"Salem witch trials: a series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts. More 200 people accused. 30 found guilty, 19 executed by hanging (14 women and 5 men). One other man, Giles Corey, was pressed to death for refusing to plead."
"The episode is one of Colonial America's most notorious cases of mass hysteria. It has been used in political rhetoric and popular literature as a vivid cautionary tale about the dangers of isolationism, religious extremism, false accusations, and lapses in due process."
"It was not unique, but a Colonial American example of the much broader phenomenon of witch trials in the early modern period, which took place also in Europe."
"The [initial] accusation by Ann Putnam, Jr. suggests that a family feud may have been a major cause... A vicious rivalry was underway between the Putnam and Porter families... Citizens would often have heated debates over the feud, which escalated into full-fledged fighting."
"Sarah Good was a destitute woman accused of witchcraft because of her reputation. At her trial, she was accused of rejecting Puritan ideals of self-control and discipline when she chose to torment and 'scorn children instead of leading them towards the path of salvation'."
"Sarah Osborne rarely attended church meetings. She was accused of witchcraft because the Puritans believed that Osborne had her own self-interests in mind following her remarriage."
"Martha Corey had expressed skepticism re credibility of the accusations and thus drawn attention. The charges against her deeply troubled the community because she was a full member of the Church. If such upstanding people could be witches, then anybody could be a witch."
"Dorothy Good, the daughter of Sarah Good, was only four years old but was not exempted from questioning by the magistrates; her answers were construed as a confession that implicated her mother."
"Abigail Hobbs, Mary Warren, and Deliverance Hobbs all confessed and began naming additional people as accomplices. More arrests followed..."
"Cotton Mather supported the prosecutions, but cautioned, 'It is very certain that the Devils have sometimes represented persons not only innocent, but also very virtuous. Though I believe the just God then provides a way for the speedy vindication of the persons thus abused.'"
"Bridget Bishop was described as not living a Puritan lifestyle, for she wore black clothing and odd costumes, which was against the Puritan code. This, along with her 'immoral' lifestyle, affirmed to the jury that Bishop was a witch."
"Bridget Bishop was executed by hanging on June 10, 1692."
"Mr. Burroughs was carried in a Cart with others, through the streets of Salem, to Execution. When he was upon the Ladder, he made a speech for the clearing of his Innocency, with such Solemn and Serious Expressions as were to the Admiration of all present..."
"...his Prayer (which he concluded by repeating the Lord's Prayer) [as witches were not supposed to be able to recite] was so well worded, and uttered with such composedness as such fervency of spirit, as was very Affecting, and drew Tears from many..."
"...so that if seemed to some that the spectators would hinder the execution. The accusers said the black Man [Devil] stood and dictated to him. As soon as he was turned off [hanged], Mr. Cotton Mather, being mounted upon a Horse, addressed himself to the People..."
"...partly to declare that he [Mr. Burroughs] was no ordained Minister, partly to possess the People of his guilt, saying that the devil often had been transformed into the Angel of Light. And this did somewhat appease the People, and the Executions went on..."
"...when he [Mr. Burroughs] was cut down, he was dragged by a Halter to a Hole, or Grave, between the Rocks, about two feet deep; his Shirt and Breeches being pulled off, and an old pair of Trousers of one Executed put on his lower parts..."
"...he was so put in, together with Willard and Carrier, that one of his Hands, and his Chin, and a Foot of one of them, was left uncovered."
"On September 19, 1692, Giles Corey refused to plead at arraignment, and was killed by peine forte et dure, a form of torture in which the subject is pressed beneath an increasingly heavy load of stones, in an attempt to make him enter a plea."
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