The Salem witch trials were a series of investigations and persecutions that occurred in Salem Village, Massachusetts between 1692 and 1693. More than 200 people were accused of practicing witchcraft and 20 were executed. As a wave of hysteria spread throughout colonial Massachusetts, a special court convened in Salem to hear the cases. This “witch hunting obsession” began in Europe around the years 1300s up until the beginning of the 1700s. Even though the Salem trials came on just as the craze in Europe was winding down they are so important that one could say it’s the most famous case of witch hunting in the world.

            These tragic events started in January of 1692, when the daughter (Elizabeth) and Niece (Abigail) of the Reverend Parris started having strange “fits”. They threw things, screamed and uttered peculiar sounds and sometimes contorted themselves. Besides, other young girls in the village exhibited similar behaviours. When the family of these young girls called a local doctor, William Griggs, he diagnosed them with bewitchment. On February 29, after magistrates Jonathan Corwin and John Hathorne pressured the girls, they “confessed” and blamed three women for how they were acting: Sarah Osborn, an elderly impoverished woman; Sarah Good, a homeless beggar; and Tituba, the Parris’ Caribbean slave.

The three women were brought before the local magistrates and interrogated. Both, Good and Osborne claimed they were innocent, but Tituba “confessed.” She claimed that the Devil had spoken to her and bided her to serve him, she also described images of things that were considered satanic, like black dogs, red cats and yellow birds. Possibly seeking to save herself, she also claimed there were other witches that served the Devil and were acting against the puritans. All three women were eventually placed in jail. Due to the madness that spread through Salem, others were accused and sentenced, including some high class members of the community.

On May 27, 1692, the Governor ordered the establishment of a Special Court of Oyer (to hear) and Terminer (to decide). The first case that was brought to this court was the one of Bridget Bishop, an older woman known for her promiscuity and her gossip habits. When they asked her if she committed witchcraft she said she was “as innocent as the child unborn”. Yet she was found guilty and became the first person hanged on the Gallows hill on June 10. Five days after this, a respected minister called Cotton Mather wrote a letter asking the court not to allow spectral evidence (testimonies about dreams or visions). However, the court ignored his request and eighteen more people were sentenced and hanged in the months of July, August and September. Moreover, several accused witches died in Jail and one 71 year old woman was beaten to death by stones.

            On October 3, Minister Cotton’s father, Increase Mather, denounced the use of spectral evidence. In response to Mather and as his own wife was being questioned for witchcraft, Governor Phipps prohibited further arrests, released many accused witches and dissolved the Court od Oyer and Terminer; replacing it with a Superior Court of Judicature, which disallowed spectral evidence. He eventually excused all who were in prison on witchcraft charges by May 1693. Following the Trials many people who were involved admitted their error and guilt. Nonetheless, the damage had already been done. Nineteen people were hanged on Gallows Hill, several people died in jail and almost two-hundred people had been accused of practicing witchcraft. It was not until 1975 that Massachusetts formally apologized for the events occurred in Salem during 1692.

            Usually when people are going to talk about Salem and its history they think first about the witches as women who terrorized a poor small town. But this story is much deeper than that. First, the only reason why people were terrorized was that people with high social ranks started to create myths about people who could use “the Devil’s magic”. And second, no civilians died in the hands of witches, but more than 200 people were accused of practicing witchcraft and had to pay the price for a crime they didn’t commit. So now, when people start saying that the Salem witches were the worst witches of all time tell them that the Court of Oyer and Terminer was the worst court of all time and suggest that they do some research before they talk about something they don’t know well enough.