SALEM WITCH TRIALS Man’s Inhumanity to Man: A Colonial Travesty
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Man’s Inhumanity to Man: A Colonial Travesty What led to 19 hangings, one death by torture, four deaths in jail, and over 200 accusations in one small.
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Mans Inhumanity to Man: A Colonial Travesty
Slide 3
What led to 19 hangings, one death by torture, four deaths in
jail, and over 200 accusations in one small New England town?
Slide 4
Biblical Texts Exodus 22:18 Leviticus 20:27A man also or woman
that hath a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be
put to death; they shall stone them with stones; their blood shall
be upon them King James Versionread in Salem
Slide 5
Argues Witchcraft is an Impossibility God alone can suspend the
laws of the universe It was the error of the pagans to believe in
some other divine power than the one God. Accepted in the Middle
Ages that neither Satan nor witches had supernatural powers of any
sort
Slide 6
Pope Innocent III attacks Cathar heretics in France Cathars say
God and Satan are at war Cathars depicted as kissing Satans anus
Satans reputation goes from a mischievous spoiler to a deeply
sinister force
Slide 7
In Summa Theologian, he argues that the world was full of evil
and demons Demons reap the sperm of men and spread it among women
Sex and witchcraft have a long association Not for pleasure, but to
spread temptation
Slide 8
Papal inquisitions follow Cathars into Germany Torture used on
heretics for magical pacts and demon- driven sexual acts
Confessions of flying on poles or animals Admit to covens, casting
spells, sex with animals, causing storms Witchcraft becomes a
crime
Slide 9
Hammer of Witches Report by Heinrich Kramer and Jacob Sprenger
to Pope Innocent VIII Witches have sex with demons, abort babies,
steal penises Tells judges how to look for molessign of consorting
with demonsand to bring witches to court walking backwards
Slide 10
Hysteria across Europe as Christianity is questioned Between
1500 and 1660, 50,000 to 80,000 were executed in Europe Jean Bodin
( On the DemonMania of Sorcerers, 1580) opens door to testimony by
children, entrapment, instruments of torture
Slide 11
Torture of suspected witches in Scotland OK Bride victim of
storm from Denmark and honeymoon voyage rocky Until 1597 abatement,
it was the stake for accused witches
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A dark cavein the middle a cauldron: 1 W ITCH : Thrice the
brindled cat hath mewd 2 W ITCH : Thrice and once, the hedge-pig
whind 3 W ITCH : Harpier cries:--tis time! tis time! 1 W ITCH :
Round about the cauldron go; in the poisond entrails throwtoad,
that under cold stone, days and nights has thirty-one; swelterd
venom sleeping got, boil thou first i charmed pot! A LL : Double,
double toil and trouble; fire burn, and cauldron bubble.
Slide 13
1640-1643 peak in France English Civil War fueled hunting there
Thirty Years War (1618-1648) upsets Catholic Church By 1648,
Holland does away with punishment for witchcraft
Slide 14
Temperance Lloyd, senile, hanged Prosecution denounced by Lord
Chief Justice Sir Francis North Enlightenment (1680s ff) enlists
empirical reason, skepticism and humanitarianism
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A Strong belief that Satan is acting in the world The Invisible
World: disease, natural catastrophes, and bad fortune attributed to
work of the devil Puritans are ruled by a theocracy of ministers
who are the elected ones Xenophobia inheritably means youre one of
us or youre damned into Lucifers Legion Educated means at Harvard
(in CT), founded in 1636 as a Congregationalist seminary to train
ministers Highly superstitious people and paranoid
Slide 16
Satan recruits witches (women) and wizards (men) to work for
him Many cases of witchcraft prior to 1692 in New England and
Europe Methods of discovery similar to those of the Spanish
Inquisition for heretics (non-believers) A person afflicted with
witchcraft exhibits certain symptoms which can be feigned
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School Street, c. 1640
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Smallpox epidemic in full force leaves families
devastateddeaths of infants, elderly, servants Congregational
strife in Salemtwo churches rival for civic leadership Frontier
wars with indigenous peoples Small plots of land not enough to
expand and prosper due to adjoining neighbors Teenage boredomstrict
households, Bible reading required, kids have lots of work and
responsibility, but no TV, iPods, dancing, or singing (except in
church)
Slide 20
Convulsive ergotismfungus that grows on rye and causes
hallucinations Witchs breadurine-soaked rye bread fed to a dog
would reveal the tormenter of afflicted Theory popular, but
unlikely
Slide 21
Judges and other officials were Puritan ministers and receptive
of accusations Spectral evidence was allowed in court Confessed
witches added credibility and accused others to avoid hanging
Property feuds spur charges Reverend Samuel Parris was new to the
town Tituba, Parris Arawak Indian slave told some good stories and
entertained the afflicted ones
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Samuel Seawall, Judge Wm Phips, Governor Wm Stoughton, Judge
Rev. Samuel Parris Cotton Mather
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This Was Mather Cotton Mather wrote a guide to finding witches
