All episodes. Documentary History. The story of Salem witch trials of and Writer Rob Blumenstein. David Ackroyd. Top credits Writer Rob Blumenstein. See more at IMDbPro.
Photos Add photo. Top cast Edit. Rob Blumenstein. Storyline Edit. Add content advisory. User reviews 1 Review. Top review. The documentary starts off dealing with the history of witchcraft, how it was originally accepted by Christians as they simply turned their back but then we get to cases where the Roman Catholic church decided it would be best to put witches to death.
Several historians are interviewed about how people decided who was witches, the ways to prove it and of course the eventual trials, which just led to mostly innocent people being killed. If you're a fan of the series then you should enjoy this episode.
While it's not going to teach experts anything they didn't already know, those with just general knowledge of the events should find this to be a good way to catch up with the basic events. Her initial verdict was, in fact, not guilty, but upon hearing the verdict the afflicted girls began to have fits in the courtroom. Judge Stoughton asked the jury to reconsider their verdict. A week later, the jury changed their minds and declared Nurse guilty.
On July 23, John Proctor wrote to the clergy in Boston. He knew the clergy did not fully approve of the witch hunts. Proctor told them about the torture inflicted on the accused and asked that the trials be moved to Boston where he felt he would get a fair trial.
The clergy later held a meeting, on August 1, to discuss the trials but were not able to help Proctor before his execution. Another notable person who was accused of witchcraft was Captain John Alden Jr. Alden was accused of witchcraft by a child during a trip to Salem while he was on his way home to Boston from Canada. Alden spent 15 weeks in jail before friends helped break him out and he escaped to New York.
He was later exonerated. Yet another crucial moment during the Salem Witch Trials was the public torture and death of Giles Corey. English law at the time dictated that anyone who refused to enter a plea could be tortured in an attempt to force a plea out of them. The torture consisted of laying the prisoner on the ground, naked, with a board placed on top of him. Heavy stones were loaded onto the board and the weight was gradually increased until the prison either entered a plea or died.
In mid-September, Corey was tortured this way for three days in a field near Howard Street until he finally died on September His death was gruesome and cruel and strengthened the growing opposition to the Salem Witch Trials.
As the trials and executions continued, colonists began to doubt that so many people could actually be guilty of this crime. They feared many innocent people were being executed. Local clergymen began speaking out against the witch hunt and tried to persuade officials to stop the trials. Around the end of September, the use of spectral evidence was finally declared inadmissible, thus marking the beginning of the end of the Salem Witch Trials. On September 22, eight people were hanged.
These were the last hangings of the Salem Witch Trials. The 52 remaining people in jail were tried in a new court, the Superior Court of Judicature, the following winter. Now that spectral evidence was not allowed, most of the remaining prisoners were found not guilty or released due to a lack of real evidence. Those who were found guilty were pardoned by Governor Phips. The governor released the last few prisoners the following May.
The others were either found guilty but pardoned, found not guilty, were never indicted or simply evaded arrest or escaped from jail.
Refused to enter a plea and tortured to death: Giles Corey September 19th, Escaped from Prison: John Alden Jr. Edward Bishop Jr. Other victims include two dogs who were shot or killed after being suspected of witchcraft. The fact is, no accused witches were burned at the stake in Salem, Massachusetts. Salem was ruled by English law at the time, which only allowed death by burning to be used against men who committed high treason and only after they had been hanged, quartered and drawn.
As for why these victims were targeted in the first place, historians have noted that many of the accused were wealthy and held different religious beliefs than their accusers. This, coupled with the fact that the accused also had their estates confiscated if they were convicted has led many historians to believe that religious feuds and property disputes played a big part in the witch trials.
Daily chores, business matters and other activities were neglected during the chaos of the witch trials, causing many problems in the colony for years to come, according to the book The Witchcraft of Salem Village:.
The people had been so determined upon hunting out and destroying witches that they had neglected everything else. Planting, cultivating, the care of houses, barns, roads, fences, were all forgotten. As a direct result, food became scarce and taxes higher. Farms were mortgaged or sold, first to pay prison fees, then to pay taxes; frequently they were abandoned.
Salem Village began that slow decay which eventually erased its houses and walls, but never its name and memory. As the years went by, the colonists felt ashamed and remorseful for what had happened during the Salem Witch Trials.
