25 disturbing facts about the salem witch trials

Bishop was known to rebel against the puritanical values of that time. For everyone who remains intrigued by Salem, here are a few lesser-known facts about the witchcraft trials. Catherine of Aragon is now infamous as King Henry VIIIs rejected queenbut few people know her even darker history. Accessed May 6, 2021. https://salemwitchtrials.com/accusedstats.html. However, no one ever embodied the concept of a witch as previously described. A period of less than a year caused such turmoil that Salem, Massachusetts, is still widely known for the trials. Today, witchcraftis recognized by the government as a protected and legitimate religion under the First Amendment. Nineteen were executed by hanging. Years later, I was using her phone when I made an utterly chilling discovery. Historys most fascinating stories and darkest secrets, delivered to your inbox daily. Although Giles was a wealthy farmer and Martha was a prominent church member, both of them had pasts they werent exactly advertising to the public. They are fascinating as well as scary. Please submit feedback to contribute@factinate.com. We've compiled over 4375 history facts in one place, just for you. One man, Giles Corey, was killed over three days as increasingly heavier rocks were set atop his body. Philip and Mary English Home, Site Of. Salem Witch Museum. Although it provided no answers, its baking outraged Parris, who saw it as a blasphemous act. You . So if witchcraft wasnt really happening in Salem, what actually caused those girls to have the fits? She was an enslaved woman believed to have been from Central America, captured as a child from Barbados, and brought to Massachusetts in 1680 by Reverend Parris. 02. Looking back with the perspective provided by modern science, some scholars have speculated that the strange behaviour may have resulted from some combination of asthma, encephalitis, Lyme disease, epilepsy, child abuse, delusional psychosis, or convulsive ergotismthe last a disease caused by eating bread or cereal made of rye that has been infected with the fungus ergot, which can elicit vomiting, choking, fits, hallucinations, and the sense of something crawling on ones skin. Many citizens believed that they way witches will get you is by baking a cake. Our credibility is the turbo-charged engine of our success. An important minister in Boston named Increase Mather was one of these objectors, stating that It were better that ten suspected witches should escape than that one innocent person should be condemned.. Parriss orthodox Puritan theology and preaching also divided the congregation, a split that became demonstrably visible when he routinely insisted that nonmembers of the congregation leave before communion was celebrated. In addition to the twenty people convicted and executed for witchcraft, two dogs were also accused of and executed for the same crime. By the end of the Salem witch trials, 19 people had been hanged and 5 others had died in custody. Move over Montagues and Capulets: You might not be the most vengeful families out there. For those who are unaware, Salem is located in Massachusetts, which, as you might remember from history class, was New Englands first established colony dating back to the arrival of the Pilgrims of the Mayflower at Plymouth in 1620. This database contains information on more than 200 individuals formally accused and put on trial for witchcraft in New England between 1647 and 1697, including those accused in the Salem witch trials. Which, yes, is a little ironic. The episode is heavily ingrained in American history and perpetuated through pop culture, but the souls lost and persecuted during that time aren't just present in our literature, media, and popular culture. The Salem witch trials were also the subject of Arthur Miller's The Crucible, written in the 1950s. Accessed May 6, 2021. https://salemwitchmuseum.com/locations/philip-and-mary-english-home-site-of/. They were eventually assumed to be possessed. The best revenge might be living well, but that doesn't mean we can always turn the other cheek. Another executed man was John Proctor, a wealthy farmer who spoke out against the witch trials, particularly after his wife Elizabeth had been arrested for witchcraft. The litany of odd behaviour also mirrored that of the children of a Boston family who in 1688 were believed to have been bewitched, a description of which had been provided by Congregational minister Cotton Mather in his book Memorable Providences, Relating to Witchcraft and Possessions (1689) and which may have been known by the girls in Salem Village. But the accusations didnt stop there. Most importantly, Stoughton allowed spectral evidence during the trials, so that an accuser could claim that an accused witch had appeared to them in a vision or hurt them within a dream. Witches could change from human to animal form or from one human form to another. However, despite our best efforts, we sometimes miss the mark. Children were also accused of witchcraft. So if you celebrate Christmas and live in Massachusetts today, be happy you were born when you were! Accessed May 6, 2021. https://famous-trials.com/salem/2035-sal-bphi. Tituba, an enslaved person born to a South American indigenous tribe, became the first person accused of witchcraft in Salem after Betty, the daughter of Salems minister, Samuel Parris, began acting erratically. Twenty of those people were executed, most by hanging. Burroughs was brought back to Salem, tried, and executed. Around the end of WWII, he surprisingly converted, Its said that the customer is always right. It was believed that they employed demons to accomplish magical deeds, that they changed from human to animal form or from one human form to another, that animals acted as their familiar spirits, and that