The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts between February 1692 and May 1693. The trials resulted in the executions of twenty people, fourteen of whom were women. It is one of the most well-known cases of mass hysteria in American history. The trials began when a group of young girls in the town of Salem Village started experiencing strange symptoms such as fits, convulsions, and uncontrollable screaming. They accused several women in the community of bewitching them, sparking a wave of fear and panic. The accused witches were arrested, interrogated, and brought to trial.

The Salem Witch Trials: A Story of Patriarchy, Persecution and Misogyny

The Salem Witch Trials of 1692 tell us so much about how women have been targeted throughout history.

It’s hard to imagine that the sleepy, bucolic New England town of Salem, Massachusetts, was once known for atrocity, paranoia, and murder. Driving along its winding roads, the proclaimed Witch City has no shortage of shops offering spell castings and divination, potions, herbs, and pendulums. A Bewitched statue commemorates the filming of the iconic 1960s show; the official Salem Witch Museum features mannequin reenactments; and the Salem police logo even features a witch riding a broomstick. At All Hallows Eve, you can see eager tourists dressed in pointy black hats, and scores of Sanderson Sisters look-alikes.

These joyful scenes are a far cry from 1692, when mass hysteria and collective paranoia led to the wrongful imprisonment of more than 150 innocent Salem residents, including a four-year-old child, and the execution of 19 victims — most of whom were women. Their crime was witchcraft.

So what happened? How did we get from there to here? It turns out the Salem Witch Trials were just one small example of a phenomenon that spanned continents and centuries: targeting women as a corrupting force and persecuting them for perceived societal ills.

“From a sociocultural perspective,” says journalist Heather Greene, author of Lights, Camera, Witchcraft, “accusations of witchcraft are a weapon thrown at women.”

“It’s not only a derogatory label that’s associated with women, it’s also a term that’s been used to define the ‘evil aspects’ of femininity. And that comes from Malleus Maleficarum [a 15th-century handbook written by Johann Sprenger and Heinrich Kraemer] — on how to figure out if someone was a witch, how to find them, out them, and how to kill them,” Greene explains.

In 1630, the Massachusetts Bay Colony was an early English settlement consisting mostly of Puritan refugees. Salem was slated to be its “shining city, a beacon on the hill,” says Emerson W. Baker, a professor of history at Salem State University and author of A Storm of Witchcraft: The Salem Trials and the American Experience. It was meant to be a Christian utopia, one that the rest of the world would look upon as an example of harmony and peace.

But even the Pilgrims found the Puritans too strict in their ways. “Puritans were seeking their own version of religious freedom. They were a pretty intolerant lot — freedom for themselves to practice and worship God as they saw fit. It was really a religious colony, a religious experiment,” Baker says. And they had been fighting for their way of life for years before coming to America.

Maureen MacLeod, an assistant professor of history at Mercy College, agrees: “[The Puritans were] pushed from England, Holland, then they’re pushed again from England, and then they go to Massachusetts,” she says. “There’s a lot of mental anguish that comes with being pushed from multiple countries for your beliefs. It’s really fascinating — they’re coming for this religious freedom, but the Puritans are religiously intolerant.”

It came down to control: In the wake of their own persecution, this God-fearing, patriarchal society was determined to preserve its way of life and belief system at any cost.

In 1689, a new reverend named Samuel Parris came to town and became Salem Village’s first ordained minister. According to Smithsonian magazine, he wasn’t well liked due to his “rigid ways and greedy nature,” and quarreling began among the villagers. Mysteriously, in 1692, the reverend’s 9-year-old daughter, Elizabeth (aka Betty), and 11-year-old niece, Abigail, began having fits. These included “violent contortions and uncontrollable outbursts of screaming.” A local doctor diagnosed them with “bewitchment,” and soon after other young girls in the village began exhibiting similar behaviors. When questioned, the girls accused three women for causing their afflictions: Sarah Good (a middle-aged beggar woman), Tituba (an Indigenous Caribbean woman who was a slave in the Parris household), and Sarah Osborne (a widowed elderly woman).

Under pressure for her life and likely beaten into submission by Parris, Tituba ultimately “confessed” to the crime. “The Devil came to me and bid me serve him,” she allegedly said. She described the Devil appearing as a “hog and sometimes like a great dog”; a “thing with a head like a woman with two legs and wings”; a hairy creature; a red rat and black rat; and a tall man in black clothes with white hair. She also confessed to riding on sticks with the children. In spring 1692, all three women were imprisoned on suspicion of witchcraft and “afflicting” the young girls; over the next year, more than 150 people would be imprisoned for witchcraft.

The “witch craze” of those days has little to do with modern witchcraft or paganism. For starters, contemporary iterations do not typically involve a devil figure in the Christian sense. “Even though the idea of [the Devil] isn’t in paganism, we have to think of evolutionary ideas of religion,” MacLeod says. “Catholicism definitely [has] this idea of a polar opposite of good and evil. In Protestantism, the whole idea is to make sure you get into heaven: If it is deemed not ‘good,’ then you’re being pulled into the negative direction with the Devil. And it’s a scare tactic. It evolved within Christianity, within Catholicism early on," she adds.

