WITCHCRAFT IN SALEM

Prior to Salem, 1692

100 people had been accused, 12 had been hanged.

Salem, 1692

In 1692, accusations against three women multiplied.

Could not try them immediately because royal governor did not arrive and arrange a trail for three months; by this time, hysteria out of control.

19 hanged on witches hill, and 80 year old Mr. Giles Gorey crushed with heavy stones.

Clergy and Colonial leaders recognized that fear of and resentment of neighbors, not witchcraft, was the problem in Salem.

How Could This Happen?

Belief that devil always present; constant struggle between God and devil, sermons filled with images of devil, hell, temptation.

Unexplainable circumstances, fear. Old family animosities. Population growth, pressure on farmland, resentment. Tension between agricultural Salem Village and nearby

commercial center Salem town. An outbreak of food poisoning may have caused

hallucinogenic behavior. New Indian war on Massachusetts-Maine frontier caused

hysteria. Illustrates weak position of women in Puritan society. Illustrates anxiety in tumultuous era of war, economic

disruption, and political tension, and the erosion of the early generation’s utopian vision.