The Crucible: The Events Of The Salem Witch Trials

The events of the Salem Witch Trials. In Salem the witchcraft hysteria, first began in January of 1692. It all started when a group of young girls who later come to be known as the “afflicted girls”. They became known as that because they fell ill after paying a fortune – telling game and began acting strangely (Charles W. Upham). The reason why it ended up with “witch trials” because it was unnatural to other people. They all started experiencing the same symptoms, which consisted of suffering “fits”, hiding under furniture, contorting in pain, and experiencing fever. Soon later on they caught other things like epilepsy, boredom, child abuse, mental illness or even a disease brought on by eating rye infected with fungus. “In February, Samuel

Parris called for a doctor, who is believed to be Dr. William Griggs, to examine the girls. The doctor was unable to find anything physically wrong with them and suggested they may be bewitched (Charles W. Upham, 3).” Soon Sarah Good, Sarah Osburn and a slave named Tituba became social outcasts. But on March 1St, Tituba, Sarah Good and Osburn were arrested and examined. Even though the witch hunt started in Salem Village, quickly started spreading to the neighboring towns. “Since the accused witches were considered dangerous prisoners, they were kept in the dungeon and were chained to the walls because jail officials believed this would prevent their spirits from fleeing the jail and tormenting their victims (Charles W. Upham, 7).”
How did the Salem Witch Trials end? “Around the end of September, the use of spectral evidence was finally declared inadmissible, thus marking the beginning of the end of the Salem Witch Trials (Charles W. Upham, 10).” The last eight people were hanged on September 22. Governor Phips on October 29, dismissed the Court of Oyer and Terminer leaving 52 remaining people in jail were trialed in a new court. “As for why those victims were targeted in the first place, historians have noted that many of the accused were wealthy and held different religious beliefs than their accusers (Charles W. Upham, 10).”