Salem Witch Trials example essay topic

The Salem Witch Trials The witch trials of the late 1600's were full of controversy and uncertainty. The Puritan town of Salem was home to most of these trials, and became the center of much attention in 1692. More than a hundred innocent people were found guilty of practicing witchcraft during these times, and our American government forced over a dozen to pay with their lives. The main reasons why the witch trials occurred were conflicts dealing with politics, religion, family, economics, and fears of the citizens. Before the town of Salem became so famous for its trials, its Puritan residents moved from their English homes to escape from religious persecution.

There were two groups of people that made up the town: people who wanted to leave the town of Salem, and people who did not. Most of the families who wanted to stay lived closest to the town, and the families who wanted to leave lived further away. The families and people who wished to leave were typically farmers, and lived about eight miles from Salem Town. One of the largest families of farmers was the Putnams. The Putnams were thought of highly in the village, because they owned the most farmland. Since they wanted to separate from the town, they decided to establish their own church in 1689.

Rev. Parris was the preacher at the church, and his salary was paid by the local taxes. He had a nine-year-old daughter named Betty, and a twelve year old niece named Abigail Williams. Since they lived so far away from Salem Town, there wasn't much for them to do for recreational purposes. Abigail, Betty, and two other friends decided to form a circle where they would entertain each other with stories. Rev. Parris's lave, Tituba, would sometimes participate in their circle, and before long, several other girls joined their group. Tituba would tell the girls' fortunes, but soon Abigail and Betty became frightened from these psychic readings.

Rev. Parris thought that their unusual behavior and strange physical expressions were a sign that the girls were bewitched. At first the girls wouldn't speak about those with whom they supposedly conjured spirits, but Betty finally named Tituba. The other girls also named other people like Sarah Osborne and Sarah Good who they claimed to have seen with the devil. Since these three women had bad reputations in the town they were believable suspects of witchcraft. An investigation of the three women was set up, and John Hawthorne and Jonathan Corwin were sent from Salem Town to investigate the cases of witchcraft.

The investigation took place in the Salem Village Meetinghouse. During the trials, when the three women were being asked questions, the girls would cry out and tumble to the floor. Even though Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne maintained their innocence throughout all of this, Tituba had decided to confess to practicing witchcraft. After the investigation, Hawthorne and Corwin decided that the three women were all guilty of witchcraft. They were all taken to a Boston jail, where Sarah Osborne would later die from natural causes. Even after the three women were taken to jail, the accusations still continued in the village.

Soon, another townswoman by the name of Martha Corey was accused. Ann Putnam had accused Martha of sending her spirit out to get her. Even though Corey always attended church, she was still disliked in the village. Rebecca Nurse would be the next person to be accused of witchcraft. Even though she was a 71-year-old woman, Ann Putnam and the rest of the girls told the court that her spirit would fly into their rooms at night and torment them. When Rebecca was notified of these charges, she responded, "What sin has God found in me un repented of that he should lay such an affliction upon me in my old age?" (Kent, p. 76).

When the people in the village heard about her conviction, they started to discredit the word of the girls, but the accusations continued. One of the people who didn't believe the girls was a 60-year-old farmer by the name of John Proctor. His maid, Mary, started to act like the other girls, so John threatened to beat her if she continued. John Proctor had strong opinions about the girls, and these opinions eventually led to his and his wife's arrest on charges of witchcraft. The most shocking accusation came when Ann Putnam accused the former Salem Village minister, George Burroughs, of being the master of all the witches in Massachusetts.

The girls called him the "Black Minister" and leader of the Salem Coven. By the end of May 1692,200 people were jailed for witchcraft. The first person to be tried was Bridget Bishop on June 2, 1692. She had been charged with witchcraft previously in 1680, but was not convicted. Even though she wasn't convicted, several people in the village still suspected her of witchcraft. While work was being done in her cellar, poppets were found in the walls containing needles and some having removed heads.

This was the evidence that was used to convict her of witchcraft, and on June 10, 1692, she was found guilty and hanged. Next, the court tried Sarah Good, Sarah Wilds, Elizabeth How, Susannah Martin, and Rebecca Nurse on June 29, 1692. All five of them were found guilty and than hanged on July 19, 1692. On August 5, 1692, the court reconvened to try the Rev. George Burroughs, John and Elizabeth Proctor, George Jacobs Sr., John Willard, and Martha Carrier.

All six were found guilty of practicing witchcraft, but since Elizabeth Proctor was pregnant, her life was spared. The other five, however, were hanged on August 19, 1692. The trials continued with Giles Corey scheduled to be tried in September, but he refused to answer the court's questions. The court decided that he would be taken to a field where his hands and feet were tied together and heavy rocks would be piled on his chest until he answered their questions. After two days of adding more and more weight, Giles Corey was crushed to death. Even after Giles Corey's death, the court did not slow down in its convictions on accused witches.

Martha Corey, Mary East, Alice Parker, Ann Pud eater, Margaret Scott, Wilmot t Reed, and Samuel Ward well were all hanged on September 22, 1692. After the death of so many people, the village finally started to agree that the trials were getting out of control. By October, ministers, judges, and several other people began to believe that the witch trials had claimed innocent lives. Finally, on October 12, 1692, Governor Phips issued orders to protect those who were still in prison awaiting trial. Then, in May of 1693, Governor Phips pardoned the remaining prisoners, and brought the witch trials to an end. In the end, the Salem witch trials had resulted in nineteen hangings and a death by crushing rocks.

Even though the trials were over, there were still lots of people who couldn't pay for their release because they didn't have enough money. The law stated that prisoners had to pay for their food and board before they could be released. Even those who did get out of jail lost all of their land to the government. Our American government made terrible mistakes back in the 1690's. All of the events that took place in Salem are examples of how our legal system reacted from fear and panic rather than from solid evidence. As the fear escalated, innocent individuals were persecuted, abused, and finally killed because they stood up for what they believed in, and refused to go against God and "lie".

The Salem Witch Trials should be a sobering reminder to us of how fear can ultimately affect the concept and function of justice within the world.