Salem Witch Trials
Salem Witch Crisis: Summary
The Salem witchcraft crisis began during the winter of 1691-
1692, in Salem Village, Massachusetts, when Betty Parris, the nine-
year-old daughter of the village’s minister, Samuel Parris, and his
niece, Abigail Williams, fell strangely ill. The girls complained of
pinching, prickling sensations, knifelike pains, and the feeling of being
choked. In the weeks that followed, three more girls showed similar
symptoms.
Reverend Parris and several doctors began to suspect that
witchcraft was responsible for the girls’ behavior. They pressed the
girls to name the witches who were tormenting them. The girls
named three women, who were then arrested. The third accused was
Parris’s Indian slave, Tituba. Under examination, Tituba confessed to
being a witch, and testified that four women and a man were causing
the girls’ illness.
The girls continued to accuse people of witchcraft, including
some respectable church members. The new accused witches joined
Tituba and the other two women in jail.
The accused faced a difficult situation. If they confessed to
witchcraft, they could escape death but would have to provide details
of their crimes and the names of other participants. On the other
hand, it was very difficult to prove one’s innocence. The Puritans
believed that witches knew magic and could send spirits to torture
people. However, the visions of torture could only be seen by the
victims. The afflicted girls and women were often kept in the
courtroom as evidence while the accused were examined. If they
screamed and claimed that
the accused witch was
torturing them, the judge
would have to believe their
visions, even if the accused
witch was not doing anything
visible to the girls.
Between June and
October, twenty people were
convicted of witchcraft and
killed and more than a
hundred suspected witches
remained in jail.
