Salem Witch Trials
Skylar Stevens
The Salem Witch Trials was a cause of a illness they couldn't explain. When the first girl got sick that's really kind of what got people afraid that witches may be around them. But when the girl started to have "fits" as the called them back then which the doctor said it was bewitchment which really didn't help the cause of them to think other wise. Once other people started to have "fits" they were convinced that there were witches among them. But when well known peoples kids started to get sick they were pretty sure it was bewitchment. Once people started to blame others it got out of hand really fast. Between the dates 1862 to 1863 more than 200 people were accused or jailed and 20 were executed. The way they where accused was not really fair they just out of suspicious things in their home or the way they acted was really the only way they were determined a witch. The punishments back then were brutal, the most common punishment was being hanged not burned at the stake as most of us know it to be as well as being drowned, along with being stone pressed to death. Their thought process was that if you survived any of the punishments you where a witch. Once the witch trials started to lose steam was when the governor stepped in and he only did so because his wife was accused and that's how the Salem witch trials ended.
What do you think would happen if the governor didn't step in and how long do you think this would have lasted?
History Channel: Salem Witch Trials