The Salem Witch Trials began during the spring of 1962 after a group of young girls in Salem Village, MA, said they were being possessed by the devil and accused local women of witchcraft. With chaos running around the village, the special court began taking on cases. Bridget Bishop, the first convicted witch, was hanged in that June month. Belief that the devil could give certain humans, witches, power to harm others in return for their loyalty emerged throughout europe as early as the 14th century. All of this chaos and phenomenon led to a pointing fingers game of who is guilty. The Salem Witch Trials were a major historical event causing hysteria throughout Massachusetts and a worldwide mystery of the devil and supernatural.
Many people, …show more content…
“She was a kind, religious woman whose dignified demeanor fit the strict Puritan mold. But even she was not safe from the hysteria” (discoveryeducation.com). Mary Easty was issued for a second warrant and was taken to prison to be loaded with chains. She was later condemned to death, but later a girl named Mary Herrick gave a testimony about Easty saying she was visited by her and she had been put to death wrongly and was innocent of witchcraft. Easty’s family was compensated with 20 pounds from the government. Many other women were accused, and most of them were actually …show more content…
On May 14, 1692 Phips arrived in Boston not knowing what was soon to happen. As accusations of witches grew, Phips own wife was named guilty. He ordered that testimony would no longer suffice to convict suspects in future trials. Three weeks later, William Phips stopped the arrest of witches and released 49 of the 52 accused witches still in prison. “Governor Phipps, in response to Mather’s plea and his own wife being questioned for witchcraft, prohibited further arrest, released many accused witches and dissolved the Court of Oyer and Terminor on October 29. Phipps replaced it with a Superior Court of Judicature, which only allowed spectral evidence and only condemned 3 out of 56 defendants” (smithsonian.com). No one knows why he decided to do this, although many believe it was because he was wife was convicted. William Phips, the governor of Massachusetts during the Salem Witch Trials later died on February 18,
Many people, …show more content…
“She was a kind, religious woman whose dignified demeanor fit the strict Puritan mold. But even she was not safe from the hysteria” (discoveryeducation.com). Mary Easty was issued for a second warrant and was taken to prison to be loaded with chains. She was later condemned to death, but later a girl named Mary Herrick gave a testimony about Easty saying she was visited by her and she had been put to death wrongly and was innocent of witchcraft. Easty’s family was compensated with 20 pounds from the government. Many other women were accused, and most of them were actually …show more content…
On May 14, 1692 Phips arrived in Boston not knowing what was soon to happen. As accusations of witches grew, Phips own wife was named guilty. He ordered that testimony would no longer suffice to convict suspects in future trials. Three weeks later, William Phips stopped the arrest of witches and released 49 of the 52 accused witches still in prison. “Governor Phipps, in response to Mather’s plea and his own wife being questioned for witchcraft, prohibited further arrest, released many accused witches and dissolved the Court of Oyer and Terminor on October 29. Phipps replaced it with a Superior Court of Judicature, which only allowed spectral evidence and only condemned 3 out of 56 defendants” (smithsonian.com). No one knows why he decided to do this, although many believe it was because he was wife was convicted. William Phips, the governor of Massachusetts during the Salem Witch Trials later died on February 18,