The Salem Witch Trials occurred between February of 1692 and May of 1693 in Essex, Suffolk, and Middlesex counties of colonial Massachusetts. They were a series of hearings and trials that were brought before the local magistrate in order to prosecute people accused of witchcraft.[1] More than 150 people were accused and arrested of practicing witchcraft, and even more accused that were not actually pursued by the authorities.[2] However, some sources claim that during the Salem witch-hunt more than 200 people were arrested as witches[3], nineteen of them were hung and one man over eighty years of age was pressed to death for refusing to submit to a trial on charges of witchcraft.[4]
The trouble started in Salem when eight young girls were struck ill with strange symptoms; delirium, violent convulsions, unintelligible speech, trance-like states, and strange skin sensations. The hysterical accusations of two of the young girls, Abigail Williams and Ann Putnam, were what triggered off a witch-hunt in the New England village. The villagers of Massachusetts were desperate for an explanation, and so the finger-pointing toward witchcraft started. Of all the executed, none confessed to the use of witchcraft, as they believed it would condemn their soul.[5] Though contradictory information was found to show that some of the executed did indeed ‘confess’ in order to attempt to save their lives.[6] “Everyone was so frightened that the unlucky prisoners could not hope for a fair trial. The hysterical ravings of the ‘bewitched’ girls were accepted as testimony.”[7] During the later trials of many of the accused, none of the suspects were punished, and controversy broke out over whether or not there had ever been any witchcraft in the community at all. It is fairly clear that Abigail Williams and Ann Putnam could have been creating their accusations and imitating the strange illnesses recorded, and if this were indeed the case it would explain some of their mistakes; such as their failure to identify Mrs Cary after accusing her by name.
“Twenty people had been executed for witchcraft, while over 100 more lay in prison, their property confiscated, and the name of Salem had become a synonym for mindless and cruel persecution.”[8] Compared to the great many witch hunts that were devastatingly widespread throughout Europe, the Salem incident was not so widespread, though it seemed as much for America; but Salem’s unshakable horror, lies in the fact that “it was the last major instance of a sober, rational and industrious society tearing itself apart through a dreadful fear of the Devil.”[9] Whenever the unexpected or unexplainable happened, it was blamed on witchcraft.
There really was no one particular cause for the Salem witch trials. A combination of events and factors such as the economic, political, imaginations and fears of the people of Salem, family feuds, teenage boredom, the ongoing frontier war, and the Puritan religious beliefs of the time helped in the creation of a ‘breeding grounds’ for the birth and growth of the witch trials. The pressure and conflict in the Salem community had been building for decades before the witch-hunt against the ‘evil’ witches.
Salem was not only segregated by social status and wealth, but also physically, as the community was separated into Salem Town and Salem Village.[10] In order for the villagers to attend church, or worship, they needed to travel to the town and the villagers believed that the town was out of touch with the rest of the village. The Putnams, whom owned most of the farmland, had been hoping for a move toward independence; however the town relentlessly rejected the idea. In 1692, a compromise was reached and the village was allowed their own meeting place and pastor; however this situation created extreme tension which would become a factor of many twenty years later in the Salem witch-hunts. Also, the revocation of the Massachusetts Bay Colony charter by Charles II, and the continuous fear of Indian attacks attributed to the anxiety of the early Puritan community.[11]
As the residents of Salem were Puritans, it meant that they viewed their community as a single united entity under God, and not simply a group of individuals brought together. As such, any part of that belief of being a united entity that ‘malfunctions’ or strays from the considered ‘norm’, such as witchcraft, was hunted down and destroyed relentlessly. The accusations themselves, of course, spread like a wildfire; the accused would point fingers at others in order to take the conjecture off of them. They couldn’t retract their accusations for fear of being accused of practising witchcraft themselves, could not scoff at the idea of witchcraft either, and the magistrates themselves didn’t help matters any. If it were not for Tituba, who was the main charged with witchcraft in the beginning, the matter may have ended in admonishments instead of inane slaughter. After denying any guilt, it seems she retracted her statement to say that she indeed spoke with the Devil and named supposed accomplices.[12]
Confessions were rather unreliable though, as the torture of witches was used in order to bring about ‘confessions’; and most people would confess to anything so long as they would no longer be tortured. “The difficulty of finding evidence or eyewitnesses in witch cases, however, meant that torture was more frequently used in witch cases…”[13] Also, the Church disliked the idea of the ‘wise old woman’ and felt that power was being taken from the Church and often accused these figures of witchcraft; the idea of people seeking wisdom from someone other than the Church was frowned upon. Even today, the church is ‘at war’ with witchcraft and teaches its followers that witches are evil beings and enemies of God. In 2009, Pope Benedict XVI urges Christians to shun witchcraft during a visit to Angola.[14]
Scholars have noted that there were telling differences between the accused and the accusers of the Salem witch-hunts. Most of those that were accused were better off financially, and lived south of the accusers; many families of the accusers played a significant role in forcing Burroughs, a former minister, to leave Salem. Many accusers and their families also stood to gain property from those who were convicted of witchcraft. “The conclusion that many scholars draw from these patterns is that property disputes and congregational feuds played a major role in determining who lived, and who died, in 1692.”[15]
The rather unique feature of the Salem Witch Trials is that it ended just as abruptly as it began. Respected ministers began to feel as though some of the innocent citizens were being accused, and they believed it better for ten accused witches to walk free than to have a single innocent suffer. “Growing suspicion of confessions elicited from torture was one reason for the diminishing and eventual cessation of witch-hunting.”[16] However, not all felt that way and William Stoughton was one such man who was more to blame than many for the tragic episode; he refused to explain himself or apologise for what had happened. Public support and belief in the witch-hunts died; there was a lack of substantial evidence other than the unreliable ‘spectral evidence’, and people from all backgrounds and status were becoming targets of accusations.
