The Witch Trials of Salem — An unexplainable tragedy
By: Rashmika J.
Tags: Salem Witch Trials, Witchcraft, Unexplained, Salem, Magic

The witch is who practices magic-and was once feared and revered in society. The witch was condemned and murdered, through spectral evidence of ‘the afflicted.’ The infamous hysteria that led to the deaths of 24 people and 2 dogs in Salem. In 1692, in colonial Massachusetts, Salem, the witch trials began.

Image from the ‘Visitor’s Guide to Salem,’ Accessed from The British Library Catalogue

As expected in those times, when a mystery illness ailes many, there can only be one conclusion.

Witchcraft.

This illness was the beginning of the Salem Witch Trials, one of history’s most regrettable and shocking incidents that came from the accusing of witchcraft. These trials have puzzled historians for centuries, what caused the mass hysteria of the Salem Witch Trials?

The possible causes of these trials are varied. War on the frontier between the Native American population, an economic crisis, religious beliefs, and the strangest of them all — boredom.

The trials began when a young girl, the age of 9, Betty Parris had fallen ill. Betty and her cousin Abigail Williams would go missing-during these times they would dabble in fortune-telling. They soon displayed strange symptoms; fever, barking like a dog, and pains all over. As her symptoms continued, her father Reverend Samuel Parris called in William Griggs, a doctor, to treat her. Following the failure of these treatments, he suggested, in a time where Puritan beliefs saw that witchcraft was a mark of the devil, the illness was of paranormal origins.

Image from the ‘The Lancashire Witches. A novel,’ accessed from The British Library Catalogue

Their behaviour could be attributed to stress, boredom, curiosity, psychosis, or a disease known as convulsive ergotism-a far cry from the depths of witchcraft. But, as the illness spread amongst many young girls, hysteria began to grow.

The perceived mark of the Devil would not go without persecution.

1962 were when the trails began-to find the source of evil that plagued the small village of Salem. The young girls whose ailments were deemed unexplainable through ordinary means was the catalyst of this hunt that baffles those even today. Betty Parris and Abigail Williams were responsible for the deaths of 20 individuals, 19 were hanged and one man pressed to death. Ann Putnam Jr, one of the accusers, responsible for the accusations of 62 people. Other accusers included Mercy Lewis, Marcy Walcott, Elizabeth Hubbard, Susannah Sheldon, and Mary Warren. While these young girls have been accused as perpetrators in the case, it is notable who they are, young girls. The words of the girls were taken into account, but alas, were backed by the adult figures in their lives.

As years passed, families of the victims of the trials were compensated-and one accuser, Ann Putnam Jr., issued an apology.

In her apology, she stated;

‘I desire to be humbled before God for that sad and humbling providence that befell my father’s family in the year about ’92; that I, then being in my childhood, should, by such a providence of God, be made an instrument for the accusing of several persons of a grievous crime, whereby their lives were taken away from them, whom now I have just grounds and good reason to believe they were innocent persons.’