In early 1692 there was a 9-year-old girl named Elizabeth Paris who began having fits, violent spasms, and screaming outbursts. She was the daughter of the minister of Salem Village of the colony of Massachusetts. Soon after that, several more girls started having the same symptoms. A doctor diagnosed them as having been bewitched. The girls accused three women in the community of bewitching them. One woman confessed, to save her life, and the other two denied being witches. Bridget Bishop was the first to be found guilty and was hanged on Gallows Hill in Salem Town.
Many communities in the 1960s believed that the devil could come into your heart and try to lure you away from God. The leaders in these communities thought they had to intervene and stop it from happening. After the first hanging, people became crazy, and somewhere between 150 and 200 people were accused of witchcraft. The Governor of Massachusetts appointed a special court to hear all the cases of witchcraft. Spectral evidence was allowed, which is evidence based on dreams and visions. Nineteen people total were hung for being found guilty of witchcraft, fourteen women and five men. Seven more died in jail due to poor conditions.
By May of 1693, the Governor put a stop to the special court and witch the trials after his wife was accused of witchcraft. He forgave all the accused people at the end of 1693. In January 1697 the Massachusetts General Court decided that the witch trials were unlawful and apologized for what happened. In 1711 the accused were restored their rights. In 1957 the state of Massachusetts formally apologized for what happened.
Sources:
https://www.history.com/topics/colonial-america/salem-witch-trials
https://www.britannica.com/event/Salem-witch-trials
Questions:
Have you ever heard of the Salem Witch Trials?
Do you believe in Witches and Witchcraft?
Do you ever think something like this could happen again in the United States?
Replies
I also do not think there are witches and witchcraft. I would hope this would not happen again, but people do get scared over stupid things.
I have heard of the Salem witch trials, we are currently reading The Crucible in english and it is all about the Salem Witch Trials. Witches and Witchcraft I do not believe are no real. Something like this could definetly happen in the United States again because we are fearful.
I have heard of the Salem Witch trials. They sound a little unreal but thats just mu opinion. I feel like people during that time period thought that witches were real, but werent actually. People were dumb back then. I dont beileve in witch craft or witches. If witches and stuff like that were real then yes, it would probally happen here in the United States.
I do not believe in witches either. I hope something like this would not happen again, but people to get weird and start getting scared about dumb things.
I have heard of the Salem Witch Trials but I don't know much about them. I do not believe in Witches and Witchcraft because I feel that that was just made up and an exsuce. No I don't think that this could ever or will ever happen agian.
I agree with you that this whole thing was made up and there is no excuse for this happening. I certainly hope this would never happen again.
I have heard of the Salem Witch Trials before and it is what we're talking about in English now, so I've been learning more about it. I don't think witches or witchcrsaft exists. I think it was something someone made up out of their fears of what happens in the world.
I agree with you that witches and witchcraft are not real. I do not think that these kind of trials would ever happen again in the United States.
I have heard and learned about it in seventh grade. No why would i and the people that belived it had to be getting revenge on someone that they didnt like. I think it could happen with a new trend or somthing in that order. It could happen in a long time
I have not heard of the Salem Witch Trials, I don't believe in witches and witchcraft as I don't think there is a lot of info that actually supports it. I think that it definitely could happen again but I don't think it would happen anytime soon, I think it would be a long time from now.
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