The Salem Witch Trials

The Salem Witch Trials In the years 1692 and 1693 many people were being convicted of Witchcraft. The Salem Witch Trials were a series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft. All these convictions happened in colonial Massachusetts; more specifically Salem. The only people who were being convicted were women; with an exception of one man. Some of the people who were convicted and killed were actual witches practicing the art of Witchcraft, but not all were witches. The Salem Witch Trials were totally blown out of proportion by convicting innocent women, sick and ridiculous punishments, and an unstable court system.
In Salem, Massachusetts, during the late 1690’s, everyone was very religious. The Pilgrims left Europe to come and seek religious freedom. Many came to Salem. Church was the cornerstone of 17th century life in New England. Most people in Massachusetts were Puritans—colonists who had left England seeking religious tolerance1. Everyone was faced with the struggle between the powers of good and evil, but Satan would select the weakest individuals—women, children, the insane—to carry out his work 1. There are many stories of families that were affected by these witch trials. Samuel Parris was a Puritan Minister in Salem, Massachusetts. One day his daughters were practicing the art of witchcraft. They would mix water and egg whites to determine the desires of their future husbands. The daughters were taught witchcraft by The Parris’ family slave, Tituba. Tituba was asked questions and said that the Devil told her to “hurt the children and last night there was an appearance that said Kill the children and if I would not go on hurting the children they would do worse to me”[2] . So many people were actually being contacted by the devil and demons. Tituba said that she saw ladies with monsters and they were hurting children [3.] The court systems in Salem, Massachusetts were very different than now. There was no hard evidence as to how they could be witches. The court was running on the opinions of young women who were pointing a finger at anyone to claim witchery. There was also no requirement for a defendant to obtain a lawyer [4]. No one believed them. The main reason why was because they were mostly women. At this time in history women didn’t have rights. Almost 300 people were accused of witchcraft during the late 1690’s. In Salem 19 women were hung. There were many ways to prove if a “witch” was truly a witch. One of the ways was called the “Witch’s Teat”. Any kind of mole or unusual skin blemishes, which all witches are characterized to have was pricked with a needle, and if the recipient didn’t bleed or feel it, then surely they were a witch. This however wasn’t a reliable way. Many people have skin blemished and moles. There were many cases of women there was a famous one about Goody Osborne and Sarah Good. In an examination, Tituba said “goode Osburn and Sarah good and I doe not know who the other were Sarah good and Osburne would have me hurt the children but I would not shee furder saith there was a tale man of Boston that shee