research paper about salem witch trials

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The salem witch trials.

• Emerson W. Baker Emerson W. Baker Department of History, Salem State University
• https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780199329175.013.324
• Published online: 07 July 2016

The Salem Witch Trials are one of the best known, most studied, and most important events in early American history. The afflictions started in Salem Village (present-day Danvers), Massachusetts, in January 1692, and by the end of the year the outbreak had spread throughout Essex County, and threatened to bring down the newly formed Massachusetts Bay government of Sir William Phips. It may have even helped trigger a witchcraft crisis in Connecticut that same year. The trials are known for their heavy reliance on spectral evidence, and numerous confessions, which helped the accusations grow. A total of 172 people are known to have been formally charged or informally cried out upon for witchcraft in 1692. Usually poor and marginalized members of society were the victims of witchcraft accusations, but in 1692 many of the leading members of the colony were accused. George Burroughs, a former minister of Salem Village, was one of the nineteen people convicted and executed. In addition to these victims, one man, Giles Cory, was pressed to death, and five died in prison. The last executions took place in September 1692, but it was not until May 1693 that the last trial was held and the last of the accused was freed from prison.

The trials would have lasting repercussions in Massachusetts and signaled the beginning of the end of the Puritan City upon a Hill, an image of American exceptionalism still regularly invoked. The publications ban issued by Governor Phips to prevent criticism of the government would last three years, but ultimately this effort only ensured that the failure of the government to protect innocent lives would never be forgotten. Pardons and reparations for some of the victims and their families were granted by the government in the early 18th century, and the legislature would regularly take up petitions, and discuss further reparations until 1749, more than fifty years after the trials. The last victims were formally pardoned by the governor and legislature of Massachusetts in 2001.

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SALEM WITCHCRAFT TRIALS RESEARCH GUIDE

Explore digitized manuscripts and documents from the salem witch trials..

This research guide was rewritten and updated in 2024 by Dr. Tricia Peone, New England's Hidden Histories Project Director.

Witchcraft was a serious concern in early New England. Although understandings of the nature of witchcraft were in flux during this period, the law against witchcraft in Massachusetts, based on the Bible and English law, was clear: “If any man or woman be a witch (that is) hath or consulteth with a familiar spirit, they shall be put to death.” The first executions for witchcraft in New England were those of Alice Young (1647) in Connecticut and Margaret Jones (1648) in Massachusetts. Between 1647 and 1692, there were about 100 court cases related to witchcraft in New England with community outbreaks at Springfield, Massachusetts in 1651, Hartford, Connecticut in 1662, and Hampton, New Hampshire in 1680.

Puritan and nonconformist ministers wrote several influential treatises about witchcraft in the seventeenth century such as William Perkins, Discourse of the Damned Art of Witchcraft (Cambridge, 1608), John Gaule, Select Cases of Conscience Touching Witches and Witchcraft (London, 1646), and Richard Baxter, The Certainty of the Worlds of Spirits (London, 1691). In New England, the ministers Increase Mather, Cotton Mather, John Hale, and Samuel Willard also contributed to a transatlantic conversation about witchcraft and magic by publishing works on these subjects (see bibliography below).

Most ministers in New England believed that all magic was diabolical, and that witches received powers from the Devil to manipulate the weather, cause illness, destroy crops, and harm livestock. Witches made a covenant with the Devil that was similar to the covenant church members made, and deserved to be punished with death because, as William Perkins argued in his influential Discourse of the Damned Art of Witchcraft , they were “enemies to god, and all true religion.” The threat of witchcraft was believed to be particularly menacing in New England due to the special mission of puritan colonists to create a godly society. In his discussion of the accused witches at Salem in Wonders of the Invisible World , Cotton Mather argued that “these Monsters have associated themselves to do no less a Thing than, To destroy the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ, in these parts of the World.”

Yet records show that despite what ministers said, many New Englanders believed in forms of good magic as well as witchcraft. Good magic involved healing, fortune telling, love charms, and finding lost items. Court records demonstrate New Englanders’ interest in divination, magical remedies, reading books of magic and astrology, and using nails, salt, horseshoes, and plants to ward off witches and evil spirits.

The largest witch hunt in New England began in Salem Village (now Danvers) during the winter of 1692, in the household of Rev. Samuel Parris. In February, Elizabeth Parris and her cousin Abigail Williams were visited by a local doctor at Rev. Parris’ request after they began exhibiting unusual symptoms. The doctor determined that the affliction the two young girls were suffering from was not natural, and in response to this illness, the household prayed and fasted. Soon, two more children, Ann Putnam, Jr. and Elizabeth Hubbard, became similarly afflicted. Two other ministers visited the Parris household and concurred that the affliction was likely caused by Satan, and the afflicted girls described being attacked by witches. On February 29, three Salem Village men filed a complaint with the Salem Town magistrates against three local women for witchcraft: Tituba (who was enslaved by Rev. Parris), Sarah Good, and Sarah Osborne. The magistrates issued arrest warrants and came to the village to hold examinations in public in the meeting house, which began on March 1.

During the first months of the crisis, accusations spread quickly and many arrest warrants were issued. However, the magistrates could not hold any trials because the colony had no legal charter, so they held the accused in jail and collected evidence and witness statements against them. Throughout the crisis, there was uncertainty about what standards of evidence should be used to convict someone accused of witchcraft. In general, a confession was considered to be best, or if possible multiple witnesses to a diabolical act, whereas spectral evidence (testimony from a witness who encountered the spirit or specter of a witch) was controversial and its validity continued to be debated for decades after the trials. Ministers (including Increase and Cotton Mather) provided guidance and advice to magistrates and colonial officials; they also relied on the extensive available literature about witchcraft, including legal guidebooks that explained types of evidence used in witchcraft cases.

One minister was executed at Salem. In April 1692, Rev. George Burroughs was accused of witchcraft. Burroughs was a Harvard graduate who had served as the minister in Salem Village in the early 1680s before moving back to Maine. One of the afflicted testified that she had seen “the Apparition of a Minister'' who confessed to murdering and bewitching people and claimed to be a “conjurer.” In a sinister reversal of the minister’s role, he commanded her to sign her name in his book and give her soul to the Devil. His accusers identified him as the leader of all the witches in northern New England, and their testimonies detailed other mockeries of puritan faith such as holding a sabbath in Rev. Parris’ pasture, taking a sacrament of blood, and women (witches) as deacons. Burroughs was unable to convince the court or his fellow ministers that he was a minister of God and not of the Devil.

The new royal governor of the colony, William Phips, arrived in May and appointed a special court of Oyer and Terminer to try the accused. The first trial took place in Salem on June 2, 1692. Bridget Bishop was the first to be tried, convicted, and executed by the court. Further executions were held in July, August, and September. The trials continued until the court was disbanded in October. A new special court convened in early 1693 to deal with the people still held in jail, who were eventually released. Approximately two hundred people in Essex County and beyond were accused of witchcraft; fifty of them had confessed to covenanting with the Devil, and nineteen people who proclaimed their innocence were hanged. In total, 25 people were executed or died in jail during the trials.

About This Research Guide

In this research guide, you will find information about resources held at the Congregational Library & Archives and partner institutions related to the Salem witch trials.

The original manuscripts in the Salem Witchcraft Trials Records, 1692 collection were digitized as part of the New England’s Hidden Histories project and were held by our project partners, the Phillips Library at the Peabody Essex Museum . Further information about the collection can be found in the Phillips Library's finding aid . Many of the documents were previously digitized by the University of Virginia as part of their Salem Witch Trials Documentary Archive and Transcription Project , which began in 1999. In 2017, members of the CLA and Phillips Library staff found several documents in the Phillips Library’s collection which had not yet been digitized and were not available online. These documents were digitized as part of our New England's Hidden Histories project and may be accessed below or in our digital archive . In 2023, these records, which were on loan to the Phillips Library, were returned to the Judicial Archives at the Massachusetts State Archives where they are now permanently housed. Researchers wishing to see these materials in person should contact the Massachusetts Archives .

Below you will also find related materials included in the New England’s Hidden Histories digital archive. These include church records from communities involved in the trials, such as Danvers (formerly Salem Village), Salem, Marblehead, and Topsfield. Records from Boston’s Second Church where both Increase Mather and Cotton Mather served as ministers are also included. Materials in these collections have been digitized in partnership with the American Antiquarian Society , the Massachusetts Historical Society , the New England Historic Genealogical Society , and the Phillips Library at the Peabody Essex Museum and have been made available through our New England's Hidden Histories project.

This research guide also includes a bibliography with primary and secondary sources to provide further context about the Salem witch trials and links to other online projects and resources.

MATERIALS DIGITIZED BY NEHH

These documents are organized alphabetically by the last name of the accused, with families grouped together. Links to the digitized records are provided for each individual, as well as links to transcriptions of the documents, if available. All documents previously digitized by the University of Virginia’s Salem Witch Trials Documentary Archive and Transcription Project are indicated with an asterisk next to each individual’s name and can be accessed on their website .

BARKER FAMILY

Mary barker*.

Mary Barker of Andover was 13 years old in 1692, when she and other members of her family were accused of witchcraft by Samuel Martin and Moses Tyler of Boxford. Shortly after her arrest on August 29, 1692, Barker confessed to afflicting Martha Sprague, Rose Foster, and Abigail Martin by witchcraft, to attending a witch meeting, and to signing the Devil's book. She told the magistrates that she felt she was “lost to God and all good people.” Barker also accused her uncle, William Barker, Sr., and three women (Elizabeth Johnson, Sr., Abigail Faulkner, and Mary Marston) of being witches. She was eventually found not guilty and released.

Document: Examination  and Transcription Date: 1692 August 29

William Barker, Jr.*

14-year-old William Barker, Jr. from Andover was the first cousin of Mary Barker and was accused of afflicting the same people and arrested shortly after her. His father, William Barker Sr., was also arrested and confessed but later escaped. William Barker, Jr. confessed to signing the Devil’s book and to being baptized by the Devil at Five Mile Pond. He also accused Goody Parker, Elizabeth Johnson, Sr., and Samuel Wardwell and his wife and two daughters of witchcraft. He remained in prison until 1693 but was eventually acquitted.

Document: Examination  and Transcription Date: 1692 September 1

BRIDGES/POST FAMILY

Sarah bridges*.

Sarah Bridges of Andover initially maintained her innocence during her examination on August 25, 1692. She was arrested along with her four sisters and stepsisters (Mary Bridges, Susanna Post, Hannah Post, and Mary Post) for afflicting Martha Sprague and Rose Foster. Bridges and her sisters all eventually confessed when confronted with the evidence of their accusers. Bridges confessed that she had been baptized by the Devil, who told her his name was Jesus, and had agreed to serve him for four years. She had also attended a witch meeting in Andover with 200 witches present. She stated that she hurt the afflicted by “squeezing her hands & sticking pins in her clothes” which caused them pain. Bridges spent the next several months in jail until her trial in January 1693 when she was found not guilty by a jury.

Document: Examination  and Transcription Date: 1692 August 25

Hannah Post*

Hannah Post was examined the same day as her stepsister, Sarah Bridges, and confessed that the Devil had appeared to her as a pig, a cat, and a bird, and “promised her new Cloths if She would Serve & worship him.” She also confessed that she had been baptized by the Devil at Five Mile Pond with her sisters and attended the witch meeting in Andover. Post spent the next several months in jail until her trial in January 1693 when she was found not guilty by a jury.

CARRIER FAMILY

Andrew carrier*.

Andrew Carrier of Andover and his brother were accused of witchcraft after his mother, Martha Allen Carrier had been arrested for the same crime. Andrew was 16 years old at the time. He was examined on July 22, 1692 with his brother Richard, and both denied the accusations against them. According to the account of John Proctor who was imprisoned with them, Andrew and Richard were tied “neck and heels” before confessing. Andrew stated that he had signed the Devil’s book in Deacon Frye’s orchard and agreed to serve him for five years and in return the Devil would give him “a house and land in Andover.”

