Corey and Rebecca Nurse–both regarded as upstanding members of church and community–and the four-year-old daughter of Sarah Good.

Like Tituba, several accused “witches” confessed and threw others under the bus, and the trials overwhelmed the local justice system.

In May 1692, the newly appointed governor of Massachusetts, William Phips, ordered the establishment of a special Court of Oyer (to hear) and Terminer (to decide) on witchcraft cases for Suffolk, Essex and Middlesex counties. 

The judges including Hathorne, Samuel Sewall and William Stoughton handed down its first conviction, against Bridget Bishop, on June 2; she was hanged eight days later.

Five more people were hanged that July; five in August and eight more in September. In addition, seven other accused witches died in jail, while the elderly Giles Corey (Martha’s husband) was pressed to death by stones after he refused to enter a plea at his arraignment

SALEM LEGACY

In January 1697, the Massachusetts General Court declared a day of fasting for the tragedy of the Salem witch trials; the court later deemed the trials unlawful, and the leading justice Samuel Sewall publicly apologized for his role in the process. 

The damage to the community was already done however, even after Massachusetts Colony passed legislation restoring the good names of the condemned and providing financial restitution to their heirs in 1711. 

The 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 keep their emotions or opinions to themselves.

Individual differences were frowned upon. 

Even the dark, somber Puritan dress was dictated by the church.

Since Puritans believed that all sins 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.

Even though everyone was faced with the struggle between the powers of good and evil, Satan would select the weakest individuals—women, children, the insane—to carry out his devilish work. 

Those who followed Satan were considered witches. 

Witchcraft was one of the greatest crimes a person could commit, and as we know, 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 that God had abandoned them.

As a result, the church was extremely instrumental in the manifestation of the witch trials. “Ministers were looked to for guidance by the judges, who were generally without legal training, on matters of witchcraft.

The trials would continue for as long or as short as the ministers wanted them to. 

Evidence like hearsay, gossip, stories, unsupported assertions were generally admitted.

The church and the court had the people to a point where they would do anything to avoid getting on the wrong side of the powers including accusing their own friends. “

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.

The painful legacy of the Salem witch trials has endured and ought to be a lesson to warn of the dangers of intolerance and religious extremism.

Salem Witch Trials Began March 1,1692

Eighth Graders want Elizabeth Johnson convicted of witchcraft and sentenced to death 328 years ago to be formally pardoned

Elizabeth Johnson convicted of witchcraft and sentenced to death more than three centuries ago just may be formally pardoned if a class of eighth-graders get their way.

State Senator Diana DiZoglio,  from Methuen, has introduced legislation to clear the name of Elizabeth Johnson Jr., who was condemned in 1693 at the height of the Salem Witch Trials but never executed.

DiZoglio's action was inspired by a group of eigth-graders at North Andover Middle School in Massachusetts.

The work of the 13 and 14-year-olds was so meticulous that it warranted the introduction of legislation to pardon the woman.

'It is important that we work to correct history,' said DiZoglio.

'We will never be able to change what happened to these victims, but at the very least, we can set the record straight.'

Civics teacher Carrie LaPierre's students researched Johnson and the steps that would need to be taken to make sure she was formally pardoned. 

'They spent most of the year working on getting this set for the Legislature — actually writing a bill, writing letters to legislators, creating presentations, doing all the research,' said LaPierre.

DiZoglio is sponsoring Senate Bill 1016, which would see Johnson added to the list of peopled formally exonerated 328 years after she was condemned. 

If lawmakers approve the measure, Johnson will be the last accused witch to be cleared, according to Witches of Massachusetts Bay, a group devoted to the history and lore of the 17th-century witch hunts.

Johnson, then aged 22, was one of dozens sentenced to death in the Salem Witch Trials of 1692, during which 19 were hanged and hundreds of others accused.

But while dozens of suspects had their convictions thrown out and were officially cleared, including Johnson's own mother, Johnson's name wasn't included in various legislative attempts to set the record straight.  

'Why Elizabeth was not exonerated is unclear but no action was ever taken on her behalf by the General Assembly or the courts,' DiZoglio said. 

'Possibly because she was neither a wife nor a mother, she was not considered worthy of having her name cleared. And because she never had children, there is no group of descendants acting on her behalf.'

Dozens of suspects officially were cleared, including Johnson's own mother, the daughter of a minister whose conviction eventually was reversed. 

But for some reason, Johnson's name wasn't included in various legislative attempts to set the record straight.

We think what the students are doing is honorable, but if she was a witch, we salute Elizabeth Johnson.

Bridget Bishop June 10, 1692

327 years ago today,  Bridget Bishop was the first to die in Salem Witch Trials.

Bridget Bishop was one of nineteen people executed for witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1692.

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Salem Witch Trials

Bridget Bishop and the Salem Witch Trials

 

325 years ago today the execution order was signed for Bridget Bishop and two days later, on June 10, 1692, 

Bridget was the first of 19 innocent men and women to be hanged, accused of witchcraft. 

Bridget Bishop was married to Edward Bishop when she was accused of witchcraftin Salem.

She was widowed twice before marrying Edward.

Her second husband Thomas Oliver accused her of witchcraft, claiming that "she was a bad wife. . . the devil had come bodily to her . . . and she sat up all night with the devil."