Salem Witch Trials

Home , Dorothy Good, Rachel Clinton, Sarah Bibber, Sarah Wildes, Thomas Maule (Quaker)

Series of hearings before local magistrates prosecuting alleged witches February 1692 - May 1693 • 150 arrested and imprisoned • 29 convicted of witchcraft felony • 19 hanged (14 women and five men) • One man crushed to death • Five died in prison

Who were the Puritans exactly?

What caused the people of Salem to believe in witches?

What caused these events to transpire?

What is a witch?

How have these events affected American society?

Sect of Church of England that disagreed with practices: Book of Common Prayer, idolatry and ceremonial rituals

Theocracy – civil and ecclesiastical rule

Crucible

Manifest Destiny and Divine Providence

TULIP Total Depravity Unconditional Election Limited Atonement Irresistible Grace Perseverance of Saints

“City upon a Hill”

Constant threat of evil

Massachusetts – to be an example to the rest of the world and escape persecution in England

Women – subservient to men and naturally evil

No privacy – moral police and fines

Valued literacy and reading the Bible for direct interaction with God

Good Manners for Colonial Children (1772)

“Make a bow always when you come home, and be immediately uncovered. Never sit in the presence of thy parents without bidding, tho’ no stranger be present. If thou passest by thy parents, and any place where thou seest them, when either by themselves or with company, bow towards them. Dispute not, nor delay to obey thy parents commands. Quarrel not nor contend with thy brethren or sisters, but live in love, peace, and unity.”

“Bear with meekness and patience, and without murmuring or sullenness, parents reproofs or corrections: Nay, tho’ it should so happen that thy be causeless or undeserved.

If thy superior speak any thing wherein thou knowest he is mistaken, correct not nor contradict him, nor grin at the hearing of it; but pass over the error without notice or interruption.

Mention not frivolous or little things among grave persons or superiors.

Laugh not in, or at thine own story, wit or jest.

Let thy words be modest about those things which only concern thee.”

Children were miniature adults and not allowed to play games or with toys

Social order – men, women, single women, children

French and English tensions

King William’s War 13 years after devastating King Phillip’s war Wampanog tribe Constant Native American fights on fringes of frontier Associated with the Devil

Harsh living conditions and death

Fears of capture – Mary Jemison

“The party that took us consisted of six Indians and four Frenchmen, who immediately commenced to plundering…My suspicions as to the fate of my parents proved too true; for soon after I left them they were killed and scalped, together with Robert, Matthew, Betsey, and the woman and her two children, and mangled in the most shocking manner… In the course of the night they made me to understand that they should not have killed the family if the whites had not pursued them…” A Narrative of the Life of Mrs. Mary Jemison

Salem Village vs. Salem Town

Parish pastors: Burroughs vs. Parris

Parsonage compensations

Land disputes Putnam and Corey

Movement away from traditional Puritan practices

Invisible world coexists with real world

Devils and Angels compete

Must be on guard at all times

Most at risk were young, single women as they might become “married” to the Devil

Need to interpret signs to determine if in Devil’s grasp

“A witch is a magician, who either by open or secret league, wittingly and willingly contenteth to use the aid and assistance of the devil, in the working of wonders…the woman being the weaker sex, is sooner entangled by the devil’s illusions with this damnable art, than the man…The more women, the more witches. His first temptation in the beginning, was with Eve a woman, and since he pursueth his practice accordingly, as making most for his advantage.”

William Perkins A Discourse on the Damned Art of Witchcraft, So Far Forth as It is Revealed in the Scriptures and Manifest by True Experience (1608)

“Secondly, to take away all exception of punishment from any party that shall practice this trade, and to show that weakness cannot exempt the witch from death…But the Lord saith, if any person of either sex among his people, be found to have entered covenant with Satan, and become a practiser of sorcery, though it be a woman and a weaker vessel, she shall not escape, she shall not be suffered to live, she must die the death.”

William Perkins A Discourse on the Damned Art of Witchcraft, So Far Forth as It is Revealed in the Scriptures and Manifest by True Experience (1608)

Rule 1:

“The free and voluntary confession of the crime, made by the party suspected and accused after examination… For what needs more witness, or further enquiry, when a man from the touch of his own conscience acknowledgeth the fault.”

Rule 2:

“…the testimony of two witnesses, of good and honest report, avouching before the magistrate upon their knowledge, these two things: Either that the party accused, hath made a league with the devil; or hath done some known practices of witchcraft.”

Upon what is conviction based?

What are positive and negative aspects of this approach?

What does this reveal about Puritan beliefs and biases?

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Europe had many witch hunts during the 16th century, killing thousands, predominantly women Germany was the leader

Practice became more obsolete during the 17th century, so Salem was rare

Salem was on a much smaller scale than the rest of Europe

Reverend Parris’s daughter and niece, Betty Parris (9) and Abigail Williams (11), afflicted “beyond the power of Epileptic fits natural disease to effect” (John Hale): Threw things Uttered strange sounds Screamed Crawled under furniture Contorted their bodies Complained of being pricked by pins No medical explanation Began to afflict other young girls in Salem

Samuel Parris Reverend of Salem Village Attended seminary at Harvard Sugar plantation in Barbados Moved to Salem Village with slaves and became minister Friction: seen as greedy and egotistical; demanded title to parsonage in addition to salary