they rode through the air at night to secret meetings and orgies. Far more women than men were among the accused, convicted and executed. For example, the infamous Putnam family had been one of the earliest settler dynasties to come to the Massachusetts Bay colony and establish themselves there. Instead, in 1692, hanging was the preferred form of punishment. Tituba eventually confessed to using witchcraft. This series of prosecutions and hangings of those accused of practicing witchcraft provoked a major backlash, andthe event still haunts us today. The girls contorted their bodies into odd positions, made strange noises and spoke gibberish, and seemed to be having fits. Learn about the Salem witch trials and their legacy. Credit where credit is due! Over 150 people were arrested for allegedly using witchcraft to inflict harm on their fellow townspeople, resulting in the executions of 20 people and the prison deaths of five more. 10 The Symptoms That Gave Witches Away Make No Sense At All All witches are women, but not every woman is a witch. The Salem witch trials are considered one of Americas most noteworthy cases of mass hysteria. On March 1 two magistrates from Salem Town, John Hathorne and Jonathan Corwin, went to the village to conduct a public inquiry. From the role of Abigail Williams to the invention of witch cakes and the devils mark, get ready to learn all you ever wanted to know (and more) about the dark past of the Salem witch trials. During the trials, two dogs were killed based on suspicions of witchcraft. Thomas Maule, a Quaker who found himself at odds with the Puritan community at times, was beaten and imprisoned for speaking out against the trials, despite the fact that he himself believed in witches. It is easy to feel like we've long known everything there is to know about it. The Salem witchcraft trials, which began in May of 1692 after months of rumors of Satanic influence, still grip the American imagination more than 300 years later. All Rights Reserved. Madame de Pompadour didn't just share King Louis XV's bed, she also shared his power. The first accusations during the Salem Witch Trials were against people who were for various reasons marginalized by society. This series of prosecutions and hangings of those accused of practicing witchcraft provoked a major backlash, andthe event still haunts us today. This period of witch trials later came to be known as the Salem witch trials, named after the town of Salem and Salem Village (present-day Danvers). Arthur Miller, the famous playwright who authored Death of a Salesman, responded to the McCarthy hysteria by writing The Crucible, a play about the Salem witch trials, as a metaphor for what the country was going through in the 1950s. Gallows Hill was discovered on a rocky outcropping now located, very unfittingly, near a Walgreens in Salem. The madness of the witch trials eventually resulted in 200 people accused of witchcraft, 140 to 150 arrests for witchcraft, and the hangings of thirteen women and six men. Massachusetts formally apologized for the witch trials in 1957something that Chief Magistrate William Stoughton never did. T he infamous Salem witch trials of 1692 and 1693 claimed the lives of 20 people. More than 200 people were accused of practicing witchcraft and 20 were killed during the hysteria. 8. It was believed that witches had animal helpers that could take almost any animal form and do their dirty work for them. Image of The Salem Witch Trials. His diagnosis of bewitchment put into motion the forces that would ultimately result in the hanging deaths of 19 men and women. 4. Interesting Facts about the Salem Witch Trials. There's something about the family structure that encourages secrets. From 1671 to 1687, he served on the Counsel of Assistants, a judicial and rule-making body for the colony. Although Salem Village was at the heart of the witch trials of 1692, the accused were from a couple dozen towns. When all was said and done, 25 people lost their lives because of the trials. Salem Witch Trials: 25 DISTURBING Facts About The Salem Witch Trials | Salem Witch Trial Full Documentary The Geographic Channel | Samuel Parris | Dorothy Good | Familiar | Giles Corey | Salem Witch Trials - Events, Facts & Victims - HISTORY | George Corwin | Haunted Salem - Where Are the Most Haunted Sites? Accessed May 6, 2021. https://www.newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/salem-witch-trial-descendants/. Despite being known as the Salem witch trials, some of the trials actually took place in Ipswich and Andover in addition to Salem itself. So if you celebrate Christmas and live in Massachusetts today, be happy you were born when you were! At Factinate, were dedicated to getting things right. The Salem Witch trials occupy a large space in the American imagination. According to the warrant for her apprehension, she was called for trial on March 23, 1692, under suspicion of witchcraft after being accused by Edward Putnam. Brooks, Rebecca Beatrice. The governor pardoned the rest of the accused witches and they were released from jail. That May release included Elizabeth Proctor, who had been found guilty of witchcraft in August of the previous year and sentenced to death,but had her execution postponed due to pregnancy. Move over Montagues and Capulets: You might not be the most vengeful families out there. Three presidents William Howard Taft, Chester Arthur, and Gerald Ford have been said to descend from one of Salems executed witches or their siblings. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. No one was burned at the stake in the Salem witch trials. The magistrates then had not only a confession but also what they accepted as evidence of the presence of more witches in the community, and hysteria mounted.

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