The Story of the Salem Witch Trials

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The Story of the Salem Witch Trials

• By Tracy Tse 7C4 ID2

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Salem Witch Trials- What was it?

• In 1692, there was a lot of panic in a little
  town called Salem. Many people, at that time,
  were thought to be working for Satan, or the
  devil. These people were called witches. In that
  year, there was a large witch hunt. It led to the
  death of 24 people. Here was the Salem Witch
  Trials.

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Before the Beginning

• Back in Europe, in 1485, Pope Innocent VII
  announced to many European countries that
  witchcraft wasnt a myth. It was reality! This
  started a huge witch hunt in Europe. Many people
  assumed women were witches since they were weak
  and it was easier for Satan to possess the weak.
  England passed a law making witchcraft illegal
  and that all witches were to be killed.
  Massachusetts was an English colony so the law
  applied to them, too.
• There was a lot of controversy in Salem. The
  western part of Salem wanted to form their own
  community but the eastern side disapproved of
  that since many people in the eastern side had
  jobs involving sea trade. Some of the families in
  the western side formed a new church since that
  was a very important step to the establishment of
  a new town. The minister was Samuel Parris.
• There was a lot of fear for Indian attacks in
  Massachusetts. Many towns were being attacked by
  American Indians.

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The Beginning

• Samuel Parris had a daughter named Elizabeth
  (Betty) Parris and a niece named Abigail
  Williams. Since Parriss wife was often sick,
  Tituba, a Caribbean slave, took care of the two
  girls. The two girls had a boring life. They
  started playing a game where they poured an egg
  white into a cup of water. The egg white would
  take the shape of something that would determine
  their future husbands job. One day, the egg
  white took the shape of a coffin. After that, the
  girls started having fits. Dr. William Griggs,
  their doctor, said the two girls were bewitched.
  The two girls accused Tituba of bewitching them.

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The Beginning cont.

• Later, two other bewitched girls accused Sarah
  Good and Sarah Osborne of witchcraft. The three
  women were put on trial. Sarah Good and Sarah
  Osborne both denied they were witches. Tituba
  confessed however. She admitted that the devil
  came to speak to her and appeared to her as a
  hog, a dog, a black cat, or a rat. She even said
  that Good, Osborne, and her signed a book from
  the devil showing that they were now witches for
  Satan. This was the start of the Salem Witch
  Trials.

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Important People

• Deodat Lawson was a minister in Salem. He told
  many people in Salem Village that God allowed
  Satan to come into Salem to harm the girls. He
  told the people that God was punishing Salem for
  not following his rules and teachings. Later on,
  Samuel Parris spoke to the members of his church.
  He said anyone, even a person that is loyal to
  God and Jesus, can be a witch. Because of Lawson
  and Parris, people started to panic and get
  suspicious of others.
• Increase Mather and his son, Cotton, were
  ministers in Boston. The Salem witch trials
  caught their attention. They both believed that
  events in life could be influenced by witches and
  Satan. Cotton Mather believed that judges
  shouldnt rely on evidence about ghost claims. He
  believed that judges should search for physical
  marks which he called devils marks to prove
  someones a witch. Examples of devils marks
  are moles and warts. Judges started stripping
  accused witches publicly to look for devils
  marks.

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Trials of Importance

• After Titubas trial, a teenager named Abigail
  Hobbs confessed that she was a witch. Hobbs was
  one of the many accused witches that didnt come
  from Salem. Hobbs said she met Satan several
  times when she lived in Maine (Maine was part of
  Massachusetts back then). In Maine, there were
  many attacks to the settlers by the Wabanaki
  Indians. This led people to believe that the
  American Indians worked for Satan unless they
  converted to Christianity.
• The first witch trials started with Bridget
  Bishop. Many people claimed to have seen her as a
  ghost threatening them. Bishop denied that she
  was a witch. She was hanged on June 10, 1692.
• People started to question the witch trials when
  Rebecca Nurse, a 71-year old woman, and Dorcas
  Good, a 4-year old girl, was accused of
  witchcraft. Rebecca Nurse was one of the most
  unlikeliest person to be a witch. She was known
  to be a kind, loving, gentle, and loyal
  Christian. Nurses family formed a petition and
  collected signatures from the people who knew in
  their hearts that Rebecca Nurse was a good
  Christian. Nevertheless, Nurse was hanged in July
  19, 1692. Dorcas Good was Sarah Goods daughter.
  She wasnt hanged, but she was in the witch jail
  for a long time.

