At the end of the 17th century in the American town of Salem, more than 200 people were accused of witchcraft, many of whom were executed or subjected to the most severe torture. However, even 328 years later, no one can say for sure what caused those terrible events.
Almost every inhabitant of our planet knows about the history of hunting for Salem witches. Persecution, mass executions, torture and hysteria that engulfed the whole city - the events of those years left a deep and painful trace in the history of not only the United States, but the whole world. No matter how many modern researchers put forward theories, today there is still no definite answer, what exactly made thousands of Salem residents arrange one of the most cruel and massive witch hunts in human history.
Salem was founded in 1626 by Puritans who came to the United States from England. The morals of the inhabitants were very strict - religion was the main thing in their life, children were brought up within strict frameworks, and those who violated church traditions instantly became outcasts.
Despite fanatical piety, the inhabitants of Salem were in constant conflict with each other - mainly the land issue became the cause of civil strife. Farms, which were the main source of food and income for local people, became less and less, and the number of residents, on the contrary, increased. That is why the Salemians actively fought among themselves, trying by hook or by crook to get themselves territories suitable for agriculture.
Also, the inhabitants of the city, faced with any natural disasters or diseases, be it drought, lingering rains or epidemics, explained it simply - God's wrath and the intervention of the devil. Therefore, when two young women from Salem developed frightening symptoms of an incomprehensible illness, everyone already knew that the girls were possessed by Satan.
It all began in the winter of 1692, when Pastor Samuel Parris' 9-year-old daughter Elizabeth and her cousin, 11-year-old Abigail Williams, began to behave strangely. The girls showed aggression, suddenly screamed, as if someone invisible was pinching them painfully or pricking them with a needle, complaining that they saw some translucent figures and could not stand the words of prayers.
Local residents began to put forward logical, in their opinion, assumptions, all of which boiled down to the fact that the girls were cursed by a witch. These guesses were soon confirmed by Dr. William Griggs, who stated that he had already encountered similar cases in Boston.
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Obsessed with the idea of a curse, the inhabitants of Salem asked the girls to tell them exactly who was responsible for what was happening, and Elizabeth and Abigail pointed to the first "witch" - an African American maid, Tituba, who worked in the Parris household.
Unhappy Tituba was immediately taken into custody, and along with her, two more suspects - the widow Sarah Osborne and the beggar Sarah Good. All three women were interrogated using torture, but only Parris's maid admitted to the deed, who could not stand the torture.
The story did not end there - just a few days later, the city authorities arrested the 4-year-old daughter of Sarah Good, who called herself a witch in the hope of meeting her mother. After that, a wave of arrests swept across Salem - women who were at least superficially familiar with the accused, as well as residents of the city who did not trust the words of Elizabeth and Abigail, went to prison. In addition, as part of the investigation, three men were even arrested, who were associated with the accused.
Already in early May of the same year, the first death occurred - Sarah Osborne died in prison. The cause of death is not known for certain, but at the time of her arrest Sarah was seriously ill, and the torture and terrible conditions of detention only contributed to the deterioration of her condition.
And at the end of the month, a loud trial began over the "Salem witches", as the people called them. The jury included several close friends of the Governor of Massachusetts Bay, William Phips, who, by the way, did not even have a legal education.
The main "evidence" in the women's case was the testimony of the girls, to whom the spirits of the accused were allegedly. The court considered this testimony to be adequate and sentenced several Salem women to death at once.
The first execution took place on June 10, when Bridget Bishop was hanged in the main square of the city. About a month later, several more "witches" were executed, including Sarah Good. When the condemned was given the last word, she turned to the priest who took part in the process:
It is noteworthy that the words spoken by Sarah turned out to be prophetic - the priest Nicholas Noes soon died, choking on his own blood.
After that, about fifteen more people were executed in the city, and one man was tortured to death - the fact is that formally a person could not be sentenced to death if he did not confess to the crime. Therefore, at that time the accused were subjected to the most terrible and cruel tortures, including quartering, beating with stones, torture with water, as a result of which the majority pleaded guilty against their will.
"Witch House" in Salem, preserved to this day.
The city seemed to be seized by some kind of mass madness - people testified about their own friends and relatives, and angry crowds of townspeople watched with pleasure the torments of those who were sentenced to death or torture, shouting humiliating insults at the unfortunate.
Very soon, this "epidemic" of cruelty moved to the neighboring cities of Topsfield, Boston and Andover - Elizabeth Parris and Abigail Williams became experts of sorts, who were invited to expose witches.
The result of this bloody witch hunt was the arrest of about two hundred people, 30 of whom were sentenced to death. In 19 cases the sentence was carried out, and it is also unknown how many people were tortured.
In May 1693, the Salem witches' trial was officially completed, and the surviving suspects were pardoned. And a little later, already in 1702, the court found that the earlier sentences were illegal. The judges who participated in the process also admitted their mistake.
After the Salem witch trials were officially declared illegal and flawed, Elizabeth Parris and Abigail Williams became pariahs in Salem. The residents of the city despised the girls, and especially active citizens called on the authorities to execute them. However, this did not happen - Elizabeth married at the age of 27, and Abigail's trail was lost in 1694.
The terrible events that took place in Salem haunted people for a long time. Many researchers put forward their theories as to what caused such harsh and bloody persecution - mass psychosis caused by poisoning with any poisonous substance, especially the psychology of the Puritans, hysteria.
In 1976, the American popular science publication Science published a theory according to which girls suffered from hallucinations caused by ergot poisoning. But this version was soon refuted.
"Witch House" in Salem.
Another explanation appeared some time later - the researchers suggested that Elizabeth and Abigail suffered from lethargic encephalitis. The symptoms of this disease are very similar to those experienced by girls in 1692.
Also, many scientists suggested that there could be a conspiracy between the girls, tired of living under the harsh laws of the Puritans - that is, they just decided to have fun.
One way or another, there is no unequivocal answer to the question of what happened to the inhabitants of Salem in 1692. But all researchers agree that the tragic experience of our ancestors should become an important lesson for future generations.