Tituba Samuel Parris’s Barbados slave Caretaker for girls and maid for the house Knowledge of voodoo John Hale Minister and prosecutor for the courts until wife accused Later critical of courts and wrote A Modest Enquiry into the Nature of Witchcraft

The afflicted girls Elizabeth Parris Abigail Williams Ann Putnam, Jr. Mary Walcott Elizabeth Hubbard Sarah Bibber Elizabeth Booth Sarah Churchill Mercy Lewis Susannah Shelden Mary Warren

Tituba – performed a voodoo ritual with the girls

Sarah Good – poor beggar who always asked for food and shelter

Sarah Osborne – slept with her indentured servant and rarely attended church

In March 1693 the following were accused: Martha Corey – covenanted church member Rebecca Nurse – covenanted church member Dorothy Good – daughter of Sarah, 4 years old Rachel Clinton – not performing wifely duties to husband

What is the change in the pattern of those accused? How would the town react?

Realize anyone in church could be a witch

Causes people to be more critical and watchful

Possible reasons Putnam family had much property to gain if the Nurses and Coreys lost their land due to witchcraft accusations Personal vendettas

After April, numerous people were accused: Elizabeth Proctor, Sarah Cloyce, Giles Corey, Abigail, Deliverance, William Hobbs, Mary Warren, Bridget Bishop, Sarah Wildes, Mary Eastey, etc.

John Proctor and a few others object to proceedings and are arrested for witchcraft

Those accused indict others to save themselves from death

First wave of warrants to testify total 36

A few women stave off death due to pregnancy

Magistrates come from local counties, including: Deputy Governor Thomas Danforth, Samuel Sewall, Samuel Appleton, James Russell, Isaac Addington

Trials start on June 2, 1692 and end March 1693 Brief recess from October to January

Moves to Superior Court All five tried found not guilty but not released until they paid their jail fees

Hangings a form of entertainment

Confessions Testimony by witnesses Poppets Palmistry and Horoscope books Pots of ointments in homes of accused “Witch’s teats” on accused – mole or blemish insensitive to touch, but usually by designs of the court Cries caused by a dog eating a “witch’s cake” Witch’s familiar The touch test

80 years old

peine forte et dure – practice not used by British for years

Died two days after pressing without entering plea

Refusal to plead a way to prevent estate being confiscated by crown and a protest against the trials

Excommunication Formal expulsion for the Church and refusal to enter Heaven in the afterlife Hanging Public and a form of entertainment Not all died instantly when they were hanged, and so had to suffocate to death Visual reminder not to perform evil actions Jail and seizure of property Even if not guilty, giving any plea would give grounds for the Crown to seize property that might not be given back later

On June 15, 1692, 12 ministers petition the governor to not rely on spectral evidence Thomas Brattle, businessman and Harvard grad: “They are deluded, imposed upon, and under the influence of some evil spirit; and therefore unfit to be evidences either against themselves, or any one else” More and more unrest develops as trials proceed

Governor William Phips dismantles the court when the general public turns against the trials, and there is social turmoil.

He might have dismissed it sooner if he had more closely taken part in the proceedings instead of leaving his zealous Deputy Governor William Stoughton in charge of overseeing it.

Thomas Maule: “It were better that one hundred Witches should live, than that one person be put to death for a witch, which is not a Witch” (1695, – jailed for remark) Fast Day, January 14, 1697: Sewall and Fiske publicly apologize and ask for forgiveness for their actions in the trial

John Hale admits: “Such was the darkness of that day, the tortures and lamentations of the afflicted, and the power of former precedents: that we walked in the clouds, and could not see our way.” May 1709 – 22 families finally get reversal of the attainder and compensation for financial losses (578 pounds and 12 shillings to be split amongst the families)

Most excommunications reversed by 1712, including Rebecca Nurse and Giles Corey Not until 1957 were the rest of those wrongfully tried and convicted formally cleared of any charges 1992 marked the 300th anniversary of the trials: a monument with a bench for each person executed now commemorates the victims in Salem Memorial Park

Hysteria caused from Native American fears Constant feeling of impending doom Fear that the Devil’s men were lurking in the forests Xenophobia: racism toward Spanish Indians and Native Americans Spread of smallpox and other diseases Leads to a psychological break and lash out with witchcraft accusations

Ergot Poisoning (LSD) Fungus Claviceps purpurea affects grains, such as rye, making them turn a purplish-black that is confused for large grains Eating contaminated food can result in: Violent muscle spasms Vomiting Delusions Hallucinations Crawling sensations on the skin

Teenage boredom No outlet for pleasure Treatment of teenage girls as property and inferior status Strict and humorless life Ability to gain power and prestige

Jealousy Property feuds Congregation fights Family grudges Personal connection between the accuser and the accused A way to get desires fulfilled and rid the community of those considered unworthy or immoral to create a “city upon a hill”

19th Century Art

Literature During the Romantic era in American literature, many authors tried to grapple with this dark part of the country’s past, notably Nathaniel Hawthorne, the grandson of one of the judges The Crucible: Arthur Miller commenting on similarity between the House Committee on Un- American Activities during the McCarthy trials in the 1950s Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire ©2010 TeachersBrunch.com Salem’s Legacy, continued

Film and television The Simpsons or Histeria! Led to a fascination with witches, such as with shows and films like Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Charmed, and Hocus Pocus

What do the trials reveal about human nature?

Is it possible for a society to not repress any of its citizens?

To what extent can there be a balance between personal freedoms and social order?

What are the implications of the Salem Witch Trials in our lives today?