Document: Examination Date: 1692 July 22 Transcription: See Bernard Rosenthal (general editor), Records of the Salem Witch-Hunt (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2009), 479-82.

Richard Carrier*

Richard Carrier of Andover was 18 years old when he was accused of witchcraft and confessed along with his brother Andrew (see above). Richard confessed first, stating that he had signed the Devil’s book and was afflicting several people using witchcraft. He also said that since his mother had been in jail, he had been visited by her spirit in the “shape of a Catt.” Carrier confessed to attending a witch meeting in Salem Village where the Devil and two of his ministers (one was Rev. George Burroughs) told them that their “ingagement was to afflict persons & to over come the the Kingdome of Christ & set up the Divels Kingdome & we ware to have happy Days.”

Sarah Carrier*

Sarah Carrier was seven years old when she confessed that her mother, Martha Carrier, had made her a witch the previous year. Examined on August 10 and again the next day, she said her mother taught her how to use witchcraft and visited her from jail in the form of a black cat. Her two older brothers, Andrew and Richard (see above) had also confessed to witchcraft.

Document: Examination  and Transcription Date: 1692 September 2

Thomas Carrier, Jr.*

Thomas Carrier, Jr. was ten years old when he confessed similarly to his sister Sarah that his mother had “taught him Witchcraft.” Martha Carrier, the mother of Thomas, Sarah, Andrew, and Richard, was convicted of witchcraft despite protesting her innocence and executed on August 19, 1692.

Rebecca Eames

Rebecca Eames, of Boxford, was arrested in August and confessed during her examination to afflicting Mary Warren and Timothy Swan. Her 28-year-old son, Daniel Eames, had been accused and examined a few days earlier. Rebecaa Eames confessed that she had signed the Devil’s book and given her son Daniel to the Devil. At her second examination on August 31, she said that she had committed adultery and that sin allowed the Devil to gain control over her, eventually making her a witch. In September, she was convicted and sentenced to death, but remained in jail and later recanted her confession. The court disbanded in October, and she was not executed.

Document: Examination (2nd)  and Transcription Date: 1692 August 31 Document: Certification of Confession Date: 1692 September 15

FOSTER/LACEY FAMILY

Ann Foster, of Andover, was accused of witchcraft and confessed on July 15. She implicated Martha Carrier in her confession, and said the Devil had promised her “prosperity” in exchange for signing his book. She admitted to bewitching a hog and several children, and described attending a witch meeting led by Rev. George Burroughs. Foster’s daughter (Mary Foster Lacey) and granddaughter (Mary Lacey, Jr.) were also accused and gave evidence against her during a later examination on July 21. In September, she was convicted and sentenced to death. The court disbanded in October, and she was not executed, but she died in jail.

Document: Examination and Transcription Date: 1692 July 21

Mary Foster Lacey*

Mary Foster Lacey (also referred to as Mary Lacey, Sr.), daughter of Ann Foster, was accused of afflicting the Andover constable’s wife, Elizabeth Ballard. Mary Foster Lacey’s daughter, Mary Lacey, Jr., was also accused and arrested after both women were named by Elizabeth Ballard. During one of their examinations, Mary Lacey called out to Ann Foster, “Oh mother! We have left Christ and the Devil hath got hold of us.” In September, she was convicted and sentenced to death along with her mother. The court disbanded in October, and she was not executed.

Document: Examination  and Transcription Date: 1692 July 21 Document: Indictment Date: 1692 September 14

Mary Lacey, Jr.*

Mary Lacey, Jr. was accused of witchcraft, as were her mother and grandmother. She confessed to being a witch and said that the Devil “had put such thoughts in my mind as to not obey my parents.” In her confession, she implicated Martha Carrier and her sons Richard and Andrew Carrier, as well as her own mother and grandmother. She said that Martha Carrier told her that the Devil said Martha would be a “Queen in Hell” and Rev. Burroughs would be King. Mary Lacey, Jr. was released on bond in October and later found not guilty.

Document: Examination  and Transcription Date: 1692 July 21

Sarah Good was one of the first three women to be accused of witchcraft in Salem Village in February 1692, along with Tituba and Sarah Osborne. Sarah Good was the first person questioned in the meetinghouse on March 1. Prior to her trial, many people offered evidence against her. In this document, Samuel Sibley testified he was at Doctor Griggs' house when Elizabeth Hubbard told him that Good’s specter, or spirit, was standing before him naked. He claimed to have struck at her spirit with a staff to drive her off. Sarah Good’s daughter, Dorothy Good (often referred to as Dorcas), was also accused of witchcraft. The four-year-old child was examined by the magistrates and confessed, providing evidence against her mother. Pregnant while held in jail with Dorothy, Sarah Good gave birth to another daughter, Mercy, who died in jail. Sarah Good was convicted at her trial in June and executed on July 19, 1692.

Document: Testimony  and Transcription Date: 1692 June 29

Elizabeth Howe

Elizabeth Howe, of Ipswich, was arrested on charges of witchcraft and maintained her innocence. Testimonies against her revealed that her neighbors and brother-in-law had suspected her for years of causing illness and harming livestock through witchcraft. One witness alleged that Howe had been denied admission into the church in Ipswich due to her reputation. However, two ministers from the nearby church in Rowley testified on her behalf that she had not bewitched a young girl in Ipswich to death. Howe was indicted in June for afflicting two other people, Mary Wolcott and Mercy Lewis. Howe was convicted at her trial in June and executed on July 19, 1692.

Document: Indictment  and Transcription Date: 1692 June 29

JOHNSON FAMILY

Elizabeth johnson, jr..

Elizabeth Johnson, Jr. was 22 years old when she was accused and arrested in Andover. She confessed to signing the Devil’s book, being baptized, and attending a “mock sacrament” with the Devil, and she implicated Martha Carrier, Thomas Carrier, and Rev. George Burroughs, among others. A few weeks later, her mother, Elizabeth Johnson, Sr., 11-year-old sister Abigail Johnson, and 13-year-old brother Stephen Johnson were also arrested. Elizabeth Johnson, Jr. was tried by the new court in January 1693 and found guilty of covenanting with the Devil and practicing witchcraft, but later reprieved by Governor William Phips.

Document: Examination  and Transcription Date: 1692 August 10

Elizabeth Johnson, Sr.*

Arrested three weeks after her daughter, 51-year-old widow Elizabeth Johnson, Sr. of Andover confessed to signing the Devil’s book and attending a witch meeting. She testified that the Devil had promised her “glory & happiness & joy” if she served him for 30 years. She also implicated her sister, Abigail Faulker, but said she did not know that her children Abigail and Stephen were witches. Elizabeth Johnson was the daughter of Rev. Francis Dane, the minister in Andover.  Elizabeth Johnson was tried by the new court in January 1693, found not guilty by a grand jury, and released.

Document: Examination  and Transcription Date: 1692 August 30

Stephen Johnson*

Stephen Johnson was 13 years old when he was examined and confessed in early September 1692. He said that the Devil came to him in the shape of a speckled bird, a black cat, and a Black man and forced him to prick his finger and sign his name in blood in the Devil’s book. He also told the magistrates that he was sorry for what he had done, and wished to renounce the Devil. He was freed on recognizance along with his sister Abigail in October 1692.

Document: Examination  and Transcription Date: 1692 September 4

Mary Marston*

Mary Marston, of Andover, was accused and arrested in August 1692. She confessed that she had signed the Devil’s book, which she described as “a paper book without covers” and given her consent to allow the Devil to afflict people with her specter. Later in her examination, she revealed that she had first been enticed by the Devil three years ago, “about the time when her mother died and she was overcome with melancholy.” Mary Marston was tried by the new court in January 1693, found not guilty by a grand jury, and released.

Document: Examination and Transcription Date: 1692 August 29

Elizabeth Proctor

Elizabeth Proctor was accused in April 1692 of afflicting people in the Parris household and several others in Salem Village with witchcraft. Her husband, John Proctor, was also accused and arrested. Mary Warren, a servant in the Proctor household, had joined the growing number of afflicted in March, and in early April, Rev. Parris’ niece Abigail WIlliams said that she saw the specters of Elizabeth and John Proctor. Both Proctors maintained their innocence throughout their examinations. In August, 20 of the Proctor’s friends and neighbors signed a petition testifying that the Proctors were not guilty and had lived Christian lives. Both Elizabeth Proctor and John Proctor were found guilty by the court and sentenced to be executed. John Proctor was executed in August 1692, but Elizabeth received a stay of execution because she was pregnant, and was later released. In 1696, she petitioned the General Court to recover her husband’s estate. The documents are testimonies given about Elizabeth Proctor by Rev. Samuel Parris (who provided evidence of her witchcraft) and William Rayment (who reported hearing some of the afflicted joking about having Proctor hanged for witchcraft).

Document: Deposition of Samuel Parris and Transcription Date: 1692 April 11    Document: Testimony of William Rayment and Transcription Date: 1692 August 5

Mary Toothaker*

Mary Toothaker of Billerica was accused and arrested in May 1692, not long after her husband, Roger Toothaker, was arrested for witchcraft. At her examination in July, she confessed to covenanting with the Devil who had appeared to her like a “Tawny man” and promised to keep her “safe from the Indians” if she signed a piece of birch bark in blood. She also confessed to attending witch meetings, implicated her husband (who was known to use magical remedies), and said that he and their daughter read a book on astrology to divine the future. Roger Tookaker died in the Boston jail in June. Mary Toothaker was tried by the new court in January 1693, found not guilty by a grand jury, and released.

Document: Examination and Transcription Date: 1692 September 30

Johanna Tyler*

Johanna Tyler of Andover was accused of witchcraft along with her sister, Martha, and their mother, Mary Tyler, in September 1692. Johanna Tyler confessed to covenanting with the Devil and said that he promised that “he would let me have fine clothes & when he baptized me if he said I should be his for Ever & Ever.” She was tried by the new court in January 1693, found not guilty by a grand jury, and released.

Document: Examination and Transcription Date: 1692 September 16

WARDWELL/HAWKES FAMILY

Sarah wardwell*.

Sarah Wardwell of Andover was accused and arrested at the end of August 1692 along with her husband, Samuel, their daughter Mercy Wardwell, and Sarah’s daughter from her first marriage, Sarah Hawkes. Samuel Wardwell confessed first, admitting that he used to tell fortunes and that he had given himself to the Devil 20 years ago. He was tried, convicted, and executed in September 1692. Sarah Wardwell confessed to signing the Devil’s book and to being baptized by him, but said she was sorry for hurting people and “promises to renounce the Devil & all his works & Serve the true living God.” Sarah Wardwell was tried by the new court in January 1693 and found guilty but later reprieved by Governor William Phips.

Document: Examination and Transcription Date: 1692 September 1

Mercy Wardwell*

19-year-old Mercy Wardwell confessed in September 1692 that she had covenanted with the Devil and promised to serve him for 20 years after he appeared in the “shape of a dog & told her she must be his for he was God & Christ & she should want for no thing if she would serve him.” She was tried in January 1693, found not guilty by a grand jury, and released.

Sarah Hawks*

21-year-old Sarah Hawks confessed in September 1692 to covenanting with the Devil, being baptized by him at Five Mile Pond, attending a witch meeting, and practicing divination. She admitted to afflicting several people in Andover in the company of her mother, Sarah Wardwell, her stepfather, Samuel Wardwell, and her sister, Mercy Wardwell. She was tried in January 1693, found not guilty by a grand jury, and released.

