Witches In Salem example essay topic

Imagine the birth of a new America, where life focused on religion and serving God. In 1692 Salem Massachusetts was that place. The town of Salem is located on an arm of Massachusetts Bay, 16 miles northeast of Boston. Many individuals who were unhappy with life in England made the decision to migrate to the New England shore and settle in small seaside towns. The promise of riches and freedom mesmerized the working class citizens as they dreamed of a future filled with wealth and opportunity. Due to the frenzy created by the Puritan Clergy of Colonial Massachusetts over witchcraft, many innocent people were hanged without substantial proof of guilt.

The assembly of the Puritan church was the first congregation settled in America. Puritan belief labeled everyone as a sinner. The only way to change this was by entering into a "covenant of grace" or a legal compact with God. This happened by way of being born again as a "visible Saint" (Rosenthal 11-13). The Puritan assumption that a country could enter into this covenant as well was the very basis for life and how it was lived in Salem. To become a member of the Puritan church one had to be voted in by the members of the church congregation.

Adults and children were required by law to attend church services a minimum of three times per week. Male church members were the only persons permitted to vote in elections. This insured that the church had control of the local government as well as any officially elected position in the town, including the Constable and Mayor. The church could also maintain control of whom served on a jury as well as decisions about daily life. When strange behavior began to affect several children, the immediate conclusion was that the Devil had invaded the town of Salem. Cotton Mather would later state in his diary: The Devils, after a most preternatural manner, by the dreadful judgment of heaven, took a bodily possession of many people in Salem, and adjacent places; and the houses of the poor people began to be filled with the horrid cries of persons tormented by evil spirits.

There seemed to be an execrable witchcraft in the foundation of this wonderful affliction. Many persons, of diverse characters, were accused, apprehended, prosecuted, upon the visions of the afflicted. (150) Samuel Paris, the local minister of Salem Village was under a great deal of stress due to the high taxes levied on his congregation and a long frigid winter (Trask 27). This caused Reverend Paris to spend much of his time away from his family. To pass the time during the winter young girls began to form small reading groups. They read books on fortune telling and prophecy which led them to the chanting of incantations and the practicing of divination's.

This conjuring took place in the Paris household where a woman named Tituba, an Indian slave, headed the rituals. Soon after they had begun to practice these rituals, the girls who had been involved, including Reverend Paris' daughter and niece became sick. They had constant fits, twitched, cried, made odd noises, and huddled in corners. The family called in doctors, and they were treated for many illnesses. Nothing helped.

Many weeks later after running out of reasons for their strange behavior, all of their symptoms seemed to lead to one belief. "The evil hand is upon them" (Wilson 29). They were possessed by the Devil. At first, the families could find no one to blame for the possession of the children.

It was then suggested that Tituba bake a "witch cake". This was a done by combining rye wheat with the urine of the suspected witch, then baked and fed to a dog. If the dog then reacted in the same manner as the afflicted person they were then labeled a witch (Roach 39-40). This was done to entice the girls to confess the names of who was involved in the practice of witchcraft. The girls were at first hesitant to speak but then began to see shadows and believed that these were shadows of the people who had possessed them. After more children became victims of the alleged sickness, the witch-hunt began to get serious.

By the end of February 1692, three witches had been named, Sarah Good, Sarah Osborn and Tituba, each was a resident of Salem (Hoffer 62). Sarah Good was a poor "socially undesirable" member of the church, which made her susceptible to accusations of being a witch and of practicing black magic. She was well known for her strange behavior, and had previously been accused of being a witch. Her family was poor and forced to accept charity and beg for food from neighbors. Sometimes the Good's would have to live with their neighbors and due to her actions in her neighbors' homes the family was often asked to leave. She was accused many times, of causing livestock to become sick and die.

When questioned about these accusations she was tight-lipped. Sarah Osborne was from a wealthy household, and was of poor health. There was never any evidence presented proving that she was involved in witchcraft. Osborne continued to declare her innocence throughout her trial and would eventually die in jail.

Although it is believed that only poor people were accused of being witches this was not true in the case of Osborne. Women and men who were accused of being witches were either looked down upon in the community for being poor or disliked for their land and wealth, as Sarah Osborne was. Tituba like Good, was very poor. She worked as a servant in the Paris home and was a Carib Indian born in Barbados. Paris brought her to New England when he was still a merchant, and upon arrival in New England she married John Indian who also worked as a slave for the Reverend. She was responsible for the household chores and the care of the children.

