Salem, Massachusetts

1691 was a time of turmoil for the residents of the sleepy little village of Salem, Massachusetts.  The niece of the Rev. Samuel Parris, Abigail Williams, started acting up.  Other girls in the village started to have the same problems:  writhing in pain, convulsive twitching, and visions (1).  These girls were examined by a doctor who could find nothing wrong with them and he determined that it was Satan who was causing these symptoms. 

The Puritans (who resided in the town of Salem) believed that the Devil was a physical being who went around from person to person trying to get them to sign his book.  If you signed the devil's book, it would give him permission to use your shape to go around harming other people.  Those who signed the book were called witches (2).  The girls started claiming that certain people (mostly women) were the witches that were causing all the symptoms.

Of the 19 people hanged, 14 of them were women (2). These "witches" were charged for these crimes because of spectral evidence.  If they would confess that they were indeed a witch, they were freed, but if they refused to confess, they were either hung or, as in the case of Giles Corey, pressed to death. 

Eventually the accusations died down and the residents of Salem were able to resume a normal life, but the fury of the witch trials will haunt that town for the rest of its days.


(1) Woolf, Alan. "Witchcraft or Mycotoxin? The Salem Witch Trials". Journal of Toxicology - Clinical Toxicology 38.4 (2000): 457-460.  Academic Search Premier. Web. 5 Dec. 2012.
(2) Reis, Elizabeth. Some Facts about the Salem Witch Trials. Rep. University of Portland, n.d. Web. 6 Dec. 2012.