Sarah Wildes*

Sarah Wildes of Topsfield was accused of witchcraft and examined in April 1692. She denied the accusations against her, but had previously been suspected of witchcraft by the family of her husband’s first wife. Her husband, John WIldes, and son, Ephraim Wildes (a constable in Topsfield), both gave testimony that she was innocent, but several others offered testimony of her guilt. In this document, Nathaniel Ingersoll testified that Mary Walcott, Mercy Lewis, Abigail Williams, and Ann Putnam, Jr. said they were afflicted and tortured by the specter of Sarah Wildes. Sarah Wildes was tried and convicted, and she was executed in Salem on July 19, 1692.

Document: Testimony of Nathaniel Ingersoll and Transcription Date: 1692 April 22

RELATED MATERIALS IN THE NEHH DIGITAL ARCHIVE

Boston, mass. second church (1650-1815).

The Second Church of Boston was gathered in 1649, the second Congregational church formed by English settlers in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. This church was also historically referred to as the Old North Meeting House. Ministers at the Second Church included several members of the Mather family: Increase Mather, Cotton Mather, and Samuel Mather. In 1714, members of the church left to form the New North Church. The meetinghouse of the Second Church was destroyed by the British during the Revolutionary War, which caused the congregation to merge with the New Brick Church. In 1970, the First and Second Churches of Boston merged, and today it is a Unitarian Universalist church.

Danvers, Mass. First Church (1689-1845)

The First Church of Danvers was founded in 1672 when a group of farmers who lived quite a distance from the Salem meetinghouse, of which they were members, petitioned for permission to erect a meetinghouse of their own. This collection contains the early records of the Danvers church, including records pertaining to membership, vital statistics, and church meetings. Of particular note are records pertaining to the confession and trial of Martha Corey (alternatively spelled Kory and Cory) in regards to the witchcraft controversy in Salem.

Green, Joseph. Diary (1700-1715)

Rev. Joseph Green (1674-1715) graduated from Harvard in 1695 and was ordained in 1698. He became minister of the Salem Village church, replacing the controversial Rev. Samuel Parris who had left in 1696. Green also presided over the congregation’s votes to rescind charges of witchcraft against those accused. The collection contains a diary kept by Green between 1700 and 1715.

Marblehead, Mass. Old North Church (1684-1886)

TRANSCRIPTION AVAILABLE

The First Church of Christ of Marblehead, Massachusetts, was established on August 13, 1684, and Rev. Samuel Cheever was ordained the first minister. The first meetinghouse was built atop Old Burial Hill in 1638, and the second meetinghouse was constructed in 1695. The third, and final, meetinghouse, built of stone, was constructed in 1824. Disagreements over the appointment of ministers led to the establishment of the Second Church in 1716 and the Third Church in 1858. Now known as the Old North Church, the church continues to serve the local community. This collection contains the earliest administrative and financial record books for the church.

Mather, Cotton. Diary and Personal Documents (1716)

Rev. Cotton Mather (1663-1728), was born on February 12, 1663 in the city of Boston. He graduated from Harvard in 1678 and was ordained May 13, 1684 at the Second Church in Boston, also known as "Old North" Church, where he served with his father, Increase (1639-1723). He was a prolific author, publishing some 280 distinct items. He endorsed inoculation as a means of preventing smallpox and was involved in the Salem witchcraft trials as both a prosecutor and an advisor. This collection includes a portion of Mather's diary entries from 1716, an essay for his son, Samuel, with advice on attending college, and a listing of marriages Mather performed, dated 1717.

Mather Family. Papers (1648-1651)

This collection comprises papers of the Mather family, beginning with the family patriarch, Rev. Richard Mather (1596-1669), the first to emigrate from England to North America. Materials include both records created by members of the family and associated materials formerly in their keeping.

Salem, Mass. First Church (1629-1843)

The First Church of Salem, Massachusetts, founded in 1629, was one of the first churches organized in New England. Salem's church was the first truly Congregational parish with governance by church members. The population of Salem grew rapidly during the eighteenth century, resulting in the peaceful division of the First Church's congregation to form the East Church in 1719. After Rev. Samuel Fisk was ousted from his ministerial role, Fisk led his supporters to form another First Church in 1735, which was compelled to change its name to the Third Church in 1762. The original First Church split again over ministerial preference in 1772, leading to the creation of the North Church of Salem. The First Church and North Church reunited in 1923, and the East Church reunited with the First Church in 1956. The reunited church continues to serve their community today as the First Church in Salem, Unitarian Universalist. This collection contains the earliest administrative records of the church, church correspondence, pew sale records, and a copy of the 1780 church covenant.

Topsfield, Mass. Congregational Church (1684-1869)

The Congregational Church in Topsfield, Massachusetts, was founded in 1663 under the ministry of the Rev. Thomas Gilbert. The earliest extant records of the church were kept by the Rev. Joseph Capen beginning in 1684. Congregants constructed a meetinghouse on Topsfield Common in 1703. New meetinghouses were constructed in 1759 and 1842. The church continues to serve their community today as the Congregational Church of Topsfield, a member of the United Church of Christ. The collection contains two bound volumes of church records. These include meeting minutes, membership records, and lists of baptisms, marriages, and deaths.

Turell, Ebenezer. Account of a Witchcraft Case (1728)

Rev. Ebenezer Turell (1701-1778) graduated from Harvard in 1721 and was subsequently ordained as the minister of the First Parish in Medford, Massachusetts, in 1724. He remained in Medford until his death. This collection contains Turell’s handwritten account and commentary on a witchcraft case at Littleton in 1720.

MORE RESOURCES FOR RESEARCHING THE SALEM WITCH TRIALS

Adams, Gretchen. The Specter of Salem: Remembering the Witch Trials in Nineteenth-Century America . Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2008.

Baker, Emerson. A Storm of Witchcraft: The Salem Trials and the American Experience . New York: Oxford University Press, 2015.

Boyer, Paul S, and Stephen Nissenbaum. Salem Possessed: The Social Origins of Witchcraft . Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1974.

Demos, John. Entertaining Satan: Witchcraft and the Culture of Early New England . New York: Oxford University Press, 1982.

Games, Alison. Witchcraft in Early North America . Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2010.

Godbeer, Richard. The Devil's Dominion: Magic and Religion in Early New England . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992.

Hall, David. Worlds of Wonder, Days of Judgment: Popular Religious Belief in Early New England . Harvard, 1989.

Karlsen, Carol F. The Devil in the Shape of a Woman: Witchcraft in Colonial New England . New York: Norton, 1998.

Morrison, Dane and Nancy L Schultz, eds. Salem: Place, Myth and Memory . Boston: Northeastern University Press, 2004.

Moyer, Paul. Detestable and Wicked Arts: New England and Witchcraft in the Early Modern Atlantic World . Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2020.

Norton, Mary Beth. In the Devil’s Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692 . New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2002.

Ray, Benjamin C. Satan and Salem: The Witch-Hunt Crisis of 1692 . Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2015.

Reis, Elizabeth. Damned Women: Sinners and Witches in Puritan New England . Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1997.

Roach, Marilynne K. The Salem Witch Trials: A Day-by-Day Chronicle of a Community Under Siege . New York: Cooper Square Press, 2002.

Rosenthal, Bernard. Salem Story: Reading the Witch Trials of 1692 . Cambridge; Cambridge University Press, 1993.

Upham, Charles Wentworth. Salem Witchcraft; with an Account of Salem Village and a History of Opinions on Witchcraft and Kindred Subjects . Boston, 1867. 

Baxter, Richard. The Certainty of the Worlds of Spirits Fully Evinced by Unquestionable Histories of Apparitions and Witchcrafts, Operations, Voices, &c. Proving the Immortality of Souls, the Malice and Miseries of the Devil and the Damned, and the Blessedness of the Justified . London, 1691.

Boyer, Paul S, and Stephen Nissenbaum. Salem-Village Witchcraft : A Documentary Record of Local Conflict in Colonial New England . New York: Da Capo Press, 1977.

Burr, George Lincoln. Narratives of the Witchcraft Cases, 1648-1706 . New York: Scribner, 1914.

Calef, Robert. More Wonders of the Invisible World, or, The Wonders of the Invisible World Displayed: In Five Parts: to Which Is Added a Postscript Relating to a Book Entitled, The Life of Sir William Phips . London, 1700.

Gaule, John. Select Cases of Conscience touching Witches and Witchcraft . London, 1646.

Hale, John. A Modest Enquiry into the Nature of Witchcraft, And How Persons Guilty of That Crime May Be Convicted: and the Means Used for Their Discovery Discussed, Both Negatively and Affirmatively, According to Scripture and Experience . Boston, 1702.

Hall, David. Witch-Hunting in Seventeenth-Century New England: A Documentary History, 1638-1693 . Boston: Northeastern University Press, 1991.

Lawson, Deodat. Christ's fidelity the only shield against Satans malignity, asserted in a sermon delivered at Salem-village, the 24th of March, 1692 : being lecture day there, and a time of publick examination of some suspected for witchcraft . Boston, 1704.

Mather, Cotton. Wonders of the Invisible World: Being an Account of the Tryals of Several Witches, Lately Executed in New-England . Boston, 1693.

Mather, Increase. Cases of Conscience Concerning Evil Spirits Personating Men, Witchcrafts, Infallible Proofs of Guilt in Such As Are Accused with That Crime; All Considered According to the Scriptures, History, Experience, and the Judgment of Many Learned Men . Boston, 1693.

Parris, Samuel. The Sermon Notebook of Samuel Parris, 1689-1694 . Colonial Society of Massachusetts, 1993.

Perkins, William. A discourse of the damned art of witchcraft so farre forth as it is reuealed in the Scriptures, and manifest by true experience . Cambridge, 1608.

Rosenthal, Bernard, (general editor). Records of the Salem Witch-Hunt . New York: Cambridge University Press, 2009.

Willard, Samuel. Some Miscellany Observations on Our Present Debates Respecting Witchcraft: In a Dialogue Between S. & B. Philadelphia, 1692.

Salem Witchcraft Trials Records, 1692 at the Congregational Library & Archives

Salem Witch Trials Collection from the Peabody Essex Museum

The Salem Witch Trials Documentary Archive and Transcription Project

The Danvers Archival Center

The Cornell University Library Witchcraft Collection

Boston Public Library

Witch Trials Online Sites Tour

Cotton Mather Resources at the Congregational Library & Archives

CREATED WITH GENEROUS SUPPORT FROM

The New England’s Hidden Histories Project has been made possible in part by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities: Democracy demands wisdom

This digital resource has been made possible in part by the Council on Library and Information Resources, through a Digitizing Hidden Collections grant. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this resource do not necessarily represent those of the Council on Library and Information Resources.

What Caused the Salem Witch Trials?

Looking into the underlying causes of the Salem Witch Trials in the 17th century.

In February 1692, the Massachusetts Bay Colony town of Salem Village found itself at the center of a notorious case of mass hysteria: eight young women accused their neighbors of witchcraft. Trials ensued and, when the episode concluded in May 1693, fourteen women, five men, and two dogs had been executed for their supposed supernatural crimes.

The Salem witch trials occupy a unique place in our collective history. The mystery around the hysteria and miscarriage of justice continue to inspire new critiques, most recently with the recent release of The Witches: Salem, 1692 by Pulitzer Prize-winning Stacy Schiff.

But what caused the mass hysteria, false accusations, and lapses in due process? Scholars have attempted to answer these questions with a variety of economic and physiological theories.

The economic theories of the Salem events tend to be two-fold: the first attributes the witchcraft trials to an economic downturn caused by a “little ice age” that lasted from 1550-1800; the second cites socioeconomic issues in Salem itself.

Emily Oster posits that the “little ice age” caused economic deterioration and food shortages that led to anti-witch fervor in communities in both the United States and Europe in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Temperatures began to drop at the beginning of the fourteenth century, with the coldest periods occurring from 1680 to 1730. The economic hardships and slowdown of population growth could have caused widespread scapegoating which, during this period, manifested itself as persecution of so-called witches, due to the widely accepted belief that “witches existed, were capable of causing physical harm to others and could control natural forces.”

