The Frenzy of Salem Witch Trials

The Frenzy of Salem Witch Trials

Over the summer of 1692, members of the Massachusetts Bay Colony became caught up 

in a frenzy of superstition and scapegoating. From June through September, they sent 19 

fellow residents to Gallows Hill for hanging. They pressed another man to death with 

heavy stones. Others died in prison or languished there for months. The victims had all 

been convicted of practicing witchcraft. 

The hysteria began when pre-teen girls in Salem Village, Massachusetts, began behaving 

oddly. Nine-year-old Betty Parris seemed to become ill. She complained of fever, 

contorted as if in pain, dashed about strangely and dove beneath furniture. Her eleven-

year-old cousin Abigail Williams exhibited similar strange behavior. Physicians could 

not offer a physical explanation. Although many explanations for their symptoms come 

to mind today, in Puritan Massachusetts just one theory gained backing: the girls were 

victims of witchcraft. 

A man named Mather had recently published a book that described a Boston 

washerwoman who supposedly practiced witchcraft. The people of Salem Village 

identified similarities between the supposedly afflicted people in Boston and their own 

town’s young cousins. Before long, more local girls were exhibiting strange behavior that 

reminded people of trances and epileptic fits. 

In a frantic search for witches, the townspeople first targeted women from the edge of 

their community. For example, the accused Sarah Good was especially poor and 

sometimes begged for food and shelter. Sarah Osburne had scandalously married her 

indentured servant and attended church infrequently. And an enslaved woman named 

Tituba, whom various accounts describe as African or Native American, was also an easy 

target. The three women were brought before local magistrates on charges on witchcraft. 

After a few days of interrogation, they were sent to jail. 

The month of March continued with accusations of witchcraft spreading to other towns. 

Now upstanding members of society were accused too. Martha Corey, for example, had 

been a respected member of her church. Her being accused didn’t cast doubt on the 

escalating frenzy; it only confirmed that the Devil had permeated the heart of Salem 

Village. 

Once a person was accused of witchcraft, magistrates would have him or her arrested and 

interrogated. The accused was generally considered guilty until proven innocent, and the 

magistrates pressed the accused to confess. Next, witnesses were assembled and a grand 

jury convened. Defendants then went to trial and could be swiftly executed; the first 

person hanged was tavern owner Bridget Bishop, who was indicted, tried, and killed in 

June of 1692. 

In modern times, many explanations have been put forth for the adolescent girls’ strange 

behavior. It’s possible that the pre-teens, who were living in a repressive religious 

society, wanted more attention or were simply bored. Their behavior might also have had 

a physical origin such as bird-borne encephalitis, or even tainted rye. A type of rye 

fungus capable of developing in the Salem area is now known to cause violent fits, 

vomiting, hallucinations, and other physical problems. In fact, the hallucinogenic drug 

LSD is derived from this source.

Regardless of the causes underlying the girls’ behavior, adults in their community had 

various motivations to lash out against neighbors. First, the Puritan’s had just lost their 

colonial charter. The future of their New World sanctuary was being seriously called into 

question, so people were on edge. Second, land was becoming scarce. The first 

generation of colonists would not have enough farmland to support growing children’s 

new families. In this context, it isn’t surprising that widowed female landholders were 

targeted more than others. Third, the townspeople were already splintering socially. 

Merchants and farmers were becoming increasingly distinct classes, and some historians 

have noted that accusations of witchcraft reflected this class divide: accusers tended to be 

members of the agricultural sector, and the accused were members of the rising class. 

By September of 1692, town leadership had grown wary of the witch hunt. One of the 

judges, Samuel Sewall, publicly apologized for his participation in the hysteria. 

Several former jurors also came forward to say that they’d been mistaken in their 

judgments.  Families of the condemned were given financial compensation. With public 

confidence in the trials falling, the cries of the supposedly afflicted were increasingly 

ignored. Accusations of witchcraft eventually stopped. In 1693, people awaiting trial in 

prison were acquitted or gratefully received reprieves.