Salem Witch Trials: The Dark Events of 1692

The program is a dramatization of the dark events in Salem Village in 1692, with all dialog coming from the historic records of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

In 1692, New England was a hostile land, with the Puritans believing they had bought the devil's territory in North America.

The biblical passage "thou shalt not suffer a witch to live" played a significant role in the events that unfolded.

The Salem witch hunt was sparked by a series of supernatural events and accusations of witchcraft, with the goal of taking power over others.

The trials were characterized by madness and a corrupt court, with the accused being told that if they confessed, they would be spared their lives.

By October 1692, 20 people had been executed, and over 100 accused witches were in prison, with the community believing they were being attacked by a conspiracy of witches.

Cotton Mather, a 29-year-old, was tasked by the governor to write an account of the crisis, detailing the confessions of witches and the suffering of others.

The events began 10 months prior in Salem Village, a tiny farming community 20 miles north of Boston, where angry factions argued over land, money, and religion.

Reverend Samuel Parris, a 39-year-old failed businessman turned minister, was at the center of the controversy, with a contractual dispute over his salary sparking tensions in the community.

Parris's own home became the epicenter of the witch hunt, triggered by events involving his family and congregation.

Samuel Parris, the pastor of the Church in Salem Village, had a daughter named Betty Parris, who was around nine years old, and a niece named Abigail Williams, who was about 11 years old, and both were afflicted with strange behaviors, such as being bitten and pinched by invisible hands, and their arms, necks, and backs would twist and turn in ways that seemed impossible for them to do on their own.

At times, the girls couldn't eat, sleep, or speak, and a doctor was called in, but if the doctor couldn't understand what was happening, which was usually the case, they would diagnose witchcraft.

Witchcraft was an accepted reality in 17th-century New England, and the invisible world was believed to be full of malicious specters and malevolent witches, as real as rocks and trees.

Witches were seen as nasty people who went around cursing and producing damage, and if you didn't give them something they asked for, they might put a curse on your cattle, and two weeks later, your prize heifer might die.

The crime of witchcraft was punishable by death, and Cotton Mather had written a popular book about witchcraft, including an account of four children who were being tortured by invisible witches.

Goody Glover, an Irish woman who only spoke Gaelic, was accused of witchcraft and brought to trial, but she seemed to be unable to recite the Lord's Prayer accurately, which was seen as a sign of witchcraft.

Witchcraft had its roots in folk magic, with people believing that charms and spells could improve fertility, fight sickness, show the future, or punish enemies.

Early Christians added the wings of a fallen angel to make Satan their image of the devil, who needed servants to do his bidding, so he recruited witches by asking them to sell their eternal soul in exchange for some sexual pleasure or earthly favor.

The deal was documented in his book, weather, which made her mark in blood, and over the next 150 years, an estimated 50,000 people were burned and hanged in Europe.

By the late 1600s, the worst of the European witch hunts were over, and the world was entering a new era of secular government and science.

Puritans founded the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1628, which was a frontier settlement run on strict religious principles, and they believed that the Bible was very clear on the issue of witchcraft, with the passage "thou shalt not suffer a witch to live."

Betty and Abigail's behavior seemed to be influenced by invisible forces, but if they were bewitched, who was bewitching them?

The hunt was about to begin, and a neighbor suggested a folklore method for finding the witch, which involved making a witch cake with the afflicted person's urine and feeding it to a dog.

Tituba, Parris's slave woman from Barbados, followed the neighbor's instructions and made the witch cake, but Reverend Parris was outraged, believing that the devil had been raised among them.

The fits that the little girls in Parris's household suffered were similar to those of the Goodwin children and other children in England and America who were raised in pious homes.

Children in 17th-century Western society were not so much objects of affection within a family as they were sources of labor and young sinners who needed to be disciplined into good behavior.

Some believed that the girls' fits were triggered by poison, possibly due to contaminated rye that led to hallucinogenic effects and physical symptoms.

However, the ergot poisoning theory has been refuted by scientists, and many believe that the girls were simply faking it.

If the girls weren't acting, it was a deadly game, and they could be accused of witchcraft themselves and hanged.

Pressured by Reverend Parris to name the witch who was afflicting them, Betty Parris and Abigail Williams pointed to Tituba, who was an obvious target due to her dark skin and being a slave from Barbados.

Tituba's confession was crucial to get a conviction in a capital case, and she offered up the names of her fellow witches.

The witch hunt was on, and seven others were still at large in the village, with Martha Corey, a respectable church member, being one of the accused.

Martha Corey's accusation was significant because she was a full-fledged member of the Salem village church, and if she could be a witch, then anyone could be.- Martha Corey is accused of witchcraft and Mercy Lewis claims that Corey's specter is tormenting her.

In the examination, Hathorne relies on spectral evidence, which is a statement by a witness that they see the specter of a witch doing strange things.

When you sign the devil's book, you essentially give the devil permission to take your shape and torment others, and that invisible shape is considered a specter.

The accusations of witchcraft lead to a sense of panic, and by the end of April, there are six more accused witches, bringing the total to ten held in jail.

The jail is a wooden structure that is freezing in winter and hot in summer, with poor hygiene and sanitation.

If a person is accused of witchcraft, it is often assumed that their family might be as well, and one of the first to be accused is Sarah Goode, who is jailed with her four-year-old daughter Dorcas.

After eight months in these conditions, Dorcas will go insane.

Accused witches are interrogated while being held prisoner, and they are stripped to look for telltale marks called witches' teats.

It is believed that the devil communicates with his witches through animal familiars, and the animal familiars leave marks on the witch's body.

The accused witches are charged for their own room and board while in jail, and they have to pay for food, drink, and other necessities.

Sheriff George Corwin confiscates the property of many accused witches, and he has no legal right to do so.

Corwin is related to the magistrate and other people on the trial court, and it is not possible that the authorities could have been ignorant of what he was doing.

The witch hunt is also being used to settle old scores, and Thomas Putnam and his family are behind 181 accusations of witchcraft.

Putnam's family has a history of taking people to court and suing them, and they have a long-standing dispute with Reverend George Burroughs.

Burroughs had borrowed money from a Putnam and couldn't repay it, leading to his arrest, but he successfully argued in court that he couldn't repay debts until the town paid his salary.

The Putnams never forget their humiliation in court, and by the time of the witch hunt in 1692, Burroughs is working as a preacher in the remote frontier settlements of Maine.