Salem Village, where the witchcraft accusations began, was an agrarian, poorer counterpart to the neighboring Salem Town, which was populated by wealthy merchants. According to the oft-cited book  Salem Possessed by Paul Boyer and Stephen Nissenbaum, Salem Village was being torn apart by two opposing groups–largely agrarian townsfolk to the west and more business-minded villagers to the east, closer to the Town. “What was going on was not simply a personal quarrel, an economic dispute, or even a struggle for power, but a mortal conflict involving the very nature of the community itself. The fundamental issue was not who was to control the Village, but what its essential character was to be.” In a retrospective look at their book for a 2008 William and Mary Quarterly Forum , Boyer and Nissenbaum explain that as tensions between the two groups unfolded, “they followed deeply etched factional fault lines that, in turn, were influenced by anxieties and by differing levels of engagement with and access to the political and commercial opportunities unfolding in Salem Town.” As a result of increasing hostility, western villagers accused eastern neighbors of witchcraft.

But some critics including Benjamin C. Ray have called Boyer and Nissenbaum’s socio-economic theory into question . For one thing –the map they were using has been called into question. He writes: “A review of the court records shows that the Boyer and Nissenbaum map is, in fact, highly interpretive and considerably incomplete.” Ray goes on:

Contrary to Boyer and Nissenbaum’s conclusions in Salem Possessed, geo graphic analysis of the accusations in the village shows there was no significant villagewide east-west division between accusers and accused in 1692. Nor was there an east-west divide between households of different economic status.

On the other hand, the physiological theories for the mass hysteria and witchcraft accusations include both fungus poisoning and undiagnosed encephalitis.

Linnda Caporael argues that the girls suffered from convulsive ergotism, a condition caused by ergot, a type of fungus, found in rye and other grains. It produces hallucinatory, LSD-like effects in the afflicted and can cause victims to suffer from vertigo, crawling sensations on the skin, extremity tingling, headaches, hallucinations, and seizure-like muscle contractions. Rye was the most prevalent grain grown in the Massachusetts area at the time, and the damp climate and long storage period could have led to an ergot infestation of the grains.

One of the more controversial theories states that the girls suffered from an outbreak of encephalitis lethargica , an inflammation of the brain spread by insects and birds. Symptoms include fever, headaches, lethargy, double vision, abnormal eye movements, neck rigidity, behavioral changes, and tremors.  In her 1999 book, A Fever in Salem , Laurie Winn Carlson argues that in the winter of 1691 and spring of 1692, some of the accusers exhibited these symptoms, and that a doctor had been called in to treat the girls. He couldn’t find an underlying physical cause, and therefore concluded that they suffered from possession by witchcraft, a common diagnoses of unseen conditions at the time.

The controversies surrounding the accusations, trials, and executions in Salem, 1692, continue to fascinate historians and we continue to ask why, in a society that should have known better, did this happen? Economic and physiological causes aside, the Salem witchcraft trials continue to act as a parable of caution against extremism in judicial processes.

Editor’s note: This post was edited to clarify that Salem Village was where the accusations began, not where the trials took place.

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• DOI: 10.1081/CLT-100100958
• Corpus ID: 10469595

Witchcraft or Mycotoxin? The Salem Witch Trials

• Published in Journal of Toxicology… 1 January 2000

46 Citations

The salem witch trials, salem witchcraft and lessons for contemporary forensic psychiatry..

• Highly Influenced

Witchcraft or Mental Illness

“the salem witch mania”: recent scholarship and american history textbooks, ergotism in norway. part 1: the symptoms and their interpretation from the late iron age to the seventeenth century, the witch trials of finnmark, northern norway, during the 17th century: evidence for ergotism as a contributing factor, parasites or cohabitants: cruel omnipresent usurpers or creative “éminences grises”, a psychological analysis of the arthur miller’s abigail williams to her historical person, why the quakers quaked: the influence of climatic change on quaker health, 1647-1659, salem trials (1692) in history and in miller’s the crucible: investigating truth claims in historical narratives and drama, 15 references, ergotism and the salem witch panic: a critical analysis and an alternative conceptualization..

• Highly Influential

Ergotism: the satan loosed in Salem?

Report on an outbreak of alleged ergot poisoning by rye bread in manchester, occurrence of peptide and clavine ergot alkaloids in tall fescue grass., mycotoxins: toxicity, carcinogenicity, and the influence of various nutritional conditions*, ergotamine absorption and toxicity., ergot induced myocardial ischaemia in a patient without vasospastic disorder, acute myocardial infarction secondary to ergot therapy, ergot and the salem witchcraft affair., ergotism and the salem village witch trials., related papers.

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A Brief History of the Salem Witch Trials

One town’s strange journey from paranoia to pardon

Jess Blumberg

The Salem witch trials occurred in colonial Massachusetts between early 1692 and mid-1693. More than 200 people were accused of practicing witchcraft—the devil’s magic —and 20 were executed.

In 1711, colonial authorities pardoned some of the accused and compensated their families. But it was only in July 2022 that Elizabeth Johnson Jr. , the last convicted Salem “witch” whose name had yet to be cleared , was officially exonerated .

Since the 17th century, the story of the trials has become synonymous with paranoia and injustice . Fueled by xenophobia , religious extremism and long-brewing social tensions , the witch hunt continues to beguile the popular imagination more than 300 years later.

Tensions in Salem

In the medieval and early modern eras, many religions, including Christianity , taught that the devil could give people known as witches the power to harm others in return for their loyalty. A “ witchcraft craze ” rippled through Europe from the 1300s to the end of the 1600s. Tens of thousands of supposed witches —mostly women—were executed. Though the Salem trials took place just as the European craze was winding down, local circumstances explain their onset.

In 1689, English monarchs William and Mary started a war with France in the American colonies. Known as King William’s War to colonists, the conflict ravaged regions of upstate New York, Nova Scotia and Quebec, sending refugees into the county of Essex—and, specifically, Salem Village—in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. (Salem Village is present-day Danvers, Massachusetts; colonial Salem Town became what’s now Salem.)

The displaced people placed a strain on Salem’s resources, aggravating the existing rivalry between families with ties to the wealth of the port of Salem and those who still depended on agriculture. Controversy also brewed over the Reverend Samuel Parris , who became Salem Village’s first ordained minister in 1689 and quickly gained a reputation for his rigid ways and greedy nature. The Puritan villagers believed all the quarreling was the work of the devil.

In January 1692, Parris’ daughter Elizabeth (or Betty), age 9, and niece Abigail Williams, age 11, started having “fits.” They screamed, threw things, uttered peculiar sounds and contorted themselves into strange positions. A local doctor blamed the supernatural . Another girl, 12-year-old Ann Putnam Jr., experienced similar episodes. On February 29, under pressure from magistrates Jonathan Corwin and John Hathorne, colonial officials who tried local cases, the girls blamed three women for afflicting them: Tituba , a Caribbean woman enslaved by the Parris family; Sarah Good , a homeless beggar; and Sarah Osborne , an elderly impoverished woman.

The witch hunt begins

All three women were brought before the local magistrates and interrogated for several days, starting on March 1, 1692. Osborne claimed innocence, as did Good. But Tituba confessed , “The devil came to me and bid me serve him.” She described elaborate images of black dogs, red cats, yellow birds and a “tall man with white hair” who wanted her to sign his book. She admitted that she’d signed the book and claimed there were several other witches looking to destroy the Puritans.

With the seeds of paranoia planted, a stream of accusations followed over the next few months. Charges against Martha Corey , a loyal member of the church in Salem Village, greatly concerned the community; if she could be a witch, then anyone could. Magistrates even questioned Good’s 4-year-old daughter, Dorothy , whose timid answers were construed as a confession. The questioning got more serious in April, when the colony’s deputy governor, Thomas Danforth, and his assistants attended the hearings. Dozens of people from Salem and other Massachusetts villages were brought in for questioning .

On May 27, 1692, Governor William Phips ordered the establishment of a Special Court of Oyer (to hear) and Terminer (to decide) for Suffolk, Essex and Middlesex counties. The first accused witch brought in front of the special court was Bridget Bishop , an older woman known for her gossipy habits and promiscuity. When asked if she committed witchcraft, Bishop responded , “I am as innocent as the child unborn.” The defense must not have been convincing, because she was found guilty and, on June 10, became the first person hanged on what was later called Gallows Hill .

Just a few days after the court was established, respected minister Cotton Mather wrote a letter imploring the court not to allow spectral evidence —testimony about dreams and visions. The court largely ignored this request, sentencing the hangings of five people in July, five more in August and eight in September. On October 3, following in his son Cotton’s footsteps, Increase Mather , then-president of Harvard, denounced the use of spectral evidence: “It were better that ten suspected witches should escape than one innocent person be condemned.”

Phips, in response to these pleas and his own wife’s questioning as a suspected witch, prohibited further arrests and released many accused witches. He dissolved the Court of Oyer and Terminer on October 29, replacing it with a Superior Court of Judicature , which disallowed spectral evidence and condemned just 3 out of 56 defendants.

By May 1693, Phips had pardoned all those imprisoned on witchcraft charges. But the damage was already done. Nineteen men and women had been hanged on Gallows Hill. Giles Corey , Martha’s 71-year-old husband, was pressed to death in September 1692 with heavy stones after refusing to submit himself to a trial. At least five of the accused died in jail. Even animals fell victim to the mass hysteria, with colonists in Andover and Salem Village killing two dogs believed to be linked to the devil.

Restoring good names

In the years following the trials and executions, some involved, like judge Samuel Sewall and accuser Ann Putnam , publicly confessed error and guilt. On January 14, 1697, Massachusetts’ General Court ordered a day of fasting and soul-searching over the tragedy of Salem. In 1702, the court declared the trials unlawful. And in 1711, the colony passed a bill restoring the rights and good names of many of the accused, as well as granting a total of £600 in restitution to their heirs. But it wasn’t until 1957—more than 250 years later—that Massachusetts formally apologized for the events of 1692. Johnson, the accused woman exonerated in July 2022, was left out of the 1957 resolution for reasons unknown but received an official pardon after a successful lobbying campaign by a class of eighth-grade civics students.

In the 20th century, artists and scientists alike continued to be fascinated by the Salem witch trials. Playwright Arthur Miller resurrected the tale with his 1953 play The Crucible , using the trials as an allegory for the anti-communist McCarthyism then sweeping the country. Scholars offered up competing explanations for the strange behavior that occurred in Salem, with scientists seeking a medical cause for the accusers’ afflictions and historians more often grounding their theories in the community’s tense sociopolitical environment .

An early hypothesis now viewed as “fringe, especially in historical circles ,” according to Vox , posited that the accusers suffered from ergotism , a condition caused by eating foods contaminated with the fungus ergot. Symptoms include muscle spasms, vomiting, delusions and hallucinations. Other theories emphasize a “combination of church politics, family feuds and hysterical children, all of which unfolded in a vacuum of political authority,” as Encyclopedia Britannica notes. Ultimately, the causes of the witch hunt remain subject to much debate .

In August 1992, to mark the 300th anniversary of the trials, Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel dedicated the Witch Trials Memorial in Salem. Also in Salem, the Peabody Essex Museum , which houses the original court documents , mounted an exhibition reckoning with and reclaiming the tragedy in late 2021 and early 2022. Finally, the town’s most-visited attraction, the Salem Witch Museum , attests to the public’s enduring enthrallment with the 17th-century hysteria.

Editor’s Note, October 24, 2022: This article has been updated to reflect the latest research on the Salem witch trials.

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Salem Witch Trials: Primary Sources

The primary sources of the Salem Witch Trials offer a wealth of information on these infamous trials.

These sources include official court records as well as several books, diaries and letters written by the various people involved in the trials.

Many of these primary sources were published in the latter half of 1692, while the trials were still going on.

