by my mom
EDIT:
Governor Phips declared spectral evidence invalid after his wife was accused. He then wrote to London asking for permission to pardon the around 150 accused still in prison. In May, 1693, the last trial was held and every remaining defendant was judged innocent.
were the judges of the salem witch trials ever ask for forgiveness for killing people
John Indian was Reverend Parris's blackamoor (slave) also Tituba's husband.
No witches were ever burned at Salem. In Puritan society, witchcraft was a felony and punishable by hanging. During the Salem Witch Trials, 19 people suffered that fate.
No Mary Bradley was ever formally accused. However, a Mary Bradbury was.
Salem didn't really have long term effects. It was a localized event that spawned lawsuits and arguments for fifteen years. Today, aside from the continuing study of the trials, it doesn't effect life in America.
were the judges of the salem witch trials ever ask for forgiveness for killing people
John Indian was Reverend Parris's blackamoor (slave) also Tituba's husband.
No witches were ever burned at Salem. In Puritan society, witchcraft was a felony and punishable by hanging. During the Salem Witch Trials, 19 people suffered that fate.
First of all, the Salem Witch Trials were much earlier. They were more in the 1600s.Secondly, there are many parallels between the two. If you have ever read The Crucible, the author, Arthur Miller, was highly motivated by the red scare when he wrote it.
No Mary Bradley was ever formally accused. However, a Mary Bradbury was.
They did not need to justify it, in their minds. They believed that there were witches harming children in Salem and that was a reason to go on a witch hunt. And if they ever had to justify their actions to a modern person, I suppose that's what they'd say.
no The Witch Trials of Salem was all a lie, though they did convict many of being witches, with no proof other than the testimonies of the colonists.
Salem didn't really have long term effects. It was a localized event that spawned lawsuits and arguments for fifteen years. Today, aside from the continuing study of the trials, it doesn't effect life in America.
NEW ANSWER:The Salem Witchcraft Trials were important to show the world the stupidity and ignorance of others. During the 1600's and 1700's, an almost hysterical fear in witchcraft swept most of Europe. Thousands were tried and executed as witches. The courts allowed gossip and rumor to be used as evidence. Many children testified against their own parents.The American colonists brought the belief in witchcraft from England. Suspected witches suffered persecution in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Virginia. The most famous witch hunt in American history occurred in Salem, Massachusetts. Many historians believe that Cotton Mather, a colonial preacher, did much to stir up public feeling against the supposed evil deed of witches.In 1692, the Massachusetts colonists executed 19 people as witches, and one person was pressed to death for refusing to plead to the witchcraft charge. In addition, about 150 others were imprisoned. It is a very painful and a shameful part of the history of the United States.
Salem Witch TrialsSalem Witch Trials began in 1692. As history would have you believe it the mass hysteria of the "witch hunt" was produced by a young child who had become ill. At this time there was no problem with thinking this was witch craft. However, what history often forgets and few books have entered was in fact five young women were the cause of many deaths. It was said that the young child that was in such pain and tormented could possibly be taken over by demons or witches, but nothing was done about it. One of the young girls had an argument with a laundress of a household and she talked some of her friends into getting even with the laundress and to make a long story short they started to copy the symptoms of the young child (more dramatically) accusing the poor laundress of being a witch.Panic hit the village and Puritans had trials and some people arrested were tortured into giving up names of witches they knew or face death. Unfortunately these poor souls had no alternative and they gave any name that came to their lips. Like a rolling stone gathering moss more and more people were arrested and accused. One man had heavy stones heaped on him until he would admit to being cursed by the devil, but he refused and the weight of the stones killed him. His last words were said to be "more weight". As many as 172 to 200 people were imprisoned The rest of the prisoners were left to die in the prisons never to be released. President Clinton Pardoned and sanctified 8 of the graves (with blessings) of the innocent women who were accused of witch craft.See related question below for more information about the possible causes of the Salem Witch Trials.
"The Sacrifice" is a historical fiction book loosely based on the author's family ancestry of Andover, Massachusetts. She was inspired to write this book when she moved to Andover in 1987 and her father taught her her family history. Her ancestors, the Faulkner's (family in the book.) The plot of the story takes place in the Salem Witch Trials of 1692. The people of Salem Village and Andover are beginning to hear about the strange "fits" that supposed "bewitched" girls claim to have. They claim to be tormented by unseen apparitions that only they can see. The two oldest daughters of the family, Abigail and Dorothy Faulkner, are later accused of being a witch by their former female servant, Sarah Phelps. This later leads to the Salem Witch Trials where 19 innocent people were hanged for witchcraft, and one man was crushed to death, Giles Cory, a man who was tortured to death by crushing him until he died nearly two days later. He refused to give a plead of innocent or guilty, so he died in stubborness. As some advice, this book is one of the best historical fiction books on the Witch Trials I have ever read, and I HIGHLY recommend it! I don't think you will be dissapointed! :)
The message that Miller is aiming to get across to the audience is that there is a parallel between the Salem society in 1692 and the American society in the 1950s. McCarthy was an American politician who served as a Republican U.S. Senator. During the Cold War, the people in America feared that the USSR would spread communism in the U.S.A. McCarthy used his senator power to accuse people he did not like for being communist. At first he accused artists, mainly actors and writers. They lost their jobs and nobody bought their books or watched their movies. The brave ones who tried to stop him were as well accused. Soon McCarthy gained lots of power over the U.S.A. but he made a big mistake when he used this power to accuse generals from the army that had more power than him. In the Crucible, Arthur Miller presents the exact same thing. Abigail gains power which is increasing just like McCarthy did. Everyone trusts her so she beguines accusing innocent people she does not like for witchcraft. McCarthy used his senator power to accuse people he did not like. If you opposed the Salem witch trials you were accused of being a witch. If you opposed the McCarthy investigations you were accused of being a communist. Arthur Miller clearly presents the parallel between Salem and the U.S. in the 1950s, and proves the readers that irrationality gets us nowhere.