Salem Witch Trials Research Paper

Words: 697
Pages: 3
Open Document
Eivys Borges
Professor McLeod
ENC1101
12/9/15
Salem Witch Trials The Salem witch trials were a series of court trials that were aimed at prosecuting people who had been accused of witchcraft in Massachusetts. Taking place between January 1692 and May 1693, it was one of the first hysterical moments that America would go on to see. What happened during the Salem witch trials? On January 20, 1692, in Salem Village, the Reverend Samuel Parris' nine-year-old daughter, Elizabeth, and his eleven-year-old niece, Abigail Williams, started having odd behaviors, including shouting out blasphemies and going into trances. Parris called in the local doctor, William Griggs, who found the girls having convulsions and running around the room barking like …show more content…
He then suggested that it might be the work of evil forces. Parris in fear consulted what the doctor had suggested with local ministers, who recommended he wait to see what happened. Word of the unexplained convulsions and fits had spread around Salem Village. Soon several other girls, including three from the home of Thomas Putnam, Jr., were having similar behavior. The girls were pressured to explain what had caused their behavior and named three Village women as witches. One named was Tituba, the Reverend Parris' slave, who had charmed many local girls with fortune telling in the Reverend’s kitchen. Another of the women named as a witch was Sarah Good, an unpopular woman who had been heard a couple of times muttering threats against her neighbors. The woman named third was Sarah Osborne, who had allowed a man to live with her for some months before they were married. Warrants for the three women were issued on February 29. The next day Salem Town magistrates John Hathorne and Jonathan Corwin examined the women in the Village meeting house. Good and Osborne declared that they were innocent and knew nothing of witchcraft, …show more content…
No trials could legally take place because for the first three months of the witchcraft hysteria, Massachusetts was without a legally-established government. On May 14, 1692, Governor William Phips arrived with a new charter and soon created a special Court of Oyer (to hear) and Terminer (to determine). The chief justice for the Court of Oyer and Terminer was William Stoughton. The court's first hearing held on June 2, resulted in a death sentence for the accused witch Bridget Bishop. She was not the first accused to die, however; Sarah Osborne died of natural causes in a jail in Boston on May 10. On June 15 a group of ministers including Cotton Mather, wrote Governor Phips recommending that special caution be taken in the use of evidence in the trials, but the ministers said no more publicly in July, August, or September. The court next met on June 29 and heard the cases of five more accused women. When one of the jury’s tried to release a women, Stoughton sent the jury back to put more thought to it. When they returned they had changed their verdict to guilty, and the women were hanged on July 19. By this time the witchcraft hysteria had spread not only to Salem Town but also to Andover. The following months, August and September, brought more trials and hangings. The last eight accused witches were hanged on September 22, those were the final
Show More

Related Documents: Salem Witch Trials Research Paper

Salem Witch Trials Research Paper

In 1692, a small village in Massachusetts was trapped in a bubble of fear and paranoia, leading to one of the worst events in American history known as the Salem Witch Trials. This hysteria was caused by religious beliefs, social tensions, and revenge, resulting in the unfair accusations of innocent people. The Salem Witch Trials began when several young girls in the village started showing strange behavior, such as spasms and fits. Unable to explain these occurrences, the Puritan community became…

Words 361 - Pages 2

Salem Witch Trials Research Paper

I have decided to research the hoax of the Salem Witch trials. This was something that started in the spring of 1962. It was a hoax that began because of a group of girls who claimed that they were being possessed by the devil. This led the people of Salem to begin to believe in witches. After this, the people of Salem started slowly believing in witches. People became paranoid and there the Salem Witch Trials began. Young innocent people were being charged with witchcraft and killed. People attempted…

Words 365 - Pages 2

Salem Witch Trials Research Paper

being bewitched. A tale was created by the girls that spread from neighbor to neighbor, causing mass hysteria and chaos in the town of Salem. Later that year, over 150 men and women were imprisoned on the accusation of witchcraft. By the end of the trials, 19 people were unfairly hung and executed; it was the largest witch trial to occur in the U.S. The Salem Witch Trials were unfair executions of the innocent caused by hearsay and mass panic. Elizabeth Parris and Abigail Williams were born into wealthy…

Words 1520 - Pages 7

Salem Witch Trials Research Paper

took shape in the form of very strict ideals, including the belief that women should be submissive, uneducated, and silent. As rumors and accusations of nonconformity began, they gained yet another similarity with Europe- the witch hunt craze. In the 1690’s, the Salem witch trials sparked a wave of fear of witchcraft and nonconformity, which influenced stereotypical gender roles for future generations.…

Words 794 - Pages 4

Research Paper On The Salem Witch Trials

The Wicked Witches of Salem The Salem Witchcraft trials in Massachusetts during 1692 resulted in nineteen innocent deaths. Many men and women were hanged and one man was pressed to death. Although Salem was home to the witchcraft trials, the hysteria spread to many towns around Massachusetts. The witchcraft trials are responsible for hundreds of innocent deaths over time. It began at the end of 1691 when a few girls in the town of Salem were seen dancing in the woods. Dancing and partaking…

Words 1593 - Pages 7

Salem Witch Trials Research Paper

Witchcraft The Salem Witch Trials is a big historical event in the 17th century relating to Witchcraft. The Salem Witch Trials started in the spring of 1692. A hysteria had gone throughout Massachusetts about people being possessed by the devil. Over 150 men, women, and children were accused, September 1692. As many were puzzled on this topic, other people had come up with theories. Some believed smallpox epidemic caused Witchcraft and others believed it was caused by a fungus ergot showing symptoms…

Words 382 - Pages 2

Salem Witch Trials Research Paper

The Salem Witch trials continue to captivate many up to this day, though many centuries later. This panic throughout the town heightened accusations of witchcraft provoking massive destruction along with endless fear, doubt, and injustice. As a result, the blame is on children, men, and women. There were several created hysterias, like if family livestock perished out of coincidence, it was supposed a witch cursed their family. Ongoing beliefs like this erupted in madness within the village. Many…

Words 201 - Pages 1

Salem Witch Trials Research Paper

The events leading up to the Salem witch trials began with a merchant from Boston named Samuel Parris coming to Salem. He brought with him his wife, their children, a niece and two slaves. His daughter, niece, and their friend were named Betty, Abigail Williams, and Ann Putnam, respectively. The former two, Betty and Abigail, showed odd behavior in January 1692. They were throwing things, screaming, contorting their bodies, making strange sounds, and complained about pinching and biting feelings…

Words 552 - Pages 3

Salem Witch Trials Research Paper

The story of the Salem witch trials continues to fascinate people because it has the potential to teach us important lessons about fear and prejudice. The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft. In fact, a group of girls in Salem Village, Massachusetts, said they were possessed by the devil and accused many women of witchcraft. The reason they accused these women of witch craft was because they had something that the girls desired. In all honesty…

Words 251 - Pages 2

Salem Witch Trials Research Paper

Trials of Conspiracies Something that is so controversial and still stirs up paranoia is witch trials. Witch Trials have been around for centuries and follow the practice of magic and use of spells and spirits towards others. The Salem witch trials in specific were significant because the public had let this topic become out of control and so widely spoken of so soon. In Massachusetts 1692, three young girls had a strange feeling coming over them. They started feeling controlled and would convulse…

Words 3799 - Pages 16