Tituba was the one who aided in the baking of the "witch cake" and after no culprit was found Tituba was jailed as well. During the trial Sarah Good insisted that she was not guilty but wrongly accused. When asked why she hurt the children she responded, "I do not hurt them, I scorn it" (Roach 97). She then attempted to shift the blame to Sarah Osborne who in turn responded with disbelief. She said that she "was more likely to be bewitched than she was a witch" (Roach 98). While Good and Osborne were trying to defend themselves, Tituba confessed, most likely out of fear of her master.

When asked who was to blame for all the possessed girls she responded, "The Devil for aught I know". Tituba then told the court about her pact with the Devil and the type of wonderful things that he gave her in return for her service and loyalty to him. Then after telling her story, the magistrate asked her whom she had seen doing the witchcraft, Tituba proclaimed, "Sarah Osborne and Sarah Good and I do not know who the others were" (Hoffer 77). According to Tituba there were still persons loose who were bewitching innocent children.

After Titubas' confession, the entire community of Salem increased their efforts to find the witches who were committing the horrible acts against the village. The children were still not able to come up with names for the perpetrators until a little thirteen-year-old girl named Ann Putnam, cried out the name of Martha Corey (Hoffer 66). Corey, was not from a poor family, she held a position in the church and during her trial laughed at the questions asked of her. She was considered a gospel woman, who had shown unexplainable behavior in public. She dressed in an odd manner that frightened most. She labeled herself na " ive to the fact that there were any witches in Salem to begin with and this odd reasoning led many to believe her guilty of practicing black magic.

From this point on anyone was fair game, including men or children and regardless of age, when a person was accused of witchcraft they were immediately jailed. A gentleman by the name of John Proctor became the first male charged for being a witch when he spoke out against the court for the treatment of the jailed. He believed the trials to be completely outrageous and unfounded. The idea of convicting women with no solid evidence other than another person accusation was unreasonable to him. After Proctors' jailing a long list of alleged witches were rounded up.

The most shocking was the arrest of George Burroughs the onetime pastor of the Salem Village church. He was thought by many to be the ringleader of all of the witches. For many others, Burroughs jailing led them to doubt the validity of the trials. Those who believed it was a farce from the beginning were becoming more confident as time went on.

The protests from the people against the trials were not heard at first for no one listened. Many of the local ministers had warned the government against accepting the testimonies of the accusers from the start. They also concluded that the spirits the girls saw could have been hallucinations resulting from their sickness, or that the children could have been deceiving the adults from the beginning. At this point, more than 200 people had been accused of witchcraft. Many were tortured until they confessed their guilt. A common form of torture was to place large boulders on the prisoners' chest and continue to add weight until a confession was heard or the accused was crushed to death.

One of the most absurd forms of torture was to put the witch's head under water for a substantial amount of time and if she came up alive she was believed to have magical powers. If she was dead she was presumed innocent. The first hangings began in July when six women were hanged, without confessions of guilt. The jails became incessantly crowded with no end in sight. In August five more people were hanged and another eight were hanged in September (Trask 102). By October, so many people began to doubt the guiltiness of the accused witches and the trustworthiness of the accusers that the Governor was forced to stop the trials and executions.

The question was then raised as to what should be done with those still jailed. In order to be released from jail one had to pay the court room and board for time served. This was a problem for many and until the families could raise the funds to have them released, they were forced to stay in jail. Even if released, after being convicted of witchcraft, the government took away the property and belongings of the accused and many were released from imprisonment only to become homeless. With so many houses empty and fields left unattended many crops went without cultivation or harvesting. This had a harsh impact on the economy of Salem.

As time went on, life in Salem was dismal and crops continued to fail. The puritans felt this was God getting even with them for what they had done to the innocent during the trials. The delirium of the Puritan clergy over the fear of the Devil was the main cause for the loss of 19 innocent lives with no proof of guilt in any case. The failure of the system resulted in not only loss of life but economic failure as well. This mishap would leave an permanent scar on the town of Salem. For more than 300 years this event has been researched and it continues to prove that fear of the unknown can yield tragic consequences.

Bibliography

Hoffer, Peter. The Salem Witchcraft Trials: A Legal History. Kansas: University Press of Kansas, 1997.
Mather, Cotton. Diary of Cotton Mather 1681-1708. Massachusetts: Historical Society Collection 7th series, 7-8, 1912.
Roach, Marilynn e. In the Days of the Salem Witchcraft Trials. Boston: Houghton, 1996.
Rosenthal, Bernard. Salem Story: Reading the Witch Trials of 1692. Cambridge England: Cambridge University Press, 1993.
Trask, Richard. Salem Village and the Witch Hysteria. New York: Golden Owl Publishing Company, 1991.