There were many critics of the witch hunt, such as a local farmer John Proctor, who scoffed at the idea of witchcraft in Salem and called the young girls scam artists. Critics such as Proctor were quickly accused of witchcraft themselves, under the assumption that anyone who denied the existence of witches or defended the accused must be one of them, and were brought to trial.
The trials were held in the Salem courthouse, which was located in the center of Washington Street about feet south of Lynde Street, opposite of where the Masonic Temple now stands. The courthouse was torn down in but a plaque dedicated to the courthouse can still be seen today on the wall of the Masonic Temple on Washington Street.
Bridget Bishop was the first person brought to trial. Bishop had been accused of witchcraft years before but was cleared of the crime. Bridget Bishop was convicted at the end of her trial and sentenced to death. Five more people were hanged in July, one of which was Rebecca Nurse. Although many of the other accused women were unpopular social outcasts, Nurse was a pious, well-respected and well-loved member of the community.
When Nurse was first arrested, many members of the community signed a petition asking for her release. Her initial verdict was, in fact, not guilty, but upon hearing the verdict the afflicted girls began to have fits in the courtroom. Judge Stoughton asked the jury to reconsider their verdict.
A week later, the jury changed their minds and declared Nurse guilty. On July 23, John Proctor wrote to the clergy in Boston. He knew the clergy did not fully approve of the witch hunts. Proctor told them about the torture inflicted on the accused and asked that the trials be moved to Boston where he felt he would get a fair trial.
The clergy later held a meeting, on August 1, to discuss the trials but were not able to help Proctor before his execution.
Another notable person who was accused of witchcraft was Captain John Alden Jr. Alden was accused of witchcraft by a child during a trip to Salem while he was on his way home to Boston from Canada.
Alden spent 15 weeks in jail before friends helped break him out and he escaped to New York. He was later exonerated. Yet another crucial moment during the Salem Witch Trials was the public torture and death of Giles Corey.
English law at the time dictated that anyone who refused to enter a plea could be tortured in an attempt to force a plea out of them. The torture consisted of laying the prisoner on the ground, naked, with a board placed on top of him. Heavy stones were loaded onto the board and the weight was gradually increased until the prison either entered a plea or died.
In mid-September, Corey was tortured this way for three days in a field near Howard Street until he finally died on September His death was gruesome and cruel and strengthened the growing opposition to the Salem Witch Trials. As the trials and executions continued, colonists began to doubt that so many people could actually be guilty of this crime.
They feared many innocent people were being executed. Local clergymen began speaking out against the witch hunt and tried to persuade officials to stop the trials. Around the end of September, the use of spectral evidence was finally declared inadmissible, thus marking the beginning of the end of the Salem Witch Trials.
On September 22, eight people were hanged. These were the last hangings of the Salem Witch Trials. The 52 remaining people in jail were tried in a new court, the Superior Court of Judicature, the following winter. Now that spectral evidence was not allowed, most of the remaining prisoners were found not guilty or released due to a lack of real evidence. Those who were found guilty were pardoned by Governor Phips. The governor released the last few prisoners the following May. The others were either found guilty but pardoned, found not guilty, were never indicted or simply evaded arrest or escaped from jail.
Refused to enter a plea and tortured to death: Giles Corey September 19th, Escaped from Prison: John Alden Jr. Edward Bishop Jr. Other victims include two dogs who were shot or killed after being suspected of witchcraft.
The fact is, no accused witches were burned at the stake in Salem, Massachusetts. Salem was ruled by English law at the time, which only allowed death by burning to be used against men who committed high treason and only after they had been hanged, quartered and drawn. As for why these victims were targeted in the first place, historians have noted that many of the accused were wealthy and held different religious beliefs than their accusers. This, coupled with the fact that the accused also had their estates confiscated if they were convicted has led many historians to believe that religious feuds and property disputes played a big part in the witch trials.
Daily chores, business matters and other activities were neglected during the chaos of the witch trials, causing many problems in the colony for years to come, according to the book The Witchcraft of Salem Village:. The people had been so determined upon hunting out and destroying witches that they had neglected everything else. Planting, cultivating, the care of houses, barns, roads, fences, were all forgotten.
As a direct result, food became scarce and taxes higher. Farms were mortgaged or sold, first to pay prison fees, then to pay taxes; frequently they were abandoned. Salem Village began that slow decay which eventually erased its houses and walls, but never its name and memory. As the years went by, the colonists felt ashamed and remorseful for what had happened during the Salem Witch Trials. Since the witch trials ended, the colony also began to suffer many misfortunes such as droughts, crop failures, smallpox outbreaks and Native-American attacks and many began to wonder if God was punishing them for their mistake.
On December 17, , Governor Stoughton issued a proclamation in hopes of making amends with God. The proclamation suggested that there should be:.
The day of prayer and fasting was held on January 15, , and was known as the Day of Official Humiliation. In , afflicted girl Ann Putnam, Jr.
Her apology states:. And particularly, as I was a chief instrument of accusing of Goodwife Nurse and her two sisters, I desire to lie in the dust, and to be humbled for it, in that I was a cause, with others, of so sad a calamity to them and their families; for which cause I desire to lie in the dust, and earnestly beg forgiveness of God, and from all those unto whom I have given just cause of sorrow and offence, whose relations were taken away or accused.
Since some families of the victims did not want their family member listed, not every victim was named. At the announcement ceremony, playwright Arthur Miller made a speech and read from the last act of his play, The Crucible, which was inspired by the Salem Witch Trials.
On October 31, , the state amended the apology and cleared the names of the remaining unnamed victims, stating:. Everything we know now about the trials comes from just a handful of primary sources of the Salem Witch Trials. In addition to official court records there are also several books written by the ministers and other people involved in the trials:.
Sources: Upham, Charles W. Wiggin and Lunt, Crewe, Sabrina and Michael V. The Salem Witch Trials. Morrisiana, Jackson, Shirley. The Witchcraft of Salem Village. Random House, Fowler, Samuel Page. Samuel Parris of Salem Village. William Ives and George W. This site helped a lot for me to understand the history of Salem.
The building was constructed in the mids and was originally used as a church. The iconic statue of Samantha was erected in Lappin Park in and has become one of Salem's most popular photo stops.
The house was built in by ship owner and merchant John Turner. In , it was named a National Historic Landmark District, but it will always be iconically known for being featured in Hawthorne's novel. It's also known as "the Haunted Room," and you can take a virtual tour here. But it's not just Room W17 that's eerie — at least three ghosts are said to roam the grounds of the hotel.
President Barack Obama signed legislation officially recognizing this in One accused person lived in Salisbury, one in Amesbury, six in Haverhill, and a whopping 45 in Andover, which is where some of the preliminary hearings were held.
Some scholars go as far as to claim that the trials were the moment when our early theocratic government crumbled, and the notion of separation of church and state was born. One: PTSD may have been a factor. These unfortunate girls had seen their families brutally murdered during the conflicts.
Two: Middle-aged women were at most risk for being accused of witchcraft. Other risk factors? While married women were the subject of accusations, their husbands often stepped in to offer protection — single women were particularly vulnerable. Class was also a factor. Lower-income women were more susceptible to prosecution.
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