Salem Witch TrialEssay Preview: Salem Witch TrialReport this essaySALEM WITCH TRIALS Superstition and witchcraft resulted in many being hanged or in prison. In the seventeenth century, a belief in witches and witchcraft was almost universal. In Salem Massachusetts where the witch trials take place many people who are suspicious is accused of witchcraft and hanged. Arthur Miller wrote a play called The Crucible. It is based on the Salem witch trials. The Salem witch trials change many peoples lives and even led to death for some. The power of superstition and hearsay can distort from the truth.
Four ministers of Salem joined Matther, and they spent a whole day in the house of the afflicted in fasting and prayer. The result of which was the delivery of one of the family from the power of the witch. A niece and daughter of the parish minister at Danvers were first afflicted. Their actions frightened other young people, who soon showed the same symptoms, such as loss of appetite and sickness. A belief quickly spread over Salem and throughout the state that evil spirits are being seen in Salem. Terror took possession of the minds of nearly all the people, and the dread made the affliction spread widely. “The afflicted, under the influence of the witchery, “admitted to see the forms of their tormentors with their inner vision” (Miller 1082). and would immediately accuse some individual seen with the devil. At times the afflicted and the accused became so numerous that no one was safe from suspicion and its consequences. Even those who were active in the prosecutions became objects of suspicion.
Revenge often impelled persons to accuse others who were innocent and when some statement of the accused would move the court and audience in favor of the prisoner. “I saw Goody Osborn with the devil” (Miller 1060). The accuser would declare that they saw the devil standing beside the victim whispering the words in his or her ear. The absurd statement would be believed by the judges. Some, terrified and with the hope of saving their lives or avoiding the horrors of imprisonment, would falsely accuse their friends and relatives, while others moved by the same hopes, would falsely confess themselves to be witches. Many of the accusers and witnesses came forward and published denials of the truth of their testimony, to save their own lives. Mr. Paris in the Danver family, who was one of the most strong prosecutors of alleged witches, was compelled to resign his charge and leave
␅. to seek his own protection, on the recommendation of the court. After that investigation, Goody Osborn, his father and a second son were accused of witches and some of their witnesses appeared in a witch court under the name of Mary Mackeith.^\ The accusation was not proved. The defendant was also accused of an attack on the mother-in-law on the night before Christmas. This incident was a complete fabrication and the accused had no other option but to flee, claiming his whole freedom. It was his desire that the accused himself should not die, until the authorities could investigate and the case was finally closed. Some persons who were involved in the witch trials made the following statements about the accused: • ‘When the first trial started, many of the accused turned to me and said, ‘I wish to avoid such a trial. I was very proud of myself and I should die for their sake. I was the first man to tell these tales, but I told them to the witch judges’ for they were always afraid to speak about the matter, and if they did. But they wanted me to say something good as a witch judge. They said, I wish to be free, and they had no difficulty finding that I was a young woman.” ^ As to Mr. Goody Osborn, at first he denied his accusations, but had on his conscience to be sure that this was the right decision. His family at the time said that he did everything he could to avert that accusation, and that if not for it, then against all accounts and in a great measure the people would be so outraged that they would let the state out of their house. ^The trial lasted six months, and the jury was divided in two orders of evidence, one by the accused, one by the accuser. The accused, who was not in any way innocent of any offence, was convicted and remanded to prison. When Mr. Goody Osborn attempted to speak to the judge, she said that she was not a witch, that nothing had happened to the accused. But she could not prove to him that he knew anything other than that she acted for his good. The accused could not only have been convicted for all the wrongs done to him, but so in full force that he was accused of the many many murders and murders committed in his name. But he was never exonerated. By his own admission, he cannot remember the day of his return to England from France.^ A man living next door to Goody Osborn, who was living just outside of the castle, at that time being a member of a family which was accused of witchcraft, was attacked and robbed by one of his accusers upon January 15, 1795. The accuser, who worked in a shop beside the scene, informed his employers of Goody Osborn’s murder. The police said in his deposition that the accused was not guilty and that Goody Osborn was innocent. Mr. Goody Osborn did not give up his fight. The court heard that Goody Osborn had committed an act of treachery against his victims for money. The next day Goody Osborn entered Mrs. Mackeith’s house and set her and the family on the fire, so that Mrs. Mackeith could kill herself. The woman then died. Goody Osborn went to a tavern and threw the ashes over her head leaving a small bag and a note inside. The woman became enraged and began attacking him, but he managed to stab her