Hoping to stop further arrests and to calm the hysteria, Governor Phips banned the publication of all books regarding the Salem Witch Trials in late October of 1692, as he explained in a letter to William Blathwayt of the Privy Council:

“I have also put a stop to the printing of any discourses one way or another, that may increase the needless disputes of people upon this occasion, because I saw a likelihood of kindling an inextinguishable flame if I should admit any public and open contests.”

Many historians have pointed out that this ban is essentially the first government cover up in American history and was designed to stifle the growing opposition to the trials because it was a threat to the government of the Province of Massachusetts Bay.

The majority of these primary sources were critical of the trials and made strong arguments against how the trials were conducted.

In order to defend its actions, the Massachusetts government asked Boston minister Cotton Mather to write a book about the trials in which he justified the trials and the way they were conducted.

Mather’s book was published in late October of 1692, after the ban had taken affect but included a disclaimer explaining that the book was authorized by the colonial government.

Even though the ban was in effect, it couldn’t stop the circulation of some unpublished letters criticizing the trials and the ban was eventually broken with the publications of various books by people who were either involved in or had witnessed the events of the trials.

The following is a list of primary sources of the Salem Witch Trials:

(Disclaimer: This article contains Amazon affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.)

♦ A Brief and True Narrative of Some Remarkable Passages Relating to Sundry Persons Afflicted by Witchcraft, at Salem Village by Deodat Lawson

Published in 1692, this 10-page narrative by Deodat Lawson is about Lawson’s personal observations of the events at Salem in the spring of 1692.

Lawson had a personal interest in Salem because he had been the minister at Salem Village from 1687 to 1688 but was denied the position of full minister after several parishioners objected to his permanent tenure as a result of ongoing disputes between the parishioners.

The narrative was written after Lawson had been invited to Salem to serve as a guest preacher for the sabbath service on March 20, 1692 and his sermon was interrupted several times by some of the afflicted girls in attendance.

Since this type of behavior was so unusual for young children in Puritan society, Lawson decided to dig deeper into the events at Salem village and, as a result, wrote what became the first eyewitness account of the Salem Witch Trials.

After spending a month in Salem, Parris returned to Boston where the manuscript was published by Boston publisher Benjamin Harris and “sold at his shop, over-against the Old-Meeting-House.,1692.”

In 1704, Lawson wrote another account of the Salem Witch Trials, a sermon titled “Christ’s Fidelity the only Shield against Satan’s Malignity,” aka “Witchcraft in Salem,” which was published in London in 1704.

♦ Robert Pike Letter to Judge Jonathan Corwin

On August 9, 1692, Robert Pike, the Massachusetts Bay councilor and Salisbury magistrate, wrote a personal letter to Judge Corwin expressing his concerns with the admission of spectral evidence in the trials.

In the letter, Pike argues that spectral evidence is unreliable because these alleged visions and apparitions are “more commonly false and delusive than real, and cannot be known when they are real and when feigned.”

Pike goes on to argue that spectral evidence is considered unreliable evidence for three specific reasons:

1. Apparitions and visions are sometimes caused by delusion. 2. The devil himself can appear in the shape of a person without their knowledge. 3. Even if an apparition was real, it is impossible to know whether it is real or a delusion.

Pike also points out how illogical it is that these accused witches would plead innocent but then incriminate themselves by using witchcraft openly in the courtroom, as the accusers stated they were doing, and suggests that the accusers were delusional or possibly possessed.

It is not known what Corwin thought of the letter since there is no record of a reply or response.

Although Pike previously supported the testimony of several accusers against Salisbury native Susannah Martin, he eventually came out against the Salem Witch Trials and also signed an affidavit in defense of another accused Salisbury woman, Mary Bradbury, who was his son’s mother-in-law.

Pike’s letter to Corwin was later republished in a number of books, such as Salem Witchcraft by Charles W. Upham and The New Puritan: New England Two Hundred Years Ago by James Shephard Pike.

♦ Thomas Brattle’s Letter to an Unnamed Clergyman

On October 8, 1692, Thomas Brattle, a Boston merchant, wrote a letter to an unnamed English clergyman in which he criticized the Salem Witch Trials.

In the letter, Brattle criticizes the methods in which the accused are examined, points out the unreliablity of confessions from the accused, denounces the use of spectral evidence and criticizes the practice of relying on the “afflicted girls” for information on suspected witches.

Brattle supports his argument against spectral evidence by stating that it is actually the work of the devil:

“I think it will appear evident to any one, that the Devil’s information is the fundamental testimony that is gone upon in the apprehending of the aforesaid people…Liberty was evermore accounted the great priviledge of an Englishman; but certainly, if the Devil will be heard against us, and his testimony taken, to the seizing and apprehending us, our liberty vanishes, and we are fools if we boast our liberty.”

Brattle also argues that consulting with the afflicted girls for information on their alleged supernatural knowledge is absurd:

“It is true, I know no reason why these afflicted may not be consulted as well as any other, if so be that it was only their natural and ordinary knowledge that was had recourse to: but it is not on this notion that these afflicted children are sought onto; but as they have a supernatural knowledge; a knowledge which they obtain by their holding correspondence with spectres and evill spirits, as they themselves grant. This consulting of these afflicted children, as abovesaid, seems to me to be a very grosse evill, a real abomination, not fitt to be known in N.E.”

The letter circulated widely in Boston at the time and continues to be studied due to its reasoned and secular arguments against the trials.

The letter was later published in a number of books, such as Narratives of the Witchcraft Cases 1648-1706 by George Lincoln Burr and What Happened in Salem: Documents Pertaining to the 17th Century Witchcraft Trials by David Levin.

♦ Some Miscellany Observations on Our Present Debates Regarding Witchcraft in a Dialogue Between S & B by P.E. And J.A.

Published in mid-October of 1692, this 16-page book by Samuel Willard criticizes the use of spectral evidence in the Salem Witch Trials.

The book is structured as a debate between “S and B,” which stands for Salem and Boston, with Willard’s views being represented by Boston.

While both sides agree that witches exist, Boston argues that the accused witches should only be convicted if sufficient evidence is found while Salem argues that spectral evidence is sufficient.

Boston goes on to argue that spectral evidence is insufficient because the afflicted girls are possessed, not bewitched, but Salem argues that they were indeed bewitched because they display the “seven signs of one bewitched.”

Boston then counters that this argument is tricky because it is possible to be both bewitched and possessed at the same time:

“I dispute not that ; though I find force to be very confused in this point : but supposing them bewitched, they may be possessed too: and it is an ordinary thing for a possession to be introduced by a bewitching, as there are many instances in history do confirm.”

The book was published under assumed names to protect Willard from being prosecuted. The initials “P.E. And J.A.” are the initials of Philip English and John Alden who were two accused witches who had fled Salem.

The book was also listed as having been published in Philadelphia when it was actually published in Boston as another way to avoid prosecution.

The book is located in the records of the Massachusetts Historical Society and is also available on the Salem Witch Trials Documentary Archive and Transcription Project website.

♦ The Wonders of the Invisible World: Being an Account of the Tryals of Several Witches Lately Executed in New-England by Cotton Mather

Published in October of 1692, this book by Boston minister Cotton Mather discusses a number of witchcraft cases in New England during the 17th century, including the Salem Witch Trials.

The book is considered both a justification for and an official defense of the verdicts in the Salem Witch Trials.

In the book, Mather states that New England is under attack by the Devil and argues these instances of witchcraft are proof of that claim.

Mather goes on to explain that a witch who had been executed 40 years prior had warned the Massachusetts Bay Colony of a “horrible plot against the country by witchcraft” which Mather states finally seems to have been uncovered in Salem, the first settlement of the colony:

“And we have now with horror seen the discovery of such witchcraft! An army of devils is horribly broke in upon the place which is the center, and after a sort, the first-born of our English settlements.”

The book contains descriptions of the six most notorious cases of witchcraft: George Burrough, Bridget Bishop, Susannah Martin, Elizabeth Howe, Martha Carrier and a witchcraft case in England against Rose Cullender and Amy Duny.

Although Mather wasn’t directly involved in the Salem Witch Trials, he gave the judges advice on what is considered acceptable evidence of witchcraft by the church, attended some of the executions and even intervened in one of the executions after Reverend George Burroughs recited the Lord’s Prayer perfectly upon the ladder and dissent began to grow in the crowd.

After Burroughs was pushed off the ladder and hanged, Mather reassured the crowd that Burroughs wasn’t an ordained minister and that he was in fact guilty, which seemed to appease them and allowed the remaining executions that day to continue.

Some historians argue that the book doesn’t reflect how Mather really felt about the trials since his personal letters and diaries reflect a much more cautious view of spectral evidence and of the trials in general.

Robert Calef points out, in his own book More Wonders of the Invisible World, that Mather’s language in the book shows that the work was actually more propaganda than it was a historical account and that Mather wrote it as he did solely to please the government officials who had appointed him to write it:

“Martin is called one of the most impudent, scurrilous, wicked creatures in the world; in his account of Martha Carrier, he is pleased to call her a rampant hag, & c. These expressions, as they manifest that he wrote more like an advocate than an historian, so also that those that were his employers were not mistaken in their choice of him for that work…” Calef (276).

The Wonders of the Invisible World was the first official book ever written on the Salem Witch Trials and was only published because it was officially authorized and commissioned by the Massachusetts colonial government.

♦ More Wonders of the Invisible World by Robert Calef

Written in 1697 and published in 1700, this book by Boston cloth merchant Robert Calef denounces the Salem Witch Trials and Cotton Mather’s role in it.

The book was written as a response to Cotton Mather’s book Wonders of the Invisible World and contains evidence not presented in the trials, such as the juror’s apologies and some of the accuser’s confessions of lying.

The book also criticizes the use of spectral evidence and criticizes Puritans for their “unscriptual” belief in witches, arguing that the Bible makes no mention of witchcraft and therefore gives no basis for the existence of witches’ pacts with the devil.

Calef then concludes the book by stating that Mather’s actions were “highly criminal” and his beliefs in witches and witchcraft made him “guilty of of sacrilege in the highest nature…”

The book consists of five parts: Part 1: Cotton Mather’s account of Margaret Rule from the fall of 1693; Part 2: Letters to Mather and his reply relating to witchcraft; Part 3: The conflict between the Salem village residents and Samuel Parris; Part IV: Letters discussing whether the recent opinions about witchcraft are orthodox; Part V: a short history of the Salem Witch Trials written by Cotton Mather.

Calef wrote the book after a visit to Salem in the spring and summer of 1692, during which he witnessed and described many of the events of the trials, such as some of the executions.

In fact, Calef’s description of the execution site was one of many sources that later helped researchers identify Proctor’s Ledge as the site of the hangings in 2016.

The book was printed in London in 1700 and then later reprinted in Salem in 1823.

♦ Cause of Conscience Concerning Evil Spirits by Increase Mather

Published around November or December of 1692, but postdated to 1693 to comply with Phip’s ban, this book by Increase Mather criticizes the court’s use of spectral evidence and other evidence, such as the touch test.

In the book, Mather argued that specters could take the shape of innocent people and therefore rendered spectral evidence invalid. Mather referenced scriptures from the Bible and historical stories to illustrate his point:

“Argu I. There are several scriptures from which we may infer the possibility of what is affirmed. I. We find that the devil by the instigation of the witch at Endor appeared in the likeness of the prophet Samuel…But that is was a demon represent Samuel has been evidenced by learned and orthodox writers: especially (e) Peter Martyr, (f) Balduinus, (t) Lavater, and our incomparable John Rainolde…And that evil angels have sometimes appeared in the likeness of of living absent persons is a thing abundantly confirmed in history…Paulus and Palladius did both of them profess to Austin, that one in his shape had divers times, and in divers places appeared them (k) Thyreus; mentions several apparitions of absent living persons, which happened in his time…Nevertheless, it is evident from another scripture, viz, that in, 2 Cor 11. 14. For Satan himself is transformed into an Angel of light. He seems to be what he is not, and makes others seem to be what they are not…Third scripture to our purpose is that, in Re: 12 10 where the devil is called the accuser of the brethren…”

Mather also argues that another cause of these visions and specters is that the afflicted persons might be possessed by evil spirits.

