Salem witch trials

Salem witch trials

An engraving from 1878 depicts Tituba telling scary stories to Puritan children. WIKIMEDIA COMMONS By Erika Enigk

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Have you seen the movie “Hocus Pocus”? Have you read any of the Harry Potter books? It’s fun to read about and watch scary witches, but many years ago, in the town of Salem, Massachusetts, a group of people called the Puritans got a real scare when they thought witchcraft had taken over their town.

The Puritans

The Puritans in Salem were English immigrants who lived a very religious lifestyle. They had very strict rules and regulations about what people were allowed to wear and how they spent their time.

Tituba

In 1692, a group of young Puritan girls gathered in the home of Reverend Parris to hear stories from one of his slaves, a woman called Tituba. The stories scared the girls, and soon after, they began acting strangely and telling their parents that Tituba and other women in the village had put spells on them.

The witch tests

The Puritans performed several different tests to determine whether a person was a witch, but they weren’t fair. If the accuser said they saw the person doing spells in a dream, that was considered enough evidence.

Sometimes, the person was dropped into water to see if they would float. If they did, they were called a witch. If they didn’t, they were named innocent, but not until they drowned.

The end

At first, only three women were put on trial, but after they went to prison, the girls who had met Tituba began naming others in the village — even men and children.

When the trials finally ended the following year, 24 people who had been accused had either been hanged or died in jail, and more than 100 others had been arrested.

Once the governor saw how many people were being put on trial, he realized the witch trials were a sham and that innocent people were being accused. He put an end to the trials, and everyone who had been accused was pardoned and set free.

Salem today

The witch trials were a sad episode in Salem and other Massachusetts towns’ history, but the people of Salem work hard to remember the lessons learned in the 1600s. People can visit the Salem Witch Museum and other places in town to hear more about what happened.