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
Good topic choice and well done Henry! I would like to see some of your thoughts within the summary. Be sure to reply back on three different days.
I have heard of the Salem Witch Trials before but I haven't heard a lot of details. I do not believe in witches and witchcraft because to me, it's just unrealistic. I don't think something like this would happen again because society is more well informed.
I have not heard of the Salem Witch Trials. I do not believe in Witches and Witchcraft because there isn't a whole lot of proof saying that it's real and that it works. I don't think something like this could happen again in the United States because less and less people know how to do it as the years go bye.
I also think that there is no proof that witchcraft works. And trials about witchcraft would probably not go anywhere because most people do not believe in it.
I have never heard of the Salem Witch Trials. I think that it could be true I just never fully look at into the situations that might involve them. I don't really believe that this could happen in the United States, because I could actually see it happening in other countries just not ours.
Yes, I have heard of the Salem Witch Trials. I think that all the witches and witchcraft is fake. I think that it's just luck if the potions work. I don't think any of this would happen in the United States. If it does happen in the U.S. then it won't make it very far.
I agree with you that witchcraft does not work. I also think that these kind of trials would not go very far in today's society.
I have heard a lot about the Salem Witch Trials. I don't really believe in witchcraft but I think that they might have some unique abilities. I don't think that something like this could happen in the US because a lot of stuff has changed and many people's beliefs.
I have heard of the salem witch trials and have always been interesed in it. I don't think withces and "witchcraft" are neccisarilly real, but it's cool for movies. I don't think that anything like this would happen in the future.
I have heard about this, and in English class we are reading the Crucible, which is based off of these trails. I don't think that witchcraft exists, I think that there might be certain prejudces against other citizens that led them to be framed as a witch. I think that it could happen again, it might just be in a different form, like with the Communists during the Red Scare.
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