Salem Witch Trials

Salem Witch Trials: Behind the Hysteria

The people of the Seventeenth Century lived in a world that few people in this century would even acknowledge. It was a terrifying place because these societies had the notion that individuals suffered from attacks of those from an "invisible world."

The Salem Witch Trials were a string of hearings held between the years of 1692 and 1693. They were held before local judges followed by county court trials to prosecute people accused of witchcraft in Essex, Suffolk and Middlesex Counties of colonial Massachusetts. The hearings in 1692 were conducted in Salem Village, Ipswich, Andover and Salem Town, Massachusetts. The trials in 1692 all took place in Salem Town and were heard by the Court of Oyer, and Terminer, who would decide the case. Between February 1692 and May 1693, over 150 people were arrested and imprisoned, with even more accused who were not formally arrested by the authorities. The two courts convicted twenty-nine people of the capital felony of witchcraft, nineteen of them were hung. One man, who refused a plea bargain died under judicial torture while they were trying to extract one of these "beings" from him. (1)

In 1689, Salem Village was allowed by the church in Salem town to form their own their own church congregation. Due to internal disputes between neighbors who disagreed about the choice of Samuel Parris as the first minister and choosing to grant him the deed to the church house as part of his compensation.(1) In the Puritan faith a person's soul was considered predestined to either Heaven or Hell.(5) Puritans relentlessly searched for clues to this. Assuming that God's satisfaction or dissatisfaction would be shown to them. God and the angels, and the "fallen angel" or Devil were a part of the "invisible world," which was not any less real to them than the visible world was. (1) Cotton Mather published a book in 1689, "Memorable Providences Relating to Witchcrafts and Possessions." In this book he describes the strange behavior of John Goodwin's four children and blamed it on the witchcraft that was done to them by Mary Glover, a washerwoman.

In Salem Village in the year 1692 the daughter of Samuel Parris, Betty Parris and his niece, Abigail Williams began to have panic fits. Minister John Hale described these rages as "beyond the power of Epileptic Fits or natural disease." The girls screamed and yelled, threw objects around the room, made strange noises, crawled underneath furniture, twisted their bodies into strange positions, according to Reverend Deodat Lawson, a former minister. They also complained of what felt like being pricked with pins, Dr. William Griggs could find no evidence of physical problems. (4) After some time more young women in the village began show signs of similar behaviors. Reverend Lawson preached in the church house and was appalled at how many times he was interrupted by these rages. The first people arrested for allegedly sickening the girls were Sarah Good, who was poor and known to beg for food or shelter, Sarah Osborne, who had married her indentured servant and didn't attend church meetings and Tituba, an African American slave who was clearly a target for these accusations. No one would take the side of these women for two reasons. The first reason is simply because they are women and women were seen as inferior to men. The second reason is that these women fit the definition of witch-craft suspects. They were brought before the local judges because one of the people in the town complained of witchcraft. The women were interrogated for several days and then sent to jail on March 4, 1692. (2)

Around the middle of March in Salem Village more and more accusations were emerging: Martha Corey and Rebecca Nurse, who were both covenanted members in the church, and Dorothy Good. Martha Corey drew attention to herself because she doubted the reliability of girl's accusations. Also the town could not believe that such covenanted members of the church could be a witch. (3) If these two respectable women could be a witch, then anybody could a witch. It also meant that church membership was not protection from these charges. Dorothy's daughter, Sarah Good was four years old when she was questioned by the judges. (3)

In April Rebecca Nurse's sister Sarah Cloyce and Elizabeth Proctor were arrested, they were brought before local magistrates. John Proctor was arrested because he objected to what was being said. In the next week or so, Giles Corey, a church member in Salem Town, Abigail Hobbs, Bridget Bishop, Mary Warren, a servant in the Proctor household were arrested and questioned.(4) Abigail Hobbs and Mary Warren confessed and began naming people as accomplices. More arrests followed: Sarah Wilds, Nehemiah Abbott Jr., Mary Esty, Edward Bishop Jr., Sarah Bishop, and the Reverend George Burroughs,. Nehemiah Abbott Jr. was let go because the others agreed he was not the person whose spirit caused the problems. Mary Esty was released for the same reasons but she was rearrested when they reconsidered. (2)

In May more allegations were being reported. Some of the suspects began to avoid the town officials, multiple warrants were issued for their arrest. Because there was no formal court the proceedings were only investigative, but on May 27, 1692, William Phips ordered the formation of Special Court of Oyer & Terminer for the surrounding counties to prosecute the cases of the inmates. (1) Now even more warrants were being issued because these people could be prosecuted. Warrants were issued for Sarah Dustin, Bethiah Carter Sr. and her daughter Bethiah Carter Jr., and many others. When the Court of Oyer and Terminer held a meeting at the end of May, the total number of people in custody was sixty two. (3)

Cotton Mather wrote a letter one of the judges, John Richards, expressing his support of the prosecutions, but informing him of the risks they were taking by relying on spectral evidence (supernatural evidence accepted in a court of law) advising the court, based on his own opinion information on how to precede. (1) The Court of Oyer and Terminer met in Salem Town on June 2, 1692, with William Stoughton, as Chief Magistrate, Thomas Newton who was prosecuting the cases, and Stephen Sewall as clerk.(4) The first case that was held before the grand jury was Bridget Bishop's, who endorsed all the allegations against her, she was found guilty the same day. She was hung on June 10, 1692. On June 3, the grand jury also endorsed the allegations against Rebecca Nurse and John Willard. Later in June, John Hathore, Jonathan Corwim and Bartholomew Gedney became judges of the court, they accused, arrested and examined more and more people(3)

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