On February 29th, 1692 Salem, Massachusetts, three local women Betty Parris, Abigail Williams, and Ann Putnam accused neighborhood women of being witches. Tituba, the first accused woman actually was a witch. She claimed that a man came to her and told her to sign his book, local authorities took this to mean that the Devil himself had told Tituba to follow his orders. Tituba told the authorities that witchcraft was spreading through Salem. Soon after, the three women made more accusations. In March, they accused another woman, Martha Corey, who was a well-respected member of the community. Throughout the course of several months, hundreds of people were accused and tried. Many of them were hanged. As a result, numerous women realized that
