SALEM WITCH MUSEUM TRIAL

The parallels between the Salem Witch Trials and more modem examples of “witch hunting” like the McCarthy hearings of the 1950’s, are remarkable. Historians and sociologists have examined this most complex episode in our history so that we may understand the issues of that era and view subsequent events with heightened awareness. In effect, the Salem Witch Trials were over.Īs years passed, apologies were offered and restitution was made to the victims’ families.

SALEM WITCH MUSEUM TRIAL

The new court released those awaiting trial and pardoned those awaiting execution. This belief in the power of the accused to use their invisible shapes or spectres to torture their victims had sealed the fates of those tried by the Court of Oyer and Terminer. The Superior Court of Judicature, formed to replace the “witchcraft” court, did not allow spectral evidence. Thirteen women and five men from all stations of life followed her to the gallows on three successive hanging days before the court was disbanded by Governor William Phipps in October of that year. The first to be tried was Bridget Bishop of Salem who was found guilty and was hanged on June 10. Presided over by Chief Justice William Stoughton, the court was made up of magistrates and jurors. In June of 1692, the special Court of Oyer (to hear) and Terminer (to decide) sat in Salem to hear the cases of witchcraft. Historical Background of the Witch Trials All would await trial for a crime punishable by death in 17th-century New England – the practice of witchcraft. Soon, prisons were filled with more than 150 men and women from towns surrounding Salem their names had been “cried out” by tormented young girls as the cause of their pain. A strong belief in the devil, factions among Salem Village families and rivalry with nearby Salem Town combined with a recent small pox epidemic and the threat of attack by warring tribes created a fertile ground for fear and suspicion. There were the ordinary stresses of 17th-century life in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. For the past five decades, the museum has told the true story of the Salem witch trials of 1692 and provided context for.

To understand the events of the Salem Witch Trials, it is necessary to examine the times in which accusations of witchcraft occurred. Since opening in 1972 in a renovated historic church building, the Salem Witch Museum has served as a distinctive local landmark and major contributor to the city’s cultural and historic landscape. In addition one man was pressed to death several others died in prison, and the lives of many were irrevocably changed. Book your next Salem Witch Museum, Salem vacation today Find the best deals on Salem Witch Museum vacation packages, backed by our daily Hot Rate deals.

His diagnosis of bewitchment put into motion the forces that would ultimately result in the hanging deaths of 19 men and women. William Griggs, the village doctor, was called in when they failed to improve. In January of 1692, the daughter and niece of Reverend Samuel Parris of Salem Village became ill.

Salem witch museum