Since the witch trials ended, the colony also began to suffer many misfortunes such as droughts, crop failures, smallpox outbreaks and Native-American attacks and many began to wonder if God was punishing them for their mistake. On December 17, , Governor Stoughton issued a proclamation in hopes of making amends with God. The proclamation suggested that there should be:.
The day of prayer and fasting was held on January 15, , and was known as the Day of Official Humiliation. In , afflicted girl Ann Putnam, Jr.
Her apology states:. And particularly, as I was a chief instrument of accusing of Goodwife Nurse and her two sisters, I desire to lie in the dust, and to be humbled for it, in that I was a cause, with others, of so sad a calamity to them and their families; for which cause I desire to lie in the dust, and earnestly beg forgiveness of God, and from all those unto whom I have given just cause of sorrow and offence, whose relations were taken away or accused.
Since some families of the victims did not want their family member listed, not every victim was named. At the announcement ceremony, playwright Arthur Miller made a speech and read from the last act of his play, The Crucible, which was inspired by the Salem Witch Trials. On October 31, , the state amended the apology and cleared the names of the remaining unnamed victims, stating:. Everything we know now about the trials comes from just a handful of primary sources of the Salem Witch Trials.
In addition to official court records there are also several books written by the ministers and other people involved in the trials:. Sources: Upham, Charles W. Wiggin and Lunt, Crewe, Sabrina and Michael V. The Salem Witch Trials. Morrisiana, Jackson, Shirley. The Witchcraft of Salem Village.
Random House, Fowler, Samuel Page. Samuel Parris of Salem Village. William Ives and George W. This site helped a lot for me to understand the history of Salem. It also helped with my reading assignment. I wonder how many people ran away from The Salem Witch Trials. It seems like an easier thing to do than just sit there and be accused.
Also i seems like a smarter thing to do at the moment if you had a rival with one of the families in town. Not many people fled Salem, only a handful did, because Salem was their home and had been for a long time.
Where can I get a copy of the Salem map that you posted? I could use this for classroom use…. I think they where viewed in an horrible way, because the people who where accused where not really witches. Brooks, Rebecca Beatrice. Smithsonia, 8 Sept. Hi Sarah, I am the author and publisher of this blog. This site is not a part of the Smithsonian website. Hope that helps with your bibliography. I love this site! Did you know they executed 2 dogs?! How inhumane! It disgusts me but at the same time interests me, and makes me want to learn more.
When was this site last edited? Do you have a version number for this site? Also, when was his last updated? Thank you, using this as a source! This article was last updated on Nov 22, It is sad where the mind-set was back then. The preacher sad they could not kill the devil by shooting the dog but did anyway.
Then after said the dog died so it must have been innocent. A child pointed to a dog and said it bewitched me and shot the dog immediately. Then say they were wrong.
Then they even do a greater injustice by not only torturing folks in prison but hanging 19 of them and then putting rocks on a 71 year old man until he died because he would not state he was guilty or innocent some old English law if accused refused to make a plea. Thank you so much for this! Do you know if their are any reports from some of the people in the villiage? Most of the eyewitness accounts can be found in the court records and the books written by the ministers involved in the trials.
I find the history interesting and would like to find more information on this matter. I think in some forms that witches still exist in hidden arenas. If there is anyone has found anymore supporting theories please share. I am looking forward to the challenge of uncovering a multitude of analysis on this matter. Hi Rebecca…I saw that you have a lot of knowledge about Mary Easty…I was told this year at a funeral that I am a direct decendent of hers…I live in Salem and My Grandfather was name William Estey…do you by any chance have any history of the family tree?
Unfortunately, I do not have any information on her family tree but you might want to check out a genealogy site like ancestry. Ancestry is the easiest way. Just pay for a month and go nuts adding records to a tree. Lines going back to Salem and Colonial New England in general are usually well documented. It will be very easy. I have countless ancestors out of Massachusetts Bay Colony and one of my grandmothers was Martha Carrier.
Her son Richard is one of my 8th great grandfathers and I keep waiting for a DNA match to pop up with one of his other descendants. I need a bibliography for my class report. Native Americans and other religions represented threats by the Devil.
And this was for a people who saw themselves as ordered by God to build their shining City on a Hill. Massachusetts was like the early state of Israel. In , New England revolted and deposed the government of the Dominion of New England, and sent a representative back to London to report it, only to find that Parliament had deposed James II, and replaced him with William and Mary.
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