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Salem Witch Trials
English 4
The Events
Known as the Salem Witch Trials, the trials
were conducted in several towns in the Province of
Massachusetts Bay including Salem Village, Salem
Town, Ipswich and Andover. Between February 1692
and May 1693 twenty people were executed and more
than 200 people were accused of practicing
witchcraft. The events started when three young girls,
Elizabeth, age 9, the daughter of the Reverend Parris, his niece Abigail Williams, age 11, and
another girl, Ann Putnam Jr., age 11, started having convulsions at church. (Blumberg) The girls
were examined by a local doctor named William Griggs who was unable to find anything
physically wrong with the girls and diagnosed them as being possessed by witchcraft. Pressured
by judges Jonathan Corwin and John Hathorne, the girls accused three women for afflicting
them. Tituba, was a Caribbean slave of the Parris family who took care of Elizabeth Parris and
Abigail Williams. Tituba frequently told the girls stories of magic. The two others accused were
Sarah Good, a homeless beggar, and Sarah Osborne, an elderly poor woman. On March 1, 1692,
the three women were arrested and interrogated. Both Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne pleaded
innocence, while Tituba pleaded guilty to being a witch.
The Afflicted
Elizabeth Parris, Abigail Williams, and Ann Putnam were the first three young girls
afflicted with what was diagnosed as witchcraft. The number of afflicted girls eventually grew to
nine. (Brooks)
Elizabeth Parris
Abigail Williams
Ann Putnam
Elizabeth Booth
Elizabeth Hubbard
Mercy Lewis
Mary Warren
Susannah Sheldon
Mary Walcott
The girls were raised in a devout and puritanical
religious community. The Massachusetts Bay colonists
not only believed in witches, they believed that witches
were working with the Devil. When the girls starting
displaying unexplained physical symptoms, fear lead
