We all know what witches are. The
fake warty girls with flying brooms that brew potions and cast spells. But in
the 1600s, everyone thought that they were real.
In 1692, in Salem, which is in New
England, two girls, who were nine and eleven, started playing weirdly. First,
they were acting crazy and their dad, Samuel Paris, got worried about them. He
got the doctor and the doctor thought that they were cursed by witches. Even
doctors believed in witches. At present day doctors would instantly find out
that the girls were faking, but this doctor was wrong.
The girls liked the attention. The
girls accused an old Indian woman of witchcraft. She was put on trial to see if
she was a witch. They said that if she bit her lip, she was