Witch Trials: Salem and Europe

Salem Witch Trials: It is known as the Salem Witch Trials because the very first accusation was filed in the Salem village itself. It became the focal point of accusations and trials. It was during this period that the Puritan cult was predominating. They were too rigid and strict and going against their ideology was considered suspicious. The Puritan cult was a major cause behind the Salem Witch Trials. The court of Oyer and Terminer was specially established to hear cases related to the Salem Witch Trials.

In this article, we will mainly discuss the events, causes, some famous personalities, and the consequences of the Salem Witch Trials.

Salem Witch Trials

Who are witches? Whenever we are asked about this question, our mind gets transferred to those childhood days when we were deeply influenced by fairy tales. The witches in these tales were mainly considered as antagonists. We already have a stereotypical image of witches fixed in our minds. For example, wearing long black gowns, pointed noses, disfigured faces, sitting on a broom, and chanting “hocus focus”. But, in reality, do just things exist?

Keeping the above question in mind, one of the craziest events in American History is referred to as the “Salem Witch Trials”. This particular event dates back to the 17th Century in colonial Massachusetts, where around 200 men and women were arrested and prosecuted because they were found guilty of practicing witchcraft. The complaints generally came from young girls, who found themselves to be possessed and they blamed the local women for such witchcraft.

The story begins with two young girls, Betty Paris and Abigail Williams in the village of Salem who started behaving dubiously. They were going through hallucinations and frequent fits. The residents of Salem were completely clueless. This created mass hysteria which ultimately led to trials and accusations.

The Salem Witch Trials is a very debatable event in American history as we do not have any concrete evidences. The judiciary wrongly accused innocent men and women and forcibly made them confess that they were involved in witchcraft.

Salem Witch Trials: Women Involved

According to historians, those women were considered witches who were seen as a threat to the patriarchal society and often questioned the gender roles introduced by various religious sects. In the case of Europe and America, widowed or unmarried women and women who were against visiting the Church were often labeled as witches. They were deemed as devils.

The first three women who were accused of witchcraft were Tituba, Sarah Good, and Sarah Osborne.

Tituba	She was a Caribbean woman slave and one of the first woman who forcibly proved herself to be guilty under intense pressure.
Sarah Good	She was homeless.
Sarah Osborne	She violated the inheritance law and took over her dead husband’s property without handing it over to her elder son.

Salem Witch Trial Victims

The Salem Witch Trials, which occurred in 1692 in Salem Village (now Danvers), Salem Town (now Salem), and surrounding areas in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, are one of the most infamous episodes of legal injustice in American history. Over 200 people were accused of witchcraft, with 30 found guilty. The hysteria led to the execution of 20 individuals: 19 were hanged, and one was pressed to death. Here is a list of those executed:

Hanged on Gallows Hill, Salem

1. Bridget Bishop – June 10, 1692
2. Rebecca Nurse – July 19, 1692
3. Sarah Good – July 19, 1692
4. Elizabeth Howe – July 19, 1692
5. Susannah Martin – July 19, 1692
6. Sarah Wildes – July 19, 1692
7. George Burroughs – August 19, 1692 (the only male pastor)
8. Martha Carrier – August 19, 1692
9. John Willard – August 19, 1692
10. George Jacobs, Sr. – August 19, 1692
11. John Proctor – August 19, 1692
12. Alice Parker – September 22, 1692
13. Mary Parker – September 22, 1692
14. Ann Pudeator – September 22, 1692
15. Wilmot Redd – September 22, 1692
16. Margaret Scott – September 22, 1692
17. Samuel Wardwell – September 22, 1692
18. Mary Eastey – September 22, 1692
19. Martha Corey – September 22, 1692

Pressed to Death

1. Giles Corey – September 19, 1692, refused to enter a plea and was pressed to death over two days.

Died in Prison

Several accused died in prison awaiting trial or after being convicted but not yet executed. These include:

1. Sarah Osburn
2. Roger Toothaker
3. Lyndia Dustin
4. Ann Foster

The Salem Witch Trials have since become a cautionary tale about the dangers of isolationism, religious extremism, false accusations, and lapses in due process. The victims were later exonerated, and the trials are now universally recognized as a tragic mistake.

Salem Witch Trials: Causes

• Religion Cause – The Puritan Church wanted to establish a society entirely based on their ideology. They firmly believed that one needs to completely surrender oneself in the hands of god to become a legitimate citizen in colonial Massachusetts. Any individual who went against the Puritans was alleged as devils. The Puritans took the responsibility of purifying the society through various trials. In Salem, around 20 people were killed and 200 people were accused of witchcraft.
• Social Cause– The 17th century in the Village of Salem was filled with economic and social tensions. The villagers were constantly fighting with each other due to family feuds, land disputes, citizenship rights, and gaining power in society. The trials became an alternative to fulfill personal vengeance by wrongly accusing men and women of witchcraft.
• Political Instability – When the trials were going on, colonial America was facing conflict with the colonists. Due to the intense tensions, the trials that were carried out did not follow any proper rules and regulations and hence, many innocent souls became victims of false accusations.

How did the Salem Witch Trials become a Mass Hysteria?

The Salem Witch Trials became a mass hysteria in the following ways:-

1. Initial Accusations	The Salem Witch Trials took it’s first step when two young girls became victims of some abnormal behavior, and they blamed the local women for their conditions.
2. Accusations and Examinations	The accusations became widespread in the entire colonial America. Any individuals who were raising their voices against the Puritans, found themselves undergoing trials and were forced to accept that they were guilty even when no such superstitious activities existed.
3. Trials	The trials were heard in the court of Oyer and Terminer. The trials did not follow any legal proceedings, denied basic rights to the accused, and forced confessions. Some were hanged and some died while waiting in the jails.
4. End of Trials	The trials came to an end when Governor William Phips abolished the court of Oyer and Terminer in October 1692. Even the local people started to protest against the proceedings.