Overall, Mather’s main problem with the use of this spectral evidence is the religious consequences of it:

“To take away the life of any one; meerly because a spectre or devil, in a bewitched or possessed person does accuse them, will bring the guilt of the innocent blood on the land.”

Mather finished writing the book on October 3, 1692 and sent it to Governor Phips and presented a summary of the book to the assembly of ministers in Boston for their approval.

The manuscript circulated widely in Boston before it was finally published. Before its publication, Mather added a postscript that strongly supported the use of confessions as evidence, stating:

“More than one or two of those now in prison, have freely and credibly acknowledged their communion and and familiarity with the spirits of darkness.”

♦ Truth Held Forth & Maintained by Thomas Maule

Published in 1695, this 260 pamphlet by Salem shopkeeper Thomas Maule criticizes the Puritan leaders of Massachusetts Bay for their treatment of Quakers and for their mismanagement of the Salem Witch Trials.

In the pamphlet, Maule criticizes the use of spectral evidence in the trials, argues that many of the accused witch’s confessions were forced and states that God would adversely judge the prosecutors of the Salem Witch Trials.

On December 14, 1695, Sheriff George Corwin arrested Maule for printing the pamphlet “without license of authority”, and seized the 31 copies in his possession. Corwin then took Maule to the Salem jail and then burned the confiscated copies (Hildeburn 305.)

On December 16, 1695, Maule was brought before the council for printing the book but refused to answer any questions. The remaining copies were ordered to be burned.

Maule was finally tried in 1696 and acquitted of all charges.

♦ A Modest Enquiry Into the Nature of Witchcraft by John Hale

Written in 1697 and published posthumously in 1702, this book by John Hale, who was the pastor of the Church of Christ in Beverly, Mass, is a critique of the Salem Witch Trials.

The book discusses various witchcraft cases in New England from 1648 to 1692 and includes the events that led up to the Salem Witch Trials, many of which Hale witnessed firsthand.

Some of the events described in the book include how some of the “afflicted girls” dabbled in folk magic and fortune-telling techniques shortly before they became ill, what the afflicted girls symptoms were, how Tituba baked a “witch cake” with the help of a neighbor to identify who was bewitching the girls, how Tituba’s confession prompted officials to examine more suspects and also includes brief mentions of other accused Salem witches.

Hale concludes the book by stating that it was Satan, not witches, who hurt and tormented the afflicted girls.

Hale first became involved in the Salem Witch Trials when, on March 11, 1692, he was asked by Reverend Samuel Parris to observe the afflicted girls symptoms in order to determined what was wrong with them.

Hale later attended many of the court cases, often prayed with the accused and supported the work of the court but ultimately reconsidered his support when his wife, Sarah Noyes Hale, was herself accused of the crime on November 14, 1692.

♦ Court Records

The court records from the Salem Witch Trials include examinations of the accused witches, depositions, testimonies, petitions, formal examinations, arrest warrants and death warrants.

These court records are available on the website of the Salem Witch Trials Documentary Archive and Transcription Project and were also published in a book, titled The Salem Witchcraft Papers which was edited by Paul S. Boyer and Stephen Nissenbaum.

♦ The Cotton Mather Papers

Reverend Cotton Mather was a prolific writer and kept a diary from 1681-1724, wrote and published numerous sermons, and wrote many letters.

Mather’s collection of papers include a number of letters and diary entries related to the Salem Witch Trials, such as his many letters to the judges of the trials, his letters to the other ministers involved in the trials and his letters to his grandfather, John Cotton.

Some of Mather’s letters were later published in a multi-volume book, titled The Mather Papers and his diary was published in a book, titled Diary of Cotton Mather, 1681-1724 , along with many of his letters.

Mather’s letters to the Salem judges and to his grandfather are also available on the Salem Witch Trials Documentary Archive and Transcription Project website.

Mather’s entire collection of papers are also located in the records of the Massachusetts Historical Society.

♦ Samuel Parris’ Sermons

Reverend Samuel Parris, pastor of the Salem Village church, delivered a series of sermons between 1689 and the autumn of 1692 related to the Salem Witch Trials.

Some historians have accused Parris of causing the Salem Witch Trials by preaching many frightening and foreboding sermons that may have possibly caused panic among his anxious and stressed parishioners.

For example, in his March 27, 1692 sermon, Parris preached that the Devil had infiltrated the church:

“Our Lord Jesus Christ knows how many Devils there are in his Church, & who they are…. What is meant here by Devils. One of you is a Devil. And by Devil is ordinarily meant any wicked Angel or Spirit: Sometimes it is put for the Prince or head of the evil Spirits, or fallen Angels. Sometimes it is used for vile & wicked persons, the worst of such, who for their villany & impiety do most resemble Devils & wicked Spirits.”

Parris’ sermons are in his manuscript sermon notebook, located in the records of the Connecticut Historical Society, and were also published in a book, titled The Sermon Notebook of Samuel Parris, 1689-1694 , which was edited by James F. Cooper and Kenneth P. Minkema.

♦ Salem Village Church Record Books

Like many churches, the Salem Village church kept records of the events at the church and the people involved. The records were written by the pastor of the church at the time.

Samuel Parris served as the pastor from 1689 to 1696 and wrote all of the records from that time period. He was replaced by Joseph Green, who wrote all of the records from 1697 to 1753 during the aftermath of the Salem Witch Trials.

The records describe events such as Mary Sibley’s confession to the congregation that she had instructed Tituba to bake what was later described as a “witch cake” in order to find out who was bewitching the afflicted girls.

Parris’ records also mention the absence of many of the dissenting parishioners during and after the trials, the excommunication of Martha Corey after her conviction of witchcraft and the efforts by some of the parishioners to remove Parris from his position due to his involvement in the trials.

Green’s records mention the failed attempt to revoke Martha Corey’s excommunication in 1702, Ann Putnam’s confession in 1706 to being “made an instrument for ye accuseing of severall persons of a grievous crime” during the trials and the successful attempt to revoke Martha Corey’s excommunication in 1707.

The Salem Village Church record books are in the Danvers Archival Center, First Church Collection, in Danvers, Mass and were also published in a book, titled Salem-Village Witchcraft which was edited by Paul Boyer and Stephen Nissenbaum.

♦ Diary of Samuel Sewall

Samuel Sewall was one of the judges of the court of Oyer and Terminer, which was a special court set up to hear the Salem Witch Trials cases.

Sewall kept a diary, from 1672 to 1729, in which he described many of the events of the trials, such as Giles Corey’s death, the confession of Dorcas Hoar, the dismissal of the Court of Oyer and Terminer, his meetings the following year with some of the surviving accused witches, and his public apology for his role in the trials.

All 11 volumes of Sewall’s diaries are located in the records of the Massachusetts Historical Society in Boston, Massachusetts and were also later published in a multi-volume book, titled the Diary of Samuel Sewall.

Selected excerpts of Sewall’s diaries related specifically to the Salem Witch Trials, from volume five of his diary, are available on the website of the Salem Witch Trials Documentary Archive and Transcription Project.

For more info on this topic, check out the following articles on Salem Witch Trials secondary sources , the best Salem Witch Trials books and Salem Witch Trials websites .

Sources: Calef, Robert. More Wonders of the Invisible World. Salem: Cushing and Appleton, 1823. Hildeburn, Charles R. “Printing in New York in the Seventeenth Century.” The American Historical Magazine , Vol 3, The Americana Society, 1908. 304-305. Rosenthal, Bernard. Salem Story: Reading the Witch Trials of 1692. Cambridge University Press, 1993. Hill, Frances. The Salem Witch Trials Reader. DaCapo Press, 2000. Narratives of the Witchcraft Cases, 1648-1706. Edited by George Lincoln Burr, Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1914. Ray, Benjamin C. Satan and Salem: The Witch-Hunt Crisis of 1692. University of Virginia Press, 2015. Miller, Jon. “Deodat Lawson, ‘Witchcraft in Salem’ (1704).” Jon Miller , www.jonmiller.org/materials/2006/05/deodat_lawson_w.html Goss, David K. Documents of the Salem Witch Trials . ABC-CLIO, 2018. “Samuel Sewall Diaries, 1672-1729.” Massachusetts Historical Society, www.masshist.org/collection-guides/view/fa0243 “17th Century Documents & Books.” Salem Witch Trials Documentary Archive and Transcription Project, University of Virginia, salem.lib.virginia.edu/17docs.html “Deodat Lawson: A Brief and True Narrative.” History Department , Hanover College, history.hanover.edu/courses/excerpts/212law.html “A Guide to the On-Line Primary Sources of the Salem Witch Trials.” 17th Century Colonial New England, www.17thc.us/primarysources/

2 thoughts on “ Salem Witch Trials: Primary Sources ”

This is a really good cite. Great from NHD thank you.

Thank you! As a descendant of Mary (TOWNE) ESTEY, I have a verify, verify, verify approach to family history and primary sources are always part of the quest.

Comments are closed.

The University of Chicago Library News

The Salem Witch Trials: A legal bibliography

The law of the Salem Witch Trials is a fascinating mix of biblical passages and colonial statutes.  According to Mark Podvia (see Timeline , PDF), the General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony adopted the following statute in 1641:  “If any man or woman be a WITCH, that is, hath or consulteth with a familiar spirit, they shall be put to death. Exod . 22. 18. Levit . 20. 27. Deut . 18. 10. 11.”  The statute encompasses passages from the Bible written circa 700 B.C. Exodus states:  “Thou shall not suffer a witch to live.” Leviticus prescribes the punishment.  Witches and wizards “shall surely be put to death:  they shall stone them with stones:   their blood shall be upon them.”  And Deuteronomy states:  “There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch.  Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer.”

In Salem, the accusers and alleged victims came from a small group of girls aged nine to 19, including Betty Parris and Abigail Williams.  In January 1692, Betty and Abigail had strange fits. Rumors spread through the village attributing the fits to the devil and the work of his evil hands.  The accusers claimed the witchcraft came mostly from women, with the notable exception of four-year old Dorcas Good.

The colony created the Court of Oyer and Terminer especially for the witchcraft trials.  The law did not then use the principle of “innocent until proven guilty” – if you made it to trial, the law presumed guilt.  If the colony imprisoned you, you had to pay for your stay.  Courts relied on three kinds of evidence:  1) confession, 2) testimony of two eyewitnesses to acts of witchcraft, or  3) spectral evidence (when the afflicted girls were having their fits, they would interact with an unseen assailant – the apparition of the witch tormenting them).  According to Wendel Craker, no court ever convicted an accused of witchcraft on the basis of spectral evidence alone, but other forms of evidence were needed to corroborate the charge of witchcraft. Courts allowed “causal relationship” evidence, for example, to prove that the accused possessed or controlled an afflicted girl.  Prior conflicts, bad acts by the accused, possession of materials used in spells, greater than average strength, and witch’s marks also counted as evidence of witchcraft.  If the accused was female, a jury of women examined her body for “witch’s marks” which supposedly showed that a familiar had bitten or fed on the accused.  Other evidence included the “touching test” (afficted girls tortured by fits became calm after touching the accused).  Courts could not base convictions on confessions obtained through torture unless the accused reaffirmed the confession afterward, but if the accused recanted the confession, authorities usually tortured the accused further to obtain the confession again.  If you recited the Lord’s Prayer, you were not a witch.   The colony did not burn witches, it hanged them.

The Salem Witch Trials divided the community.  Neighbor testified against neighbor.  Children against parents.  Husband against wife.  Children died in prisons.  Familes were destroyed.  Churches removed from their congregations some of the persons accused of witchcraft.  After the Court of Oyer and Terminer was dissolved, the Superior Court of Judicature took over the witchcraft cases.  They disallowed spectral evidence.  Most accusations of witchcraft then resulted in acquittals.  An essay by Increase Mather, a prominent minister, may have helped stop the witch trials craze in Salem.

