Salem was settled in 1626 by the Puritans of Massachusetts Bay Colony. The witch trials started 66 years later.

Transcription

1 By: Pooja

2 Salem was settled in 1626 by the Puritans of Massachusetts Bay Colony. The witch trials started 66 years later.

3 The Beginning (continued) In February 1692 a few girls in Salem Village (present day Danvers) began to experiment with magic. Afterwards, these girls developed a mental illness called hysteria. They began to have unusual fits by falling on the floor and screaming.

4 Bewitched Their parents brought them to many doctors and the only answer the doctors had was that the girls were bewitched. People began to call these girls the afflicted girls. Soon they said they were being tortured by witches. And the Salem witch trials started

5 In the 1600s witchcraft was put in three categories. When a white witch was experimenting with magic, it was for harmless purposes. When a black witch was experimenting with magic, it was to commit hardships and injury. Contact with the Devil was the most extreme form of witchcraft.

6 The Touch Test There were two ways to find out who was a witch and who wasn t. The touch test was one way to see if a person was a witch. The accused would touch the accuser and if her fits stopped, which usually happened, the person was proven guilty.

7 The Water Test The water test was the second way to find out if a person was a witch. This test was widely used in Europe, but not much in Salem. The water test was that the accused would be thrown into the water. If he or she drowned, they were innocent. If they floated, he or she was guilty. A ducking stool.

8 Spectral Evidence Spectral Evidence was when the accuser claimed to see the shape of the accused who was locked up in prison. This was considered evidence. Usually the accused attacked the girls who claimed to see them.

9 The accusers were the girls of Salem Village. These girls were lying, and once they started lying about witches; they could not stop. Probably because of their fear of being punished because of experimenting with magic.

10 The trials were basically quite simple. It was based on whether the jury believed the word of the accused or the accuser. The trial of Sir George Jacobs

11 Punishment was severe during the witch trials. You could be hanged or put in prison. About 150 people were put in prison. They thought witches could not do magic if he or she wore heavy leg irons. A hanging of four witches on Gallows Hill

12 Gravestone of Sarah Good. In the end 24 people died. Nineteen were executed, one was crushed under rocks and four died in prison. Even two dogs were killed.

13 Those who did not confess were put to death. Giles Corey, was one victim who refused to confess, so he was crushed under heavy rocks.

14 Tituba Tituba was a West Indian slave. She was from Barbados. Reverend Samuel Parris of Salem village brought her and her husband, John Indian to Salem as his servants.

15 Betty, Parris s daughter and Abigail Williams her cousin had begun to have strange fits. Soon, other girls were too. Doctors could think of nothing else but that the girls were bewitched. Parris tried asking them who was bewitching them, but they would not speak. Afterwards, they said that Tituba was bewitching them. Reverend Samuel Parris

16 At Tituba s trial she confessed that she saw the Devil and that she was a witch. She was to sign the Devil s book which will mean she is now a servant of the Devil. Tituba also said she saw the signatures of Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne and claimed they were witches too. A few days before her trial Tituba s husband, John, began to have fits and he too became afflicted.

17 Tituba spent 13 months in jail until and unknown person paid seven pounds to free her and then bought her. Most likely the same person bought John. It is unknown what her life was like with her new master.

18 The Two Sarahs Sarah Good Sarah Good was bad tempered and she was a beggar. Good asked for handouts and cursed those who refused her. Sarah Osborn Sarah Osborn was an elderly woman who had not gone to church in 14 months, a sin in Puritan Massachusetts. She was also bad tempered and often got into fights with her neighbors.

19 Increase Mather was born in 1639 and died in Mather was a minister of Boston s Second Congregational Church. He, like others, believed in witches; but he cautioned against unproved accusations at the Salem Witch Trials. Mather also helped end the Salem executions. Afterwards, he became president of Harvard College through

20 Cotton Mather was the son of Increase Mather. He was the most respected clergyman in Puritan Massachusetts. Mather was highly educated and he wrote about social and religious issues. He also believed certain people used witchcraft to help the Devil.

21 The End of the Trials In October 1692, Governor William Phipps of Massachusetts was disgusted with the trials, so he put an end to it. Samuel Sewall, one of the judges during the witch trials later apologized publicly of all the deaths. Soon, the court cleared the names of those who died. Samuel Sewall

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25 Acknowledgements to The History Magazine for Young People Cobblestone: Witchcraft by: Beth Irwin Kane and Jane Scherer Funk and Wagnalls New Encyclopedia Making Thirteen Colonies by: Joy Hakim Salem, Massachusetts by: Deborah Kent Kaleidoscope The Salem Witch Trials by: Edward F. Dolan World History Series The Salem Witch Trials by: Stuart A. Kallen

26 Salem Witch Hunt Deaths June 10, Bridget Bishop July 19, Sarah Good, Elizabeth Howe, Susannah Martin, Rebecca Nurse, Sarah Wild August 19, George Burroughs, Martha Carrier, George Jacobs, John Procter, John Willard September 19, Giles Corey September 22, Martha Corey, Mary Easty, Alice Parker, Mary Parker, Ann Pudeater, Margaret Scoot, Wilmont Redd, Samuel Wardwell THOSE WHO DIED IN JAIL: May 10, Sarah Osborne June 16, Roger Toothaker December 3, Ann Foster