Salem Witch Trials: Consequences

• Loss of innocent lives:- Twenty innocent people were falsely accused and they were hanged to death whereas several others died in jail while waiting for their trials.
• Loss of trust in the authority:- The trials did not follow any legal proceedings and denied fundamental rights to the accused. The judges who were involved in the trials were very aggressive. The local people no longer had faith in the local magistrates.
• The act of forgiveness:- After the trials, the family members of the deceased were given a formal apology and also compensated.

Salem Witch Trials: Judges Involved

1. William Stoughton	The chief magistrate in the court of Oyer and Terminer.
2. John Hathorne	Magistrate in the Court of Oyer and Terminer. He was well known for his aggression while interrogating the accused.
3. Jonathan Corwin	Magistrate in the Court of Oyer and Terminer. He was mainly involved in examining the accused and giving him death sentences.

Witch Trials in Europe

The witch trials in Europe were a series of witch hunts that took place across the continent from the late Middle Ages through the early modern period (roughly between the 15th and 18th centuries). These trials were fueled by a combination of religious fervor, superstition, social tensions, and the legal sanctioning of witchcraft as a crime punishable by death or severe penalties. The trials often targeted individuals accused of witchcraft, heresy, and consorting with the devil, leading to tens of thousands of executions, with a significant number of the accused being women. Here’s an overview of key aspects of the European witch trials:

Geographic Spread

• The witch trials were not confined to one region but occurred throughout Europe, with significant hotspots in Germany, Scotland, France, the Swiss cantons, and Scandinavia.

Causes

• Religious Turmoil: The Protestant Reformation and the Catholic Counter-Reformation contributed to an environment of religious zealotry and fanaticism, where witchcraft was seen as a potent heresy.
• Social and Economic Pressures: Periods of social upheaval, economic distress, famine, and disease often led to a search for scapegoats, with accused witches fitting this role.
• Legal Frameworks: The publication of the Malleus Maleficarum in 1487, a treatise on witchcraft, alongside the acceptance of witchcraft as a secular crime, provided a legal and theological basis for the witch hunts.

Notable Trials

• The Würzburg and Bamberg Trials (Germany, early 17th century): These trials led to hundreds of executions and were part of a larger pattern of mass trials in the Holy Roman Empire.
• The Torsåker Witch Trials (Sweden, 1675): One of the largest witch trials in Sweden, resulting in the execution of 71 people.
• The Pendle Witch Trials (England, 1612): Twelve people from the area around Pendle Hill were accused of witchcraft, with ten being executed.

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Conclusion

Hence, we can conclude by saying that the Salem Witch Trials was one of the most horrifying events in American History where the local people of America mainly the villagers of Salem lost their trust in the authority. It created psychological trauma in the minds of the people. It is a very debatable event in World History as we do not have enough shreds of evidence to bring into limelight, the misery and the pain faced by the deceased family of the accused.

As we flip the pages of History, we should remember that these dark events in the past teach us a lesson that we should not depend entirely on religion.

FAQs On Salem Witch Trials

What was the Salem Witch Trials?

One of the most craziest event in American History is referred to as the “Salem of Witch Trials”. This particular event dates back to the 17th Century in colonial Massachusetts, where around 200 men and women were arrested and prosecuted. They were accused of practicing witchcraft.

When did Salem Trials end?

The Salem witch trials, a series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts, began in the spring of 1692 and concluded in May 1693. The trials resulted in the executions of twenty people, most of them women. The formal end of the trials came when the Massachusetts General Court ordered the remaining prisoners to be released in May 1693, effectively putting an end to the series of events that had led to one of the most infamous episodes of legal and social hysteria in American history.

Who was accused in Salem Witch Trials?

Few accused are:

1. Tituba: The first accused witch and the enslaved woman of Samuel Parris, the village’s minister. Her confession, likely coerced, exacerbated the witch hunt.
2. Sarah Good: A homeless beggar, she was one of the first three women accused of witchcraft and was executed by hanging.
3. Sarah Osborne: Also among the first to be accused, she was a widow and considered an easy target due to her social standing. She died in jail.
4. Rebecca Nurse: A well-respected elderly woman whose conviction and execution shocked the community, highlighting the extent of the hysteria.
5. Bridget Bishop: Known for her flamboyant lifestyle and previous accusations of witchcraft, she was the first person executed during the trials.

How many people people died in Salem Witch Trials?

During the Salem Witch Trials in 1692, a total of 20 people were executed. Nineteen of these individuals were hanged on Gallows Hill in Salem, Massachusetts, and one man, Giles Corey, was pressed to death with heavy stones for refusing to enter a plea. Additionally, several others died in jail awaiting trial or after being convicted but not yet executed.

What was the religion in Salem?

The religion that was prevalant in Salem during the 17th Century was Puritians religion doctrine.

Name some women who were accused of witchcraft.

The three women who were accused of witchcraft were Tituba, Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne.

Why it was known as the “Salem Witch Trials”?

It is basically known as Salem Witch Trials because the very accusation was filed in the Salem village itself. It became the focal point of accusations and trials. It was during this period that the Puritans cult was predominating.

What impact did the Salem Witch Trials have on the society?

Loss of innocent lives:- Twenty innocent people were falsely accused and they were hanged to death whereas several others died in jail while waiting for their trials.

Loss of trust in the authority:- The trials did not follow any legal proceedings and denied fundamental rights to the accused. The judges who were involved in the trials were very aggressive. The local people no longer had faith in the local magistrates.

The act of forgiveness:- After the trials, the family members of the deceased were given a formal apology and also compensated.