“Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”

1692 – a year of frontier war, poor economic conditions, congregational strife, teenage boredom, and personal jealousies From June to September, nineteen were hanged at Gallows Hill, hundred accused, one man pressed to death and dozens held in jail

1688: Samuel Parris and his family (his wife Elizabeth, his six-year-old daughter Betty, niece Abigail Williams, and his Indian slave Tituba, arrived in Salem February 1692, Betty gets “sick” Symptoms include: diving under furniture, contorting in pain, and complaining of fever Convulsive Ergotism Cotton Mather: "Memorable Providences," describing the suspected witchcraft of an Irish washerwoman in Boston Monkey-See, Monkey-Do: Ann Putnam, Mercy Lewis, Mary Walcott William Griggs diagnosed the girls with an infliction of “witchcraft”

Witch’s Cake: rye cake with the urine of the afflicted victim fed to a dog One of the first three accused of witchcraft and central figure in expanding prosecutions Was she responsible for the violent repercussions of the witch hunters?

Vicious family rivalry concerning the mercantile industry Easy/Disliked targets: Sarah Good, Sarah Osborne, Bridget Bishop Rebecca Nurse and the Topsfield Family

After Tituba’s successful confession, others began to confess to witchcraft Stuck in jail with testimony of the afflicted girls, many began to confess to avoid the gallows Jails were now beginning to approach capacity Gallows Hill, Salem MA

Ex-minister of Salem Identified as the “ringleader of the witches” Frontier War gone awry His hanging caused a stir of concern among the villagers, prompting consideration for number of respectable persons being hanged

Accused lived to the south Were generally better off financially Accusing families stood to gain property The accused and the accusers generally took opposite sides in a congregational debate Accused witches supported former minister George Burroughs while the accusers had--for the most part-- played leading roles in forcing Burroughs to leave Salem. Property disputes and congregational feuds led accusations

Colonial magistrate in charge of Salem Witch Trials, first as the Chief Justice of the Special Court of Oyer and Terminer in 1692, and then as the Chief Justice of the Superior Court of Judicature in 1693 He controversially accepted spectral evidence Was particularly harsh on some of the defendants Many blame him for the number of persons convicted and hanged during the course of the trials

As the girls continued accusing more reputable persons of witchcraft, the hunt for witches began ebbing Increase Mather, father of Cotton, spoke out against the trials Governor Phips called an end to the trials and pardoned those still accused or convicted in 1693

Salem Witch Trials

Born in Salem, MA, descendent of prominent Puritan family Ancestor was a judge in Salem Witch Trials; another was a persecutor of the Quakers Inherited guilt Transcendentalists: Emerson and Thoreau The Scarlet Letter (1850) The Young Goodman Brown (1835) The Minister’s Black Veil (1837)