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Trials of Importance cont.

• George Burroughs was a minister and surprisingly,
  he was accused for being a witch. Many people
  defended him, but he was sentenced to death
  anyway. Before his hanging, Burroughs recited a
  Christian prayer. This surprised the people of
  Salem because they believed witches couldnt
  recite prayers correctly. They believed that
  witches recited their prayers backwards in their
  Sabbaths. People wondered if he was really a
  witch. Them Cotton Mather pointed out that the
  jury already found him guilty. Burroughs was
  hanged on August 19, 1692.
• Martha Corey and Giles Corey were both respected
  people of the Puritan church. They were known to
  be good Christians. It shocked a lot of people
  when they were put on trial. Martha Corey denied
  she was a witch. She was hanged on September 22,
  1692. Giles Corey refused to say anything in the
  trial. He was pressed to death. He laid flat on
  his back and officials placed a board on him.
  They piled stones on the board until Corey died
  from the immense weight. It was September 19,
  1692.

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The End of the Salem Witch Trials

• Lets give a warm welcome to Thomas Brattle. He
  was a Boston merchant and scientist. He
  disapproved of the Salem witch trials. One of the
  things he didnt find scientific about the
  trials was the touch test. The touch test was
  when a bewitched person touches an accused witch
  to see if the accused person was really a witch.
  People believed that if a bewitched person
  touched a witch, Satans power would come back to
  the witch. Thomas Brattle wrote his criticism
  about the trials in a public letter. Ministers
  started to go against the trials.
• Finally, Governor Phips of Massachusetts ended
  the trials. Massachusetts lawmakers then formed a
  new court to hear all the cases of all the
  accused witches that were still awaiting their
  fate. Almost all the accused witched had been
  released and freed since the court didnt rely on
  evidence based on ghost claims. Governor Phips
  apologized to all the accused witches.
• Even though it has been years since the Salem
  Witch Trials, and many people now know that
  witches are fictional, the story of the Salem
  Witch Trials still fascinate many people. I hope
  you found the story of the Salem Witch Trials
  interesting, too.

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THANK YOU FOR WATCHING!

• Here are my sources
• Research
• The Salem Witch Trials by Stuart A. Kallen
• The Salem Witch Trials by Michael Burgan
• FAQs About the Salem Witch Trials
  http//www.salemwitchmuseum.com/education/faq.shtm
  l
• The Salem Witch Trials of 1692 http//www.mayflowe
  rfamilies.com/enquirer/salem_witch_trials.htm
• The Salem Witch Trials,1692 http//www.eyewitnesst
  ohistory.com/salem.htm
• The Salem Witch Trials http//kids.nationalgeograp
  hic.com/kids/stories/history/salem-witch-trials/
• Pictures
• http//www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/images/salem1.j
  pg
• http//russeyfamily.com/noose.jpg
• http//www.lookingglassreview.com/assets/images/Th
  e_Salem_Witch_Trials.jpg
• http//library.thinkquest.org/J0110384/pictures/wi
  tchpicture01.gif
• http//salem.lib.virginia.edu/images/Parris.jpg
• http//www.talesoferotichorror.com/tituba.jpg
• http//www.hauntedamericatours.com/ghoststories/Ga
  llowsHillGhosts/images/tituba-the-witch.jpg
• http//www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/s
  alem/jacobstrials.jpg
• https//trcs11grade.wikispaces.com/file/view/Salem
  1.jpg/31175401/Salem1.jpg
• http//www.salemweb.com/guide/images/wtrial2a.jpg