Salem Witch Hunts: Who Were The Accused

How the Salem Witch Hunts of 1692 began is uncertain. Many historians believe it was in the home of Reverend Samuel Parris, as his twelve-year-old niece and nine-year-old daughter dilly-dallied in fortune telling. A coffin was formed when the girls dropped a raw egg in a glass of water. The girls both endured a breakdown and illness that could not be medically explained by Dr. William Griggs, so he blamed it on witchcraft.
“The contagion would engulf at least twenty-two Massachusetts villages, culminating in the arrest of over one hundred and fifty people. Fifty-nine were tried, thirty–one convicted, and nineteen hanged (Foulds vi-vii).” Women were the majority of the accused, because in that time witchcraft was mostly a female perversity. The over one-hundred and fifty accused in 1692 were from all backgrounds, ages and genders. “Persons who scoffed at accusations of witchcraft risked becoming targets of accusations themselves (Linder).”
Documents tracing the origins of the witch hunt have led to one individual, Elizabeth “Betty” Parris, daughter of Reverend Samuel Parris. After giving one of his spirited sermons, Betty and her cousin Abigail Williams, began to act strangely. Crying out loud, hiding under chairs, and twisting their arms and legs in positions that were unnatural. When Dr. Griggs said it was from a bewitchment, the Reverend demanded to find who was torturing her. To calm the uproar and confusion, Betty named Tituba, a brown-skinned native, as the cause of her bizarre illness.
Salem’s first witch to breakdown and confess was Tituba. She was brought to Boston from Barbados in 1680 as one of Reverend Samuel Parris’ slaves. Tituba told tales of bewitching’s, covens, and confessed to...

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“If they confessed to the charges, it was because most were frightened, hungry and emotionally drained. Others were plagued by feelings of unworthiness or pressured by panicked family members who feared its impact on the rest of the family (Foulds 42).” Many assumed that witchcraft was hereditary, therefore spouses, siblings, and even children of accused witches were brought in.
On September 22, 1692, The Court of Oyer & Terminer had adjourned. The executions were over, but trials of witches continued in other courts until 1693. The colonists had finally had enough. In the summer of 1693, several prominent colonists condemned the issuance of death sentences based on spectral evidence

Works Cited

Foulds, Diane E. Death in Salem: The Privates Lives Behind the 1692 Witch Hunt. 2010.
Linder, Douglas O. An Account of Events in Salem. September 2009.