In the 17th century, it was believed the Devil could give witches — read: women — supernatural or spiritual powers in exchange for their service and loyalty. In essence, this was a genuinely dangerous moral panic that mixed class, religion, gender, and fantastical imaginings.

“In the witch-hunting era, blaming the Devil for death, disease, disaster, or misfortune was an easy sell," explains writer and educator Kristen J. Solleé, author of Witch Hunt. "Any belief, practice, or behavior that didn’t align with prevailing Christian doctrine could be deemed satanic.”

After Tituba’s confession, more villagers came forward with accusations of witchcraft and bewitchment, leading to more imprisonments. Sarah Good’s four-year-old daughter, Dorothy, was also imprisoned for nearly five months before being released. “You had mothers accusing daughters, grandmothers accusing grandmothers, neighbors accusing neighbors, people accusing ministers of being witches,” says Baker. “It turns out that in most cases of witchcraft across most cultures, usually three fourths of the victims are women. In fact, it’s even more one-sided than that because most of the men who are accused are either relatives of those women or men who will stand up to defend those women.”

The Salem Witch Trials

The events which led to the Witch Trials actually occurred in what is now the town of Danvers, then a parish of Salem Town, known as Salem Village. Launching the hysteria was the bizarre, seemingly inexplicable behavior of two young girls; the daughter, Betty, and the niece, Abigail Williams, of the Salem Village minister, Reverend Samuel Parris.

The Witch House

In February, 1692, three accused women were examined by Magistrates Jonathan Corwin and John Hathorne. Corwin’s home, known as the Witch House, still stands at the corner of North and Essex Streets in Salem, providing guided tours and tales of the first witchcraft trials. John Hathorne, an ancestor of author Nathaniel Hawthorne, is buried in the Charter Street Old Burying Point. By the time the hysteria had spent itself, 24 people had died. Nineteen were hanged on Gallows Hill in Salem Town, but some died in prison. Giles Corey at first pleaded not guilty to charges of witchcraft, but subsequently refused to stand trial. This refusal meant he could not be convicted legally. However, his examiners chose to subject him to interrogation by the placing of stone weights on his body. He survived this brutal torture for two days before dying. It is remarkable 552 original documents pertaining to the witchcraft trials have been preserved and are still stored by the Peabody Essex Museum. Eerie memorabilia associated with the trials, such as the “Witch Pins” used in the examination of witches and a small bottle supposed to contain the finger bones of the victim George Jacobs can be found in the Clerk’s Office in the Essec Superior Court House, Salem. A more provoking commemoration, the Salem Witch Trials Tercentenary Memorial dedicated in 1992, can be found adjacent to the Charter Street Old Burying Point.

Salem Witch Trials

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The accused witches were arrested, interrogated, and brought to trial. The trials were conducted in a deeply religious and superstitious society. The Puritans believed in supernatural forces and the existence of witches who made pacts with the devil.

Salem witch trials

The accused witches were seen as threats to the Puritan way of life and were believed to be in league with Satan. The legal proceedings during the Salem witch trials were highly flawed. The accused witches were not given proper legal representation, and the evidence against them mostly consisted of testimonies given by the afflicted girls. These testimonies were often unreliable and based on spectral evidence, which was considered valid at the time. The trials also allowed for the use of torture and spectral examinations to determine guilt. As the trials progressed, the accusations spread to include more and more people from all walks of life. Many innocent individuals were imprisoned and even executed based on unfounded accusations. The hysteria subsided when the governor of Massachusetts intervened and called for an end to the trials. In the aftermath, the courts declared the trials unlawful and the accused witches were exonerated. The Salem witch trials have since become a symbol of the dangers of mass hysteria, as well as a cautionary tale about the consequences of unchecked religious extremism. The events of those dark times serve as a reminder of the importance of due process and the rights of the accused, even in times of fear and uncertainty..

Reviews for "The Salem Witch Trials and Native American Relations"

1. Emma - 2/5

I found "Salem witch trails" to be a slow-paced and unexciting film. The storyline lacked depth and failed to capture my interest. The performances were also quite mediocre, with the actors appearing disengaged and unconvincing. Additionally, the film failed to provide any meaningful insight into the historical events it attempted to depict. Overall, I was left feeling disappointed and unsatisfied after watching "Salem witch trails".

2. James - 1/5

"Salem witch trails" was an absolute waste of time. The film lacked a coherent narrative and had no clear direction. The writing was subpar and lacked any genuine drama or suspense. The performances were lackluster and failed to bring the characters to life. Moreover, the historical accuracy of the events portrayed in the film was questionable and felt forced. I highly recommend avoiding this film if you're looking for an engaging and well-executed depiction of the Salem witch trials.

3. Sophia - 2/5

I was eagerly anticipating watching "Salem witch trails" but was left disappointed by the execution. The film failed to create a compelling atmosphere or build tension, which are essential elements when depicting such a dark and dramatic period in history. The pacing was sluggish, and the plot felt disjointed, making it difficult to connect with the characters and their motives. Overall, I felt let down by "Salem witch trails" and would not recommend it to those seeking an engaging and thought-provoking historical drama.

The Influence of European Witchcraft Trials on the Salem Witch Trials