The United States government has always had an unspoken decree that people accused of breaking the law are “innocent until proven guilty.” This has always been upheld to the best of its ability, but in one example in particular, that “ability” wasn’t what it is today. In Salem 1692, twenty men and women were executed, more than one hundred and fifty people were accused, each individually condemned on account of knowing or participating in the act of illegal Witchcraft. Most of the citizens of Salem were genuinely convinced that the accused were voluntarily working for the Devil, and they were the cause of the community’s spell of misfortune and hardship. “Witches” and “Wizards” were executed in hopes to relieve Salem of the Devil’s presence
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The Salem Witch Trials spread over the biggest area, lasted the longest, and accused the most people (Ray 40-44). According to Richard Latner, a professor at Tulane University who has compiled data from several different sources regarding the Salem Witch Trials, the Witch hysteria didn’t stay within the boundaries of Salem Town or Salem Village, but spread to “twenty-five communities in New England (twenty-six if we distinguish… Salem Village from Salem Town).” The outbreak of Witchcraft began in February of 1692 and seized in May of 1693, over a year later (Latner 137-149). Nineteen people were hung in the gallows, one man was crushed to death as a form of torture in order to get a confession, over one hundred and fifty people were accused of participating in witchcraft, and unclear amount of people died in jails awaiting their trial (Latner …show more content…
In the month of March, the children had accused four more people of Witchcraft (Latner 137-149). After the first seven alleged witches were arrested, it created a snowball effect in Salem and the neighboring towns. Almost half of the total accused had been arrested in the first three months of the witch hunt alone, putting sixty-nine witches in jail, awaiting trial. In the month of June, the accusations rapidly decreased, adding only four more accused witches to the jail system. Many attribute the decrease of arrest warrants to a change of focus from the witches and to the court that would be sentencing them. The Court of Oyer and Terminer was created specifically to deal with the outstanding number of witch accusations (Latner
The Salem Witch Trials spread over the biggest area, lasted the longest, and accused the most people (Ray 40-44). According to Richard Latner, a professor at Tulane University who has compiled data from several different sources regarding the Salem Witch Trials, the Witch hysteria didn’t stay within the boundaries of Salem Town or Salem Village, but spread to “twenty-five communities in New England (twenty-six if we distinguish… Salem Village from Salem Town).” The outbreak of Witchcraft began in February of 1692 and seized in May of 1693, over a year later (Latner 137-149). Nineteen people were hung in the gallows, one man was crushed to death as a form of torture in order to get a confession, over one hundred and fifty people were accused of participating in witchcraft, and unclear amount of people died in jails awaiting their trial (Latner …show more content…
In the month of March, the children had accused four more people of Witchcraft (Latner 137-149). After the first seven alleged witches were arrested, it created a snowball effect in Salem and the neighboring towns. Almost half of the total accused had been arrested in the first three months of the witch hunt alone, putting sixty-nine witches in jail, awaiting trial. In the month of June, the accusations rapidly decreased, adding only four more accused witches to the jail system. Many attribute the decrease of arrest warrants to a change of focus from the witches and to the court that would be sentencing them. The Court of Oyer and Terminer was created specifically to deal with the outstanding number of witch accusations (Latner