This evidence was later banned bythe courts, leading to a sharp drop in accusations. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. Interesting Facts about the Salem Witch Trials. The Salem Witch Trials began in spring 1692 and lasted for seven months, during which more than 150 people where arrested, 19 were hanged and one was tortured to death. They thought that when witches baked cakes, that they were casting a spell in it. The witch trials were held in Salem, Massachusetts, between February 1692 and May 1693. As the trials continued, accusations extended beyond Salem Village to surrounding communities. Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23,24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, These Jerks Had No Idea Who They Were Messing With, Stabbed In The Back: These Real-Life Betrayals Are Straight Up Brutal, "The Bride Kissed The Best Man" And Other Real-Life Wedding Disasters, Everyone Has A Limit: These Moments Made People Say Enough Is Enough, Bloody Facts About Ivan the Terrible, The Mad Tsar Of Russia. Thought to have been built in about 1675, it was the residence of Judge Jonathan Corwin, who oversaw many of the witch trials in 1692. Of them, thirty were found guilty, and nineteen of whom were executed. Mid-February- After a month of fasting, prayer, and home remedies, Betty and Abigail have not improved. The girls are examined by a . You . Dont feel too embarrassed if you happen to be from Massachusetts, you guys were not the first to do something like this. 1 Majority Of Victims Were Girls Under Age 20 The Salem witch trials have been studied for centuries, and there is still no clear consensus on what exactly happened. One of the people who perished in prison was only an infant. 8. For those who are unaware, Salem is located in Massachusetts, which, as you might remember from history class, was New Englands first established colony dating back to the arrival of the Pilgrims of the Mayflower at Plymouth in 1620. Here are 12 Salem witch trials facts that will send chills down your spine. In June 1692, Governor Phips appointed Stoughton as chief judge and prosecutor in the Salem witch trials despite Stoughtons lack of legal experience. One was pressed to death by heavy stones. The 1942 romantic comedy filmI Married a Witch, starring Veronica Lake and Frederic March, told the story of two witches from Salem placing a revenge curse on the descendants of their accuser. This series of prosecutions and hangings of those accused of practicing witchcraft provoked a major backlash, andthe event still haunts us today. This obviously meant that you must also be a witch. Learn about U.S. history, ancient Egypt, the deadliest wars, historical photos, and so much more. Tituba ultimately survived the saga and was not hanged. Over the following year many trials were held and many people imprisoned. Apparently they felt that giving gifts took away from ones ability to focus on serious religious thought, and they did not like the pagan origins of some aspects of the holiday. Facts: -"At the time of these events Parris was in his middle forties." -"They did not celebrate Christmas, and a holiday from work meant only that they must concentrate even more upon prayer." -"The edge of the wilderness was close by. As the most commanding mistress in the French court, she bettered the lives of many and became a beloved figure. The next time Giles wanted to attend, Martha objected and prevented him from going. At the end of the 17th century, after years of mostly resisting witch hunts and witch trial prosecutions, Puritans in New England suddenly found themselves facing a conspiracy of witches in a war against Satan and his minions. 1032 Words | 5 Pages. Gallows Hill was discovered on a rocky outcropping now located, very unfittingly, near a Walgreens in Salem. Other proof was the touch test, where if a witch who cursed someone touched the cursed person in the midst of a fit, theit fit would stop. The community, beleaguered with hardships already, then overreacted. The Salem witch trials are considered one of Americas most noteworthy cases of mass hysteria. From unbelievable witch swimming tests to the role of Salem smallpox in the trials, this list will bring you every crazy witch trial fact that you never knew existed! Three presidents William Howard Taft, Chester Arthur, and Gerald Ford have been said to descend from one of Salems executed witches or their siblings. Make sure to watch this video all the way to the end to see which crazy witchcraft fact made our top 10! Our editors are instructed to fact check thoroughly, including finding at least three references for each fact. In 1702, the court declared the trials unlawful. In October 1692, a girl in Andover accused a neighbors dog of trying to bewitch her. The late comedian Lucille Ball is a descendant of Rachel Vinson, who was acquitted in the witch trials. The Start of the Salem Witch Trials. Salem Witch Trials of 1692. No clan is left untouched, and even families that seem happy and normal on. And the first person executed for witchcraft during the trials was also a woman. He was the first to suggest the girls may be under the evil influence of witchcraft. Your suggestions can be as general or specific as you like, from Life to Compact Cars and Trucks to A Subspecies of Capybara Called Hydrochoerus Isthmius. Well get our writers on it because we want to create articles on the topics youre interested in. Rather, as Salem archivist and historian Richard Trask observes, they also included "second-hand rumors" and "fits of fancy." See Richard B. Trask, Legal Procedures Used During the Salem Witch Trials and a Brief History of the Published Versions of the Records, in Records of the Salem Witch-Hunt (Bernard Rosenthal