The Story of the Hangings
January of 1692 Samuel Parris's daughter and niece became ill and were diagnosed by William Griggs as bewitchment. It was called The Salem Witch Trials it was a series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts between February 1692 and May 1693. Despite being generally known as the Salem witch trials, the preliminary hearings in 1692 were conducted in a variety of towns across the province: Salem Village (now Danvers), Ipswich, Andover and Salem Town. The most infamous trials were conducted by the Court of Oyer and Terminer in 1692 in Salem Town. One contemporary writer summed the results of the trials thus:
"And now Nineteen persons having been hang'd, and one prest to death, and Eight more condemned, in all Twenty and Eight, of which above a third part were Members of some of the Churches of N. England, and more than half of them of a good Conversation in general, and not one clear'd; about Fifty having confest themselves to be Witches, of which not one Executed; above an Hundred and Fifty in Prison, and Two Hundred more accused; the Special Commision of Oyer and Terminer comes to a period."
The History Behind It
17th-century colonial North America, the supernatural was considered part of everyday life; many people believed that Satan was present and active on Earth. This concept emerged in Europe around the fifteenth century and spread with colonists to North America. Peasants used a kind of witchcraft to invoke particular charms for farming and agriculture. Over time, the idea of white magic transformed into dark magic and became associated with demons and evil spirits. From 1560 to 1670, witchcraft persecutions became common as superstitions became associated with the devil. In "Against Modern Sadducism" (1668), Joseph Glanvill claimed that he could prove the existence of witches and ghosts of the supernatural realm.
Glanvill wrote about the "denial of the bodily resurrection, and the [supernatural] spirits". In his treatise, he claimed that ingenious men should believe in witches and apparitions; if they doubted the reality of spirits, they not only denied demons, but also the almighty God. Glanvill wanted to prove that the supernatural could not be denied; those who did deny apparitions were considered heretics for it also disproved their beliefs in angels. Works by men such as Glanvill and tried to prove that "demons were alive." Such works supported the fears of persons who believed that demons were active among them on Earth.
Men and women in Salem believed that all the misfortunes could be attributed to the work of the devil; when events such as infant death, crop failures, or social friction among the congregation occurred, the supernatural was blamed. Because of the unusually wide scope of witchcraft accusations in the colony, scholars have explored various aspects of the historical context of this episode to determine its specific contributing factors.
Living conditions were bad there livestock wandering the streets, orphans roaming from house to house, and crops rotting in the fields were just a few of the known effects in that era. I would assume some of the unknown effects were relationships that never recovered from the pain of the accusations, and children who may have bore deep-seeded resentments against the church.
January of 1692 Samuel Parris's daughter and niece became ill and were diagnosed by William Griggs as bewitchment. It was called The Salem Witch Trials it was a series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts between February 1692 and May 1693. Despite being generally known as the Salem witch trials, the preliminary hearings in 1692 were conducted in a variety of towns across the province: Salem Village (now Danvers), Ipswich, Andover and Salem Town. The most infamous trials were conducted by the Court of Oyer and Terminer in 1692 in Salem Town. One contemporary writer summed the results of the trials thus:
"And now Nineteen persons having been hang'd, and one prest to death, and Eight more condemned, in all Twenty and Eight, of which above a third part were Members of some of the Churches of N. England, and more than half of them of a good Conversation in general, and not one clear'd; about Fifty having confest themselves to be Witches, of which not one Executed; above an Hundred and Fifty in Prison, and Two Hundred more accused; the Special Commision of Oyer and Terminer comes to a period."
The History Behind It
17th-century colonial North America, the supernatural was considered part of everyday life; many people believed that Satan was present and active on Earth. This concept emerged in Europe around the fifteenth century and spread with colonists to North America. Peasants used a kind of witchcraft to invoke particular charms for farming and agriculture. Over time, the idea of white magic transformed into dark magic and became associated with demons and evil spirits. From 1560 to 1670, witchcraft persecutions became common as superstitions became associated with the devil. In "Against Modern Sadducism" (1668), Joseph Glanvill claimed that he could prove the existence of witches and ghosts of the supernatural realm.
Glanvill wrote about the "denial of the bodily resurrection, and the [supernatural] spirits". In his treatise, he claimed that ingenious men should believe in witches and apparitions; if they doubted the reality of spirits, they not only denied demons, but also the almighty God. Glanvill wanted to prove that the supernatural could not be denied; those who did deny apparitions were considered heretics for it also disproved their beliefs in angels. Works by men such as Glanvill and tried to prove that "demons were alive." Such works supported the fears of persons who believed that demons were active among them on Earth.
Men and women in Salem believed that all the misfortunes could be attributed to the work of the devil; when events such as infant death, crop failures, or social friction among the congregation occurred, the supernatural was blamed. Because of the unusually wide scope of witchcraft accusations in the colony, scholars have explored various aspects of the historical context of this episode to determine its specific contributing factors.
Living conditions were bad there livestock wandering the streets, orphans roaming from house to house, and crops rotting in the fields were just a few of the known effects in that era. I would assume some of the unknown effects were relationships that never recovered from the pain of the accusations, and children who may have bore deep-seeded resentments against the church.