Researching the Salem Witch Trials is easier than it used to be.  Most of the primary source materials (statutes, transcripts of court records, contemporary accounts) are available electronically.  Useful databases include HeinOnline Legal Classics Library (see  Trials for Witchcraft before the Special Court of Oyer and Terminer, Salem, Massachusetts, 1692 ;   The Salem Witchcraft  (Clair, Henry St., 1840); and “ Witch Trials ,”  1 Curious Cases and Amusing Actions at Law including Some Trials of Witches in the Seventeenth Century (1916) ), HeinOnline World Trials Library, HeinOnline Law Journal Library (also JSTOR, America:  History & Life, Google Scholar, and the LexisNexis and Westlaw journal databases),  Gale Encyclopedia of American Law (“ Salem Witch Trials “), Google Books, Hathi Trust, and the Internet Archive.  For books and articles on the Salem Witch Trials and witchcraft and the law generally, Library of Congress subject headings include:

• Trials (Witchcraft) — History
• Trials (Witchcraft) — Massachusetts — Salem
• Witch hunting — Massachusetts — Salem
• Witchcraft — Massachusetts — Salem — History — 17th century
• Witchcraft — New England
• Witches — Crimes against

• Salem Witch Trials:  Documentary Archive & Transcription Project (University of Virginia)(includes online searchable text of the transcription of court records as published in Boyer/Nissenbaum’s The Salem Witchcraft Papers , revised 2011, and e-versions of contemporary books)
• Famous American Trials:  Salem Witch Trials, 1692 (Prof. Douglas O. Linder, University of Missouri-Kansas City Law School)

Bibliography

Adams, Gretchen A. The Specter of Salem:  Remembering the Witch Trials in Nineteenth-Century America (University of Chicago Press, BF1576.A33 2008).

Boyer, Paul & Stephen Nissenbaum, eds. The Salem Witchcraft Papers:  Verbatim Transcripts of the Legal Documents of the Salem Witchcraft Outbreak of 1692  (Da Capo Press, XXKFM2478.8.W5S240 1977 )( digital edition , revised and augmented, 2011).  3v.

___________________________. Salem Possessed:  The Social Origins of Witchcraf t (Harvard University Press, BF1576.B79 1974 ).  See especially pages 1-59.

___________________________, eds. Salem Village Witchcraft:  A Documentary Record of Local Conflict in Colonial New England  (Wadsworth Pub. Co., KA653.B75 1972 LawAnxS ).

Brown, David C.  “The Case of Giles Corey.” EIHC ( Essex Institute Historical Collections , F72.E7E81 ) 121 (1985): 282-299.

___________.  “ The Forfeitures of Salem, 1692 .” The William and Mary Quarterly 50 (1993): 85-111.

Burns, William E. Witch Hunts in Europe and America:  An Encyclopedia (Greenwood Press, BF1584.E9B87 2003 ).  Includes a Chronology (1307-1793), “Salem Witch Trials” at pages 257-261, and a bibliography at pages 333-347.

Burr, George Lincoln. Narratives of the Witchcraft Cases, 1648-1706 (Barnes & Noble, BF1573.B6901 1963 ).

Calef, Robert. More Wonders of the Invisible World (1700).

Craker, Wendel D.  “Spectral Evidence, Non-Spectral Acts of Witchcraft, and Confession at Salem in 1692. ” Historical Journal 40 (1997):  331-358.

Demos, John. Entertaining Satan:  Witchcraft and the Culture of Early New England (Oxford University Press, BF1576.D38 1982 ).

Francis, Richard. Judge Sewall’s Apology:  The Salem Witch Trials and the Forming of the American Conscience (Fourth Estate, F67.S525 2005 ).

Godbeer, Richard. The Salem Witch Hunt:  A Brief History with Documents (Bedford/St. Martin’s, XXKFM2478.8.W5G63 2011 ).

Hansen, Chadwick. Witchcraft at Salem (G. Braziller, BF1576.H25 1969 ).

Hill, Frances. The Salem Witch Trials Reader (Da Capo Press, BF1576.H55 2000 ).

Hoffer, Peter Charles. The Salem Witchcraft Trials:  A Legal History (University Press of Kansas, XXKFM2478.8.W5H645 1997 )(Landmark Law Cases & American Society).

______________. The Devil’s Disciples:  Makers of the Salem Witchcraft Trials (Johns Hopkins University Press, XXKFM2478.8.W5H646 1996 ).

Karlsen, Carol F. The Devil in the Shape of a Woman:  Witchcraft in Colonial New England (Norton, BF1576.K370 1987 ).

Le Beau, Bryan F. The Story of the Salem Witch Trials:  “We Walked in Clouds and We Could Not See Our Way” (Prentice Hall, 2d ed., XXKFM2478.8.W5L43 2010 )(DLL has 1998).

Levin, David. What Happened in Salem? (2d ed.  Harcourt, Brace & Co. BF1575.L40 1960 ) (Documents Pertaining to the Seventeenth-Century Witchcraft Trials).  Compiles trial evidence documents, contemporary comments, and legal redress.

Mather, Cotton. The Wonders of the Invisible World:  Being an Account of the Tryals of Several Witches Lately Executed in New England, and Of Several Remarkable Curiosities Therein Occurring (1693) .

Mather, Increase. Cases of Conscience Concerning Evil Spirits Personating Men, Witchcrafts, Infallible Proofs of Guilt in Such As Are Accused with That Crime  (1693).

Nevins, Winfield S. Witchcraft in Salem Village in 1692 (North Shore Pub. Co., BF1576.N5 1892 ).

Norton, Mary Beth. In the Devil’s Snare:  The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692  ( BF1575.N67 2002 )(legal analysis, with appendixes).

Powers, Edwin. Crime and Punishment in Early Massachusetts, 1620-1692  A Documentary History (Beacon Press, KB4537.P39C8 1966 LawAnxN ).

Rosenthal, Bernard ed. Records of the Salem Witch-Hunt (Cambridge University Press, XXKFM2478.8.W5R43 2009 )(includes Richard B. Trask, “Legal Procedures Used During the Salem Witch Trials and a Brief History of the Published Versions of the Records” at pages 44-63).

Ross, Lawrence J., Mark W. Podvia, & Karen Wahl. The Law of the Salem Witch Trials .  American Association of Law Library, Annual Meeting, Boston, Massachusetts, July 23, 2012 (AALL2go – password needed to access .mp3 and program handout).

Starkey, Marion. The Devil in Massachusetts:  A Modern Inquiry into the Salem Witch Trials (A.A. Knopf, XXKFM2478.8.W5S73 1949 ).

Upham, Charles W. Salem Witchcraft:  with an Account of Salem Village and a History of Witchcraft and Opinions on Kindred Subjects   (Wiggin & Lunt, 1867).  2v.

Weisman, Richard. Witchcraft, Magic, and Religion in 17th-Century Massachusetts (The University of Massachusetts Press, XXKFM2478.8.W5W4440 1984 ).  Includes a chapter on “The Crime of Witchcraft in Massachusetts Bay  Historical Background and Pattern of Prosecution.”  Appendixes includes lists of legal actions against witchcraft prior to the Salem prosecutions, Massachusetts Bay witchcraft defamation suits, persons accused of witchcraft in Salem, confessors, allegations of ordinary witchcrafts by case, afflicted persons.

Young, Martha M.  “ The Salem Witch Trials 300 Years Later:  How Far Has the American Legal System Come?  How Much Further Does It Need to Go? ”   Tulane Law Review 64 (1989): 235-258.

General Resources

Mackay, Christopher S., trans. & ed.   The Hammer of Witches:  A Complete Translation of the Malleus Maleficarum (authored by Heinrich Institoris & Jacobus Sprenger in 1487 – Dominican friars, who were both Inquistors and professors of theology at the University of Cologne)(Cambridge University Press, BF1569.M33 2009 ).  This medieval text ( Der Hexenhammer in German) prescribes judicial procedures in cases of alleged witchcraft.  In question-and-answer format.  The judge should appoint as an advocate for the accused “an upright person who is not suspected of being fussy about legal niceties” as opposed to appointing “a litigious, evil-spirited person who could easily be corrupted by money” (p. 530).

“Judgment of a Witch.” The Fugger News-Letters 259-262 (The Bodley Head, Ltd., 1924).  Also reprinted in The Portable Renaissance Reader .

Pagel, Scott B. The Literature of Witchcraft Trials:  Books & Manuscripts from the Jacob Burns Law Library (University of Texas at Austin, BF1566.P243 2008 ) (Tarlton Law Library, Legal History Series, No. 9).

Witchcraft and the Law:  A Selected Bibliography of Recent Publications (Christine Corcos, LSU Law)(includes mostly pre-2000 works).

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The Salem Witch Trials: A case of mass hysteria

Between February 1692 and May 1693 in current day Massachusetts, more than 200 people were accused of witchcraft. Of them, thirty were found guilty, and nineteen of whom were executed. This period of witch trials later came to be known as the Salem witch trials, named after the town of Salem and Salem Village (present-day Danvers).

Salem Village was known for its divided population with many internal disputes about property lines, grazing rights, and church privileges. After a series of short-term ministers, Samuel Parris became the first ordained minister of Salem Village in 1689. He was not successful in solving conflicts in the village; rather he contributed to the dissonance by making well-known church members suffer public penance due to their small mistakes. This only created more division among the people. According to Historian Marion Starkey, serious conflict was inevitable in this tense environment (1949).

A map of Salem Village, 1692

In February 1692, Reverend Parris’ daughter Elizabeth, age 9, and niece, Abigail Williams, age 11, started having “fits” (Hale 1697). They would shriek, make weird sounds, crawl under furniture, and convulse into strange positions. These “fits” were considered to be supernatural in origin, and members of the community were accused of consorting with the devil and afflicting the young children through witchcraft (Lawson 1692). With the seeds of paranoia planted, more accusations arose, and more people were arrested. By the end of the month of May, a total of 62 individuals were in custody (Roach 2002).

Illustration of the Salem witch trials, depicting Mary Walcott, one of the afflicted victims

On June 2, 1962, the Court of Oyer and Terminer (to hear and decide) was established to handle the large number of people in jail for witchcraft. These trials relied heavily on spectral evidence, or testimony based on dreams or apparitions seen by the afflicted. The “touch test” was also used to determine guilt or innocence. The accused witch was told to touch a victim having a fit, and if the victim stopped having a fit, the accused was believed to have afflicted the victim (Boyer & Nissenbaum 1972). Other evidence included confessions made by accused witches, and testimony by a guilty witch who pointed out others as witches. In January 1693, the new Superior Court of Judicature convened, and those who had been accused of witchcraft, but not yet tried, went on trial. The series of trials and executions finally ended in May 1693.

The Salem witch trials are an infamous case of mass hysteria; they are an example of the consequences of religious extremism, false allegations, and lapses in the due legal processes. These trials had a lasting effect on people’s attitude towards separation of state and church, as historian George Lincoln Burr said, “the Salem witchcraft was the rock on which the theocracy shattered” (1914:197). The Salem witch trials left a lesson for the future, a caution for the outcome of unbridled religious fanaticism and over enthusiasm about the supernatural.

Further reading on Finding the exact spot of witch execution in Salem and Witch trials in Europe

Reference list:

Boyer, Paul S., Stephen Nissenbaum

1972  Salem-Village Witchcraft: A Documentary Record of Local Conflict in Colonial New England . Northeastern University Press, Lebanon, New Hampshire.