Even though many people were accused and executed for practising witchcraft, there is no evidence that any of these people were practitioners of Wicca, Pow-wow, or any other such Pagan religions. However, Bridget Bishop was found to have ‘poppets’ stuck with pins in the cellar of her house, similar to voodoo, and Martha Carrier was a ‘fortune teller’. Both of these practises were considered Black Magic, and therefore ‘evil’, during this time. As such, it could be said that witches did in fact exist in Salem; however more so in symbolism than in actual practitioning or belief.
The last trial was held in May 1693, however, public response to the events in Salem still continues today. Primarily, the issues involve clearing the names of those accused.[17] However, there is also a day of mourning in Salem so that the citizens never forget the horrors of what happened, and to warn us to think hard about how to improve our justice system so that such an event never happens again. On a positive note, the trials aided the bringing about the end of the witch-hunts; or at least gave the idea of having ‘slightly’ more care for the ‘evidence’. Due to the witch hunts though, many people have been given a horrendously distorted vision of what witchcraft is, and so even today many witches are shunned or treated as ‘modern heretics’ mainly by Catholics and Christians. Thankfully though, due to much modern media on the subject it is becoming more accepted amongst society, even if those of the Church disagree with it. It is also rather disappointing that the Pope would speak out as such against witchcraft; as witches themselves do not believe in Satan, and are rather tuned to nature itself.
The very horrible stigma that has been placed on the practise of witchcraft will no doubt remain for a very long time, however, at least for now there are no longer any mindless hysterical accusations of “evil misdeeds” that would lead to execution. The minds of humans have a very long way go in order to break free of their prejudices and irrational fears. Every man and woman has a right to believe what they will, and none deserve to be punished for it.
[1] Wikipedia, ‘Salem Witch Trials’, 18 May 2009. Online at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salem_witch_trials
[2] Wikipedia, ‘Salem Witch Trials’, 18 May 2009.
[3] Elliot Rose, ‘Salem Witches’, Man Myth & Magic pp. 2472-2474, Purnell, BPC Publishing Ltd, 1971.
[4] Linder Douglas, ‘The Witchcraft Trials in Salem: A Commentary’, 03-2007. Online at http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/salem/SAL_ACCT.HTM
[5] Educational Broadcasting Corporation, ‘Secrets of the Dead: The Witches Curse’, 2002. Online at http://www.pbs.org/wnet/secrets/previous_seasons/case_salem/index.html
[6] Elliot Rose, ‘Salem Witches’, 1971.
[7] Elliot Rose, ‘Salem Witches’, 1971.
[8] The Book Company, ‘Witchcraft and Magic’, Orbis Publishing Limited, 1997.
[9] The Book Company, ‘Witchcraft & Magic’, 1997.
[10] Sutter Tim, ‘Salem Witchcraft: The Events and Causes of the Salem Witch Trials’, 2000-2003. Online at http://www.salemwitchtrials.com/salemwitchcraft.html
[11] Sutter Tim, ‘Salem Witchcraft’, 2000-2003.
[12] Pagewise, ‘Possible Causes of the Salem Witch Hunts’, 2002. Online at http://www.essortment.com/all/salemwitchhunt_rulb.htm
[13] Burns W, ‘Witch Hunts in Europe and America’, pp.303, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2003.
[14] Radio Netherlands Worldwide, ‘Pope urges Angolans to shun witchcraft’, 21 March 2009. Online at http://www.radionetherlands.nl/news/international/6225055/Pope-urges-Angolans-to-shun-witchcraft
[15] Linder Douglas, ‘The Witchcraft Trials in Salem: A Commentary’, 03-2007.
[16] Burns W, ‘Witch Hunts in Europe and America’, pp.305, 2003.
[17] Wikipedia, ‘Salem Witch Trials’, 18 May 2009.
