Salem Witch Trials
Early in 1692, the witch hunt started in Salem, Massachusetts. During
this time there were many stresses in the Massachusetts Bay Colony among
Salem Villages, who had a strong belief in the devil. A town not too far from
Salem had had a recent smallpox outbreak, and created fear and suspicion for
the Salem Villages. Nine-year old Elizabeth Parris and eleven years old
Abigail Williams started having fits, strange behaviors and would scream
with anger. A doctor looked at the girls and decided that
the only explanation was spells caused by witchcraft. The girls then
accused Tituba who was a family slave, Sarah Good, and Sarah Osborne of
telling them tales of omens, voodoo, and witchcraft.
Cotton Mather had just published a book about witchcraft and
the symptoms of the people under the spells. Since the girls fits were much
like those described in Mather's book, the family accepted of the doctor's
conclusion that the......
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