Burr, George Lincoln

1914  Narratives of the Witchcraft Cases, 1648–1706 . C. Scribner’s Sons, New York.

1696  A Modest Enquiry into the Nature of Witchcraft . B. Green and J. Allen, Boston.

Lawson, Deodat

1692  A Brief and True Narrative of Some Remarkable Passages Relating to Sundry Persons Afflicted by Witchcraft, at Salem Village: Which happened from the Nineteenth of March, to the Fifth of April, 1692.   Benjamin Harris, Boston.

Roach , Marilynne K.

2002  The Salem Witch Trials: A Day-To-Day Chronicle of a Community Under Siege . Cooper Square Press, New York.

Starkey, Marion L.

1949  The Devil in Massachusetts. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, New York.

Images: Figure 1 , Figure 2

2 thoughts on “ The Salem Witch Trials: A case of mass hysteria ”

I find this topic really interesting and think you do a nice job summarzing it, but would have liked this post a little more had it discussed more directly what role archaeology or anthropology in general has had/ could have when it comes to discussing the Salem Witch Trials. That being said, what anthropological research has been done into the trials? How does witchcraft/the trials show up in the archaeological record?

Over five years of analysis, a team of scholars verified the exact location where the Salem witch executions took place. Despite there being over 1000 surviving official documents, very little of it relates to the where the executions occurred. It was found from these documents that the executions took place on or near Gallows Hill, but the specific location was unknown. In the early twentieth century, historians theorized that the hangings took place at Proctor’s edge, a rocky outcrop at the base of Gallows Hill. This was later backed up another evidence: an eyewitness reference to an execution from the trial papers. The team of scholars, which included historians and archeologists, used high tech aerial photography and ground penetrating radar to analyze the topography of Gallows Hill. Through comparison of the viewpoints from different historical buildings and the eyewitnesses record, the exact spot was determined. The city of Salem planned to construct a respectful memorial at the spot, remembering the victims of mass hysteria at the Salem witch trials.

References:

Baker, Emerson W. 2015 A Story of Witchcraft: The Salem Trials and the American Experience. Oxford University Press, New York

Arianna, MacNeill 2016 Salem Witch Trials descendants share thoughts on Proctor’s Ledge. The Salem News, Salem.

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7th grade History research paper: Salem Witch Trials

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The Salem Witch Trials History Research Paper

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Introduction

Witchcraft operations in salem, cause and trial of the witchdoctors, in the courtroom, defense of the accused, challenges of the trials, works cited.

Salem is a village in Massachusetts, which is a state in the New England region, in the North East of the United States of America. In the year 1692, it was afflicted by a certain kind of mysticism that drove some of the villagers into hysteria.

The hysteria manifested first in young girls whereby the girls exploded into bizarre behavior whose natural cause could not be traced. The young girls could be seized with convulsions, blasphemous screaming and melodramatic behaviors which were not normal. Since the physical source could not be traced, the community was led to believe that witches had invaded Salem.

The term witch should be understood and used in caution here. This is necessary in order for one to understand the trials of the witch in Salem. During the 17 th century it was believed that a witch is a person who had made a treaty with the devil so that there will be an exchange of a soul for evil powers which the witch can use to torment human beings (MacBain, 4). It is quite normal for victims of these powers to claim to have experienced horrible dreams and illusions.

They would also experience physical pain and exhibit bizarre habits which could be alarming to the community. The perpetrators of this evil act would be identified by the villagers, investigated, tried and then condemned if found guilty. In a village such as Salem, a person found guilty of performing witchcraft would be hanged. Thus the word witch is a strong word used as an accusation of Satan’s treaties. If someone were found involved in this pact, it would lead to death. Salem villagers were religious.

Thus religiously speaking, a witch is a follower of an ancient pagan belief system (MacBain, 4). The discovery of this fact led to a series of activities aimed at flushing out all the witchdoctors who had run amok with their evil activities. Since Sale was a religious village, its inhabitants began praying and fasting in order to get rid of this satanic evil (Sutter 5).

Witchcraft in operation could manifest in several ways. All of these ways alter the normal and natural ways things operate and cause abnormal things to happen (Sutter 7). The effects were usually seen in human beings, animals and plants. Salem was not an exemption. Witchcraft would go as far as killing infants and adults (Fradin & Fradin, 9). Some of the witches would kill domesticated animals (Sutter 7).

There were two young girls who were under the devil’s influence as a result of witchraft activities. These girls were brought to the investigators who forced them to reveal the people who controlled their bizarre characters (Salem Witchcraft Trials Cause and Effect 2).

As a result three women were identified. After close examination, it was revealed that the afflicted girls were having demonic illusions. One of them called Tituba who was a slave girl, said that she had seen the devil appearing to her either as a hog or a huge dog (Salem Witchcraft Trials Cause and Effect 4).

At first three women were identified and denounced as having colluded with the devil in bringing such atrocities into the village. These women were quite marginal to the village. Afterwards, more and more women were accused. A special case relates to this woman, Martha Corey, who was quite different from other people who had been convicted. This is because she was a noble congregant of the religious organizations in the village (Wilson 8).

Thus the fact that she was a witch revealed the magnitude of influence Satan had gained in the community. As the accusatory conditions continued to intensify, things took a strange turn in the lives of the witchdoctors. Many witchdoctors were identified, investigated, charged, and condemned. They would late be put to death (Goss 9). Some of them would face the gallows, one died under the pressure of stones and another one died in prison while awaiting trial (Goss 12).

There were at least 168 people who were accused of practicing witchcraft in 1692. Out of these, nineteen had been found guilty. They were hanged by October of the same year. However, no one who had pleaded guilty of practicing witchcraft was killed.

Salem is now the modern town of Danvers. The hysteria caused by two young girls marks the beginning of an interesting story. The two young girls namely Betty and Abigail, while in the court, behaved in a bizarre way that was far from natural. After careful diagnosis by Dr. William Griggs, it was found out that there was no natural cause of their mysterious behavior.

Dr. Griggs could not diagnose any medical condition that is why he finally diagnosed bewitchment. In those days, religious people believed that witchcraft was a cause of diseases and death and that witches gained their powers from the devil. This is the reason why the witches responsible would be killed so that they may finish off the devil’s operations.

Under enough pressure, the young girls named names of those who were responsible for their behaviors. Instead of admitting that their behavior started as a game, they connected their story with religious phenomena. Therefore, their slave girl, Totuba, was among the first three slaves to be accused after warrants of arrest were given (Goss 12).

The three appeared before the three Salem Town Magistrates in the house of Nathaniel Ingersoll. During the time when women were testifying in this trial, the young girls cried out loud claiming that the woman’s apparition was roaming the room while biting and beating them up. The spirit also appeared as an animal or a bird. After wide investigations, the slave girl did admit that she was indeed a witch.

As reasons for her actions, Tituba said that a dog, black in color, had threatened her before ordering her to cause harm to the young girls. Another thing that she claimed was that she used to attend witches meetings with her fellow convicted witches. Because of the success of this court, an intensive campaign was launched to hunt for more witches. As a result, the young girls were put under pressure to name other witches involved so that they can be tried.

Another witch was brought before the magistrates. She was called Martha. Although she maintained her calmness, the young ladies actions were enough to expose her. They were tormented and anguished throughout the court proceedings. The husband of Martha was also present and he against her.

Rebecca Nurse was the next woman to be brought before the magistrates. She was an outstanding puritan member who was also a prominent member of the community. Other women had joined the group of the afflicted girls. By this time the Magistrates had been convinced beyond doubt that whatever the afflicted girls said was true.

Other victims of Salem trials were John and Elizabeth Proctor who had been strong opponents of the Salem Witch trials since the beginning, a factor that worked against them. There was this victim called Sarah Cloyse who followed suite. She was the sister to Rebecca Nurse. Cloyse became a victim when she tried to oppose the trials and was in the process mentioned by the girls.

Another difficult case for the magistrate came when a mental woman was brought before them. Her name was Abigail Hobbs. However instead of acquitting her as insane, the court ruled against her as a witch because of the young girls actions. In April 21, the same year, the lies of Abigail caused the arrest of nine more people who came from far beyond the borders of the town of Salem.

Thus the witch trial of Salem was able to diversify to other surrounding communities and the number of these communities grew to 22. There is one peculiar incident that happened in the court of Salem when the two girls reviewed their accusations against Nehemiah Abbot. Hence Abbot was lucky enough to be released by the court making it to be the only time such an incident ever occurred (Oliver 2).

As it was at that time, Massachusetts had no formal charter. Therefore all the people who had been accused had to be held in prison until the time when a new charter was brought by the new governor in November, 1692. However, the new governor had no interest with the trials. He therefore established a court of Oyer and Terminar to do the job. New magistrates were brought to hear the cases (Oliver 3). By mid the following year, about one hundred people had been charged and imprisoned because of involving in witchcraft activities.

It was until June 2, 1693 that the particular Salem court had its first sitting thus causing Bridget Bishop to be the first person to be tried and was also found guilty of the offence. What followed was the signing of her death warranty by the three justices. She was then hanged on June 10, and later on buried in a shallow grave on Gallows Hill.

When Justice Saltonstall resigned from this court and doubted the entire issue, he was also accused of witchcraft. The next convicts to appear were also found guilty and sentenced to death. During the course of the next trial which involved Sarah Wilds and Elizabeth How as defendants, Reverend Samuel Willard was also found to be guilty of practicing witchcraft. However he never appeared before the three magistrates since he was friends with some of them who gave him some protection.

This is an open indication that there were some innocent people whom the justices sent to their death (Paralumun 41). The young girls became celebrities in this field. Due to this celebrity status they were sent to other towns beyond Salem to help in the search for witches. By this time, twenty four people had died because of engaging in witchcraft or witchcraft-related activities. Nineteen people were hanged on Gallows Hill in the small town of Salem while others died in prison waiting to be tried in court (Paralumun 14).

As it is well known, any person being accused in a court of law has the right to ask for professional help. In Salem, this was also the case although many other cases in New England did not allow any professional help for people convicted of witchcraft in a court of law. Hence in this episode, many prominent people rose to defend the accused. Most of those people who rose to defend the accused were close friends and family members of the accused.

The court that was formed to investigate, charge and convict such cases in Salem was not short of its challenges. This is because in these cases, there were two parties. During this episode, both parties were comprised of prominent village leaders. Also, the defenders of the accused offered strong opposition because they were powerful members in the village council (Sutter 3).

The other challenge came from political reasons. Two years ago, the courts were suspended. Thus the trials of these people would take months to happen. People accused of practicing this act would be charged and held in jail for months before they could be tried. This was also the period of political instability. Thus whenever a conflict would arise, between towns and people, the government could not interfere by intervening. Thus these animosities were left to play out unchecked.

The Salem Witch trials indicated several things that happened in the society. Witchcraft was so prevalent at that time. Evil in this town was at its high level of operation. On the other hand, the trials revealed an aspect of corruption whereby the justices exhibited corruption by granting the reverend court protection when he was accused of practicing witchcraft. As a recap therefore, the Salem Witch trials were not based on the whole truth since the two young girls did not speak the truth as the process was nearing the end.

Fradin, Judith B & Fradin, Dennis B. The Salem Witch Trials . Marshall Cavendish. 2008. Print.

Goss, K. David. The Salem Witch Trials: A Reference Guide . Greenwood Publishing Group. 2008. Print.

MacBain, Jenny. The Salem Which Trials: A Primary Source History of the Witchcraft Trails in Salem, Massachusetts . The Rosen Publishing Group. 2003. Print.

Oliver, Benjamin D. The Salem Witchcrafts Trial 1692 . The Web Chronology Project. 1997. Web.

Paralumun (2010). Salem Witch Trials. Web.

Salem Witchcraft Trials Cause and Effect . Oppapers.Com. 2010. Web.

Salem Witchcraft Trials. Oppapers.Com. 2010. Web.

Sutter, Tim. Salem Witchcraft: The Events and Causes of the Salem witch Trials . Salem Witch Trials. 2003. Web.

Wilson, Lori L. The Salem Witch Trials . Twenty-First Century Books. 1997. Print.

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