Memorable Providences Devils tit: distinguishing mark Mole Freckle
Scar A witch cant drown Has a familiarcat, dog, bird to spy on
victims Has odd behavior like not going to church, poor,
successful, deaf, not a Separatist Cannot recite The Lords
Prayer
Slide 24
Writes Memorable Providences to describe one case Leading
authority on Puritan theology and witchcraft Celebrity status in
Massachusetts Father, Increase Mather, began family trade Ad for
Mathers book
Slide 25
A slave brought by Parris from the Barbados Arawak Indian from
the Caribbean Father rumored to be an Obi man from El Salvador Told
fortunes to the afflicted girls Beaten by Parris into confessing
and names others Sold off after trials because she confessed
Slide 26
Parris household: girls told how to predict who theyll marry
Mary Warren claims Tituba tried to get her to sign the Devils
book
Slide 27
Betty Parris, daughter of the Minister, age 6 Abigail Williams,
niece of Rev. Parris, age 17 Ann Putnam, Jr., playmate of Betty and
daughter of policeman, age 11 Mercy Lewis, orphaned friend of
Abigail, age 17 Mary Walcott, friend of Abigail, age 16 Others
about the same age who caught the hysteria Claimed the spectral
presence of the witches pinched them and caused the screaming
Slide 28
Symptoms Running about Crawling under furniture Contortion of
limbs and face Complaints of being pinched Hearing voices of the
witches or seeing their specters Forced to participate in
witchcraft Possible Causes Stress, guilt, boredom Convulsive
ergotism Vomiting, choking Violent spasm Crawling sensations
Hallucinations (LSD) Epilepsy or asthma Delusional psychosis Hunger
and/or poor diet
Slide 29
Sarah Good, a beggar and misfit, who had a 4 year-old daughter
Dorcas, cursed at people Sarah Osborn, an old and quarrelsome
woman, who hadnt gone to church for a year Tituba Blamed for Cheese
and butter going bad Farm animals born with deformities Sending
specters to pinch the girls
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ACCUSED WITCHESAFFLICTED ACCUSERS More prosperous Lived south
of Salem Not in Parris congregation Over 18 Tied to the Porter
family Poorer Lived in town or village In Parris congregation
Between 6 and 17 Tied to the Putnam family
Slide 31
Bridget Bishop, aged 60, owned a tavern where customers played
shuffleboard on the Sabbath first one on trial and hanged
Deliverance Hobbs and Mary Warren confess and name Bishop Bishop
carted off and hanged on Gallows Hill June 10, 1692
Slide 32
July 19, 1692 Rebecca Nurse Sarah Good Susannah Martin
Elizabeth Howe Sarah Wildes
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1. Afflicted person complains to Magistrat e 2. Magistrate
issues warrant and arrests accused 3. Accused examined and jailed
4. Grand Jury is given depositions against accused 5. Trial by
Court of Oyer and Terminer 6. Sentenced to hang on a specific date
7. Sheriff and deputies carries out sentence
Slide 34
Examination of a Witch for Marks This is not usual. In Salem, a
group known as the matrons examined for moles or places the devil
or the familiar animal might attach to the witch
Slide 35
August 19, 1692 Rev. George Burroughs Martha Carrier John
Willard George Jacobs, Sr. John Proctor Burroughs caused a near
panic when he flawlessly recited The Lords Prayer
Slide 36
Giles Corey, 80 years old refuses to enter a plea pressed with
stones ( peine et fort ), but still refusesMore were reported as
his last words, 09/11/1692 September 22, 1692 the last of 19
witches were hanged Giles and Martha Corey Giles transcript
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September 22, 1692 Martha Corey, Giles wife Mary Eastey Ann
Pudeator Alice Parker Wilmot Redd Margaret Scott Samuel
Wardwell
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DEATH LISTCONDITIONS Sarah Osborn Roger Toothaker Lyndia Dustin
Ann Foster Dorcas Good, age 4 At least 13 others Had to be fed,
taken care of by family Shackled Tortured No baths, light,
toilet
Slide 40
Rebecca Nurse, a pious woman, belonged to a competing
congregation, found not guilt, but re-tried and hanged John Proctor
criticized the trials and was convicted along with his wife (given
reprieve for the belly) The Crucible George Burroughs, former
minister, accused ringleader
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No legal counsel Could not call witnesses No appeal Testimony
included Hearsay Gossip Rumors Unsupported stories Girls screaming
and contorting
Slide 42
19 convicted witches were hanged 1 was pressed to death 4,
including Sarah Goods four year-old daughter, died in prison Over
200 were arrested and imprisoned 2 dogs executed as accomplices The
Salem Martyrs, Thomas Slatterwhite, 1869
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Causes of Conscience, Increase Mather: were better that ten
suspected witches should escape than one innocent person should be
condemned become the first tract of evidence Spectral evidence
excluded Some Miscellany Observations, Samuel Willard: devil could
create specter of an innocent May 1693 pardons all 28 remaining
accused persons and 3 convicted are released
Slide 46
Politics: Joseph McCarthy (R-WI) 1950s hunt for Communists in
the govt, film, colleges Literature and Film Ha w thornes Scarlet
Letter (author a descendant of judge) Millers The Crucible (play
turned movies parodies McCarthy) Salem, MA is a tourist destination
and conducts tours of sitesgraveyard, Gallows Hill, homes of
accused