Salem Witch Trials
The Salem witch trials. The very words conjure up images of innocent people being cruelly tried and convicted on flimsy evidence. Even today, the term "witch hunt" means some form of investigation where the only purpose is to dig up dirt, to frame somebody else.
Indeed, this isn't one of the proudest moments in the history of the American colonies. But what is the story of the trials? What led up to them? And what ended up coming of it?
A fresh start
At the turn of the 17th century, France and England started establishing colonies in North America. To the north, the French established New France, the eastern part of what is now Canada, to support their trade in furs. Much further south, English colonists founded Jamestown in Virginia. The chief goal of these colonists was to hunt for gold. Having found none, the colony struggled until tobacco entered the scene.
And then, in the middle, was Plymouth colony in the Massachusetts bay colony.
Map of the Massachusetts Bay colony
The goal of these settlers was very different than the others in many ways. These people wanted to create a purely religious community, as they understood it, free from their persecution in England. A subgroup of these, the Puritans, saw their colony as a "light on the hill;" they wanted to set the example to England of what an upright and good society should be.
These Pilgrims & Puritans have a well-deserved reputation for being very strict and harsh. But in their defense, consider that they sought a purely righteous community. And, for many of the day, the pious life was a strict, sober life. Smiling, laughing, dancing, etc. was spiritual backsliding.
This religious philosophy made its way into the 20th century. Consider the case of the movie The Ten Commandments starring Charlton Heston. Before being called to be a prophet, Moses was portrayed as being human – even flirting a little with his wife. Afterward, he is serious, looking like a moving statue.
Remembering this explains many things about life in the Massachusetts bay colony.
Ghostbusters
In today's culture, we have bad witches (the ugly ones) and good witches (the beautiful ones). But in the middle-ages, a witch, male or female, was believed to be someone dealing with supernatural powers a' la the Devil. In truth, some accused of being witches were people that used plants and herbs to heal others that ran afoul of the authorities. Others may simply be different in a way that aroused suspicions in the town.
Regardless of guilt, beginning in the 1300s, there arose increased efforts to purge witches from Europe. It was not unheard of to have mass burnings, where hundreds of accused witches were burned at a single time.
Protestants being burned at the stake. Often witches were likewise executed.
All this was part of the culture brought to the new world by the European colonists. To those of the Massachusetts Bay colony, being rid of witches would have been of extra importance.
Which witch is which?
This brings us to the town of Salem, Massachusetts – June 1692.
Three girls – Elizabeth Parris (age 9), Abigail Williams (age 11), and Ann Putnam (age 12) – started having fits, complaining of biting and pinching sensations and having contortions. Modern scholars disagree on the cause of these symptoms. Back in the day, however, these were taken to be caused by the Devil's influence.
During an investigation, the girls fingered three women as witches; Sarah Good, Sarah Osborn, and Tituba. The first two maintained their innocence. Tituba ended up confessing.
But, this was only the beginning.
During questioning, the investigators came to believe that there could be more witches. More people stood accused of being witches. The girls kept having fits. More people ended up convicted of being a witch.
Over the next 11 months, 200 people were convicted of being witches. Twenty were executed, all but one by hanging. The rest went to jail.
Closing the chapter
As this witch-dragnet spiraled out of control, people began to question the whole affair. The first three lived lives that weren't wholly squeaky-clean by community standards — plausible candidates to be a witch. But as things continued, more upstanding citizens, people who did not seem to fit the type, were being accused. How could it be?
And then there were the large numbers of the convicted – 200 people. Back home, in a large European city, one could condemn hundreds of people at a time without the public eye-brow being hardly raised. But in so small a community?
Finally, the wife of governor Phillips was accused of witchcraft.
The governor put the brakes on the whole matter.
He ordered the special courts, set up to investigate witchcraft cases, dissolved, and established a new superior court.
All convictions must be based on the evidence. "Spectral evidence" (dreams, girls having fits, etc.) could not be used in court.
Eventually, all those sent to prison were released.
After things calmed down, and people had time to take stock of what had happened, there were further steps to set things right.
Four years later, a court ordered a day of fasting and soul-searching over this tragedy.
In 1702, a court concluded that the trials were unlawful.
In 1711, the colonial government passed a bill restoring the rights and good names of the accused and awarding them 600 pounds in damages.
The Salem witch trials, like many stories in human history, is a mixture of tragedy and triumph. Tragedy, for those innocents who suffered punishment. Triumph, for the wake-up call it served to the colony. The colony saw that the courts needed to be improved. Perhaps it is no consequence then that about a century later their decedents, including men like John Adams, helped set up the American legal system we enjoy today.
So, perhaps, those that died in 1692-3 did not die in vain.
Great Books
Ruth of Boston
This early reader does an outstanding job of portraying life in the early days of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The main character, Ruth, comes to the colony in 1630 at the age of 12. It is not only very informative – I learned some new things as well – but also a very good read – it is a bit difficult to put down.
Here are some resources for this book:
On the web
European Witch Trials and Forgotten History
Video where the “history guy” explains the history of witch trials, especially in England.
Video explaining seven facts about the Salem trials.
Another video that highlights the events around these infamous trials.
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