The Witch Hysteria Begins

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Reverend became the fourth After warrants had been issued for the ac- minister at Salem Village in November, 1689. cused, Salem Magistrates and For about two years, little of real importance came to the Village on March' transpired in the Village except for the occa- 1. 1692,to conduct a preliminary hearing at the sional controversies which erupted within the meeting house. Both sickly, ill-reputed Sarah Church. In the bleak midwinter of 1691. how- Osborne and ill-tempered, slovenly Sarah ever, problems of immense proportions began Good steadfastly maintained that they had not to germinate within the minister's own house. tormented the girls and were innocent of any:

Betty Parris and , the minis- wrongdoing. However, the third defendant, , ter's nine-year-old daughter and eleven-year- , blurted out an amazing confessionof . old niece, began exhibiting wild and unusual havingbeen forcedto serve the Deviland hurt i behavior. Shouting suddenly, going into the children, to riding a stick, and having ani- : apparent trances, attempting to run into the mal familiars. She further confessed that Good i fireplace, and having terrible fits and convul- and Osborne, as well as other unnamed per- i sions, the girls quickly aroused the concern of sons, were indeed witches. the Parrises and their neighbors. After a few more days ,of examination, the : As days passed, instead of improving, the three were thrown into the Boston jail to await : girls' symptoms began to spread among other trial.The examinationsof the three, instead of ' girls living in the Village, to the concern of the cooling the villagerS' anxiety, only served to en- adult population. The fits were not playful an- flame it. A confessed witch, two accomplices, tics of the girls, but, to those who witnessed and others as yet unnamed had been in league. them, obviously real and frightening. Village with the Devil. The girls also were none the i Doctor had no explanation for better for the discovery of these three witches. i the grievous illness, except to conclude that the Their fits worsened, and soon they were joined i evil hand was upon the children. Fasts, and in their torments by other "afflicted women." ! prayer sessions were conducted by Parris and The girls now began to cry out against others, I neighboring ministers, while some meddling, but not just those of questionable reputation. I though sympathetic, neighbors tried to find out On March 19, , a church member who had afflicted the girls by making "witch in good standing, though one whose cocky at- I, cakes" from the children's urine (see Exhibit2). titude did not endear her to all, was accused. ; Just what did afflict the girls, and how did it Talk had circulated that Corey was not con- start? Scores of writers have given their opin- vinced of the reality of witchcraft and that she; \ ions in answer to these questions, and although had referred to the bewitched girls as "dis- ! traditions have been passed down to us, the traded children." Asserting, "1 will open the i original records, unfortunately, are silent. Ap- eyes of the magistrates and ministers," Corey \ parently Tituba, Rev. Parris's slave, had been went to her hearing at the meeting house con- I telling the girls in the Parris household and, fidently. Stating her innocence in reply to the i later, other adolescent neighbors, stories of for- accusation of bewitching the children, Corey ,--,' tune telling, witchcraft, and other fascinating exclaimed, "1 am a gospel woman," where- \ but forbidden subjects. These impressionable upon one of the children suddenly screamed, I young people, though probably enjoying the "She's a gospel witch!" Then all the "afflicted I forbidden nature of these stories, began harbor- girls" began screaming and falling into fits, dis- ! ing strong guilt feelings that eventually led to ruptingthe entireproceedings.WhenCoreybit j what some modem scholars caU"mass clinical her lip in anxiety.the girls bit theirs until they! hysteria" in which, although they are not phys- bled, saying that Corey made them do it. ' ically sick in the normal sense, the patients dis- Throughout the rest of the examination, similar I play unusual physical symptoms and see im- outbursts occurred, and Corey, though pro- . aginary visions. claiming her innocence throughout, was bewil- After much suffering and upon the continu- dered at the ordeal. She said as she left the ous insistence of their elders. the "afflicted hearing for jail, "You can't prove me a witch," girls" named three women whose specters, in- but the tragedy was that she could not prove to visible to all but the girls, were supposedly the examiners' satisfaction that she was not. tormenting them. The accused tormenters were Soon joining Corey and the others in jail good choices, for they were not outstanding, were Dorcas Good, the five-year-old daughter virtuous members of the community, but just of "Witch" Good, and , the ma- the sort of people who might be in league with triarch of a large and prosperous Salem Village the Devil. family. The hysteria was gaining momentum, putting fear into the hearts of all the Village inhabitants. During April and May, scores of others were accused and thrown into jail. The hysteria spread fast and far, affecting persons throughout all ,of Essex County and much of Eastern Massachusetts. Some ofthe-'a.ccused, such as , Jr. of Boston and Philip English of Salem, were well-respected, influential, and wealthy men; others, such as of Salem Village and Wilmot Reed of Marblehead, had been suspected of practicing witchcraft for many years before 1692. Still others, like the Proctor and Jacobs families, were accused largely through the testimonies of afflicted maidser- vants living in their houses. '.._' The town of Andover, about ten miles from Girlsof the Parrishouseholdbeganfalling illto Salem, suffered almost as dreadfully as Salem strange fits. Reverend Parris and lIeigllburillg Village in the hysteria. In the spring of 1692, ministers sought Divine direction by fasting citizens invited and , and praying with the girls. two of the most persistent and believable girls, to come to Andover to see if witches were pre- Courtesy of Breha:lt Witchcraft sent. The girls "discovered" over forty witches Collection, Danvers Archival Center, Danvers,Massachusetts there, sending the town into the' worst"crisis of its existence. Although some of the more influential of the accused were able to make good their escapes from jail to New York and other safe areas, by May 1692, the jails were filled with over one hundred and fifty accused witches who had been served with warrants and were examined by magistrates at preliminary hearings. Besides the terrifying visible afflictions of the possessed girls, the hysteria was kept at a peak for many months by the confessions of at least forty of the accused witches. The confession of Tituba seemed sincere and truthful to many ob- Servers, and according to R\.'\'~r~ndJohn B.1!\.' of Beverly, the fact that there were such belit:!\'- able confessions led the proce~dings forward. To a Puritan, lying was a grievous sin, and anyone making' a false confession to ~ing .1 witch would not necessarily escape the hangman's noose, but merely postpone the event. What the magistrates did not take into consideration was that under physical, psychological, and familial pressures, some of the accused found relief in confessing, while other accused persons thought th.1t if the afflicted were tormented by their specters, then they must be witches, even though they were not readily conscious of it. Still others, such as Abigail Hobbs of Topsfield, were mentally unfit individuals who readily confessed to being witches and accused still others. Thus the sway of hysteria spread and grew, and something had to be done with the large number of per- sons languishing in the overcrowded jails. UNITED STATES mSTORY The Witch Hysteria Begins Questions Mr. Scott

Directions: After reading The Witch Hysteria Begins handout, complete the following.

Identify with a short phrase:

Reverend SamualParris-

Betty Parris-

AbigailWilliams-

WilliamGriggs-

Tituba-

Martha Corey-

Who were the "aftlicted girls?"

Why were and easy targets and believed to be witches?

What kind of evidence was used to convict people of being witches?

Why would people confess to being a witch?