In 1689, the town of Salem was allowed to build its own church. Former businessman Samir Parris became the pastor. In February 1692, Pastor Parris's 9-year-old daughter Betty and niece Abigail suffered from a strange disease. They began

They were in a comatose state. The girls screamed and threw things. Sometimes their bodies cramped and they moaned in pain. Then, other girls also showed the same symptoms, and panic enveloped the entire town.

Pastor Paris invited Dr. Grigo. The doctor diagnosed that these girls were bewitched by witchcraft. Several priests came to the town to pray for the patients, but to no avail. So the priests asked the girls to point out those who used witchcraft.

People at that time generally believed that the devil was passed from one person to another. That is to say, the devil must let a person act as its agent. The devil would then appear as an agent to harm others. The ghost could only be seen by the victim.

See. It was this "ghost evidence theory" that was accepted by the court. At first, the girls pointed out that three women were witches: the slave girl Tituba; Sana Goode, a female beggar; Sana Osborne, a woman with

A woman who married as an indentured servant and rarely attended church meetings.

By May 1692, the jails in Salem and Boston were overcrowded with witchcraft suspects awaiting trial. About 200 people were accused of witchcraft, more women than men. As the number of witch cases continued to expand,

Some people began to doubt the authenticity of the accusations made by these girls. In the summer of 1692, the hanging of six witches did not end the witch trials in Massachusetts. More and more people showed symptoms of the disease, so the accusations of witches

There were more and more trials. Rich or poor, farmers or businessmen were accused. No one was immune from being accused of witchcraft.

Under the pressure of strong public opinion, Governor Philip issued an order on October 29, 1692: No suspects of witchcraft should be imprisoned unless absolutely necessary, and no suspects in custody should be harmed. On October 29, he also ordered the dissolution of the special trial court.

In January 1693, the last witchcraft trial ended. In May 1693, Governor Philip granted amnesty to all witchcraft suspects in custody and terminated all trials. So far, 19 people had been convicted of the Salem Witch Trials.

He was hanged and one person was crushed to death by a pile of stones.
Chapter completed!