ed., 2009). Lynch, Patrick. William Good, who lost his wife Sarah and infant daughter Mercy, and whose daughter Dorothy was imprisoned, was one of the people who received the largest settlement. Jeff Wallenfeldt, manager of Geography and History, has worked as an editor at Encyclopaedia Britannica since 1992. Those people lived in quite a horrific time. The Salem witch trials and executions came about as the result of a combination of church politics, family feuds, and hysterical children, all of which unfolded in a vacuum of political authority. One of the most famous victims of the trials was a prominent woman in the local community named Martha Corey. Here are 10 facts about the witch trials that will surely send chills down your spine. The punishment for witchcraft was death. Years later, I was using her phone when I made an utterly chilling discovery. She added a hog, a great black dog, a red rat, a black rat, and a yellow bird, among other animals, to her storys cast. 9 Things You Might Not Know About the Salem Witch Trials, The world's largest online family history resource - Start now, New England, Salem Witches and Others Tried for Witchcraft, 1647-1697, 6 Unusual Last Names You Wont Believe Exist, The Experience of an Ancestral Home Visit, Discovering African American Heroes in My Family Tree. Husbands hiding things from wives, mothers from children, and generation from generation. The Salem witch trials have gripped American imaginations ever since they occurred in 1692. Two of the casualties were babies. Additionally, he is an accomplished scriptwriter, having written the successful AA Meeting series for the stage and the award-winning film Depth of Pyaar. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Gallows Hill was discovered on a rocky outcropping now located, very unfittingly, near a Walgreens in Salem. Did you know this unbelievable witch trial fact: dogs were also major targets of the trials? Call them ignorant, call them malicious, the, Life, woman, life is Gods most precious gift; no principle, however glorious, may justify the taking of it., 20 Brave Facts About the House of Gryffindor, 25 Money-Making Facts About Hollywood Industry, Hero to Zero Facts About Robert Devereux, The Rebellious Earl of Essex. Because of Philip Englishs wealth, he was allowed his freedom during the day and could rent rooms in the home of his jailer for himself, his wife, and daughter. It seems that a shocking number of accusations were made by members of the Putnam family. She was an enslaved woman believed to have been from Central America, captured as a child from Barbados, and brought to Massachusetts in 1680 by Reverend Parris. (There is uncertainty regarding the relationship between the slaves and their ethnic origins. This caused her to be accused of conspiring on behalf of the witches, and eventually of being a witch herself. Seventeenth century Salem also gave birth to stories of courageous stands for reason, hopeful births, and acts of clemency and mercy. Lets just, The Crucible (1996), Twentieth Century Fox, Salem (20142017), 20th Century Fox Television, I Married a Witch (1942), Paramount Pictures, The Truth Always Comes Out: Dark Family Secrets Exposed, Entrancing Facts About Madame de Pompadour, France's Most Powerful Mistress, Tragic Facts About Catherine of Aragon, Henry VIIIs First Wife, Festive Facts About Bing Crosby, The King Of Christmas, Stormy Facts About Sammy Davis Jr., The Worlds Greatest Entertainer, Sorrowful Facts About Alma Rubens, The Silent Film Siren, Daring Facts About Gina Lollobrigida, Golden Hollywoods Last Survivor. This caused her to be accused of conspiring on behalf of the witches, and eventually of being a witch herself. The Salem witch trials occurred in colonial Massachusetts between early 1692 and mid-1693. Part of the escalation of theSalem trials included investigators literally going door to door and asking homeowners to rat out any suspected witches in their midst. No one was burned at the stake in the Salem witch trials. The dog was also supposed to then point to the people who had bewitched the victim. These included "violent contortions and uncontrollable . 1 Most of the accused were women but men were accusedand executedtoo. I wonder if what the prescription is for that. In total, more than 200 people were accused of witchcraft and more than 150 were arrested. He was stripped naked and covered with heavy boards. The First Amendment has generally served to protect individuals for opinions that they have expressed, albeit not for violent or illegal conduct. I tried to get my ex-wife served with divorce papers. Between February 1692 and May 1693 in current day Massachusetts, more than 200 people were accused of witchcraft. Dont feel too embarrassed if you happen to be from Massachusetts, you guys were not the first to do something like this. Instead, in 1692, hanging was the preferred form of punishment. They had seizures, hid under chairs, talked in gibberish, and ran fevers. Salem witch trials, (June 1692May 1693), in American history, a series of investigations and persecutions that caused 19 convicted witches to be hanged and many other suspects to be imprisoned in Salem Village in the Massachusetts Bay Colony (now Danvers, Massachusetts). Just when did the Salem witch trials take place in the timeline of American history? Hoffer, who has written extensively on the Salem witch trials, is one of those who believes the girls who accused their neighbors of witchcraft were carrying out a prank. Their initial accusations gave way to trials, hysteria, and a frenzy that resulted in further accusations, often between the differing factions. This series of prosecutions and hangings of those accused of practicing witchcraft provoked a major backlash, and the event still haunts us today. Although Giles was a wealthy farmer and Martha was a prominent church member, both of them had pasts they werent exactly advertising to the public. After Governor Phips's wife faced accusations of witchcraft, he outlawed spectral evidence in October 1692. Around the same time, in Salem Village, village girls accused a man of tormenting a different dog with his evil spirit. The Salem Witch Trials that took place in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692 was most defiantly a time when one could attribute "moral panic" to the deaths of 20 people who were hung for being what society deemed as witches. The Salem trials also went on to become a powerful metaphor for the anticommunist hearings led by U.S. Sen. Joseph McCarthy during the Red Scare of the 1950s, famously in the form of Arthur Millers allegorical play The Crucible (1953). Music Credit: Spirit of the Dead by Aakash Gandhi#List25 #Didyouknow #WitchTrials On a Saturday night in mid-October, Dmitry and his friend Misha met up to experience The Haunted Witch Trials, a Halloween attraction in which the Salem Witch Trials were re-imagined into a haunted house type of attraction that took place on a 100-acre plot of land. The panic and fear over witches hiding amongst the colony began when two young girls, Abigail Williams and Betty Parris, developed strange symptoms including having fits and screaming in pain at mysterious moments. The trials came to an abrupt halt when the Governors wife was accused of witchcraft, causing him to immediately order an end to the trials. They were also used for identifying witches in Salem, using the Witch Cake test. It was a time when Christianity was prominent and no one steered away from the biblical beliefs. One of the people. Credit where credit is due! Norman Rockwell, the famous painter and illustrator who created the cover illustrations for The Saturday Evening Post magazine for nearly five decades, was a descendant of Esther Dutch Elwell, accused of wickedly and feloniously sundry acts of witchcraft upon the body of Mrs. Mary Fiche.. Sir William Phips. Famous Trials. Squabbles over property were commonplace, and litigiousness was rampant. Salem Witch Trials: 25 DISTURBING Facts About The Salem Witch Trials | Salem Witch Trial Full Documentary The Geographic Channel | Samuel Parris | Dorothy Good | Familiar | Giles Corey | Salem Witch Trials - Events, Facts & Victims - HISTORY | George Corwin | Haunted Salem - Where Are the Most Haunted Sites? After some young girls of the village (two of them relatives of Parris) started demonstrating strange behaviours and fits, they were urged to identify the person who had bewitched them. Unlike the others who were hanged, this unfortunate fellow was crushed to death by stones. (Salem Witch Trials "History" published on November 4, 2011 and updated on October 5, 2021). Corrections? Here are 10 things you need to know about the notorious witch trials. One particularly disturbing fact about the witch hunt in Salem is that animals could be found guilty of participating in witchcraft as well as humans, and they could be (and were) sentenced to death for it. Much of the evidence brought agains the witches, at least at first, was called spectral evidence, where people testified to seeing an apparition of the accused trying to inflict harm on them. By late February 1692, when traditional medicines and prayers failed to cure the girls, the reverend called upon a local doctor, William Griggs. Villagers shot the dog immediately. Far more women than men were among the accused, convicted and executed. Its sad to think that all of the trials and the numerous deaths could have been caused by ergot poisoning, and no one in the town had any idea. The feud was over the fact that Kazan had named communist sympathizers during his testimony to Congress. On March 1 two magistrates from Salem Town, John Hathorne and Jonathan Corwin, went to the village to conduct a public inquiry. The stars of the Salem story were the Puritan community of the Massachusetts Bay colony, a religious groupthat came over to America to escape religious persecution back in England. The stars of the Salem story were the Puritan community of the Massachusetts Bay colony, a religious groupthat came over to America to escape religious persecution back in England. When all was said and done, 25 people lost their lives because of the trials. The 1692 Salem witch trials are a big blot on American history. In response, John found himself accused as well. Descendants of the Salem community have made constant efforts to clear the names of those ancestors and relatives who were falsely accused and convicted back in the 1690s, with some being officially recognized as innocent by the Massachusetts government as recently as the beginning of the 21st-century. Some three-fourths of those European witch hunts took place in western Germany, the Low Countries, France, northern Italy, and Switzerland. Arthur Millers play The Crucible played a large role in popularizing many of the details of the Salem witch trials and dramatizing facts that he uncovered in historical records. The first accusations during the Salem Witch Trials were against people who were for various reasons marginalized by society. Villagers killed that second dog and sent the man fleeing for his life. Descargue el archivo de msica MP3 25 disturbing facts about the salem witch trialsa una calidad de audio de 320 kbps. Join thousands of others and start your morning with our Fact Of The Day newsletter. Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. Nineteen were hanged, and one-elderly Giles Corey-pressed to death. We've compiled over 4375 history facts in one place, just for you.