Depiction of the trials from 1892 (200 years after the events)
Deposition of Ann Putnam Jr. (one of the original 'afflicted girls') against Tituba
80 year old Giles Cory is pressed to death for witchcraft on September 19th
Memorial to those who died during the crisis in Danvers (was Salem). Erected to mark the 300 year anniversary of the trials
October 12th 1692: Salem Witch Trials end
On this day in 1692, the Salem Witch Trials ended with a formal letter from Massachusetts Governor Sir William Phipps forbidding further imprisonments for witchcraft. The crisis began in early 1692 when various local girls began experiencing fits, and claiming they were victims of witchcraft. Given the lack of medical knowledge at the time and the preponderance of beliefs in the supernatural, witchcraft was the only logical explanation for the girls’ bizarre condition. The girls began by accusing outsiders in the community who typically bore the brunt of witchcraft accusations, beginning with the slave Tituba, the beggar Sarah Good and social outcast Sarah Osborne in February. Tituba, under intense interogation from magistrates John Hathorne and Jonathan Corwin, eventually confessed to witchcraft and claimed Good and Osborne were her co-conspirators. However, as the trials dragged on, they began accusing respectable, churchgoing members of the community, such as Martha Cory and Rebecca Nurse. The crisis spiraled out of control, and ultimately led to 19 male and female ‘witches’ being hanged, one man pressed to death, and hundreds more imprisoned in horrendous conditions; among those in prison was the four-year-old Dorcas Hood, who had confessed to witchcraft and was left in jail until she went insane. Numerous causes have been given for the mass hysteria that gripped Salem and its surrounding areas in 1692. Whether it was the Puritan zeal and repressed lives of the ‘afflicted’ girls, the scheming of the local Putnam family, fear of Indian attacks, or even mass poisoning by a grain fungus, the Salem trials remain a dark chapter in American history. The Salem Witch Trials is a famous example of mass hysteria, and has become a cautionary tale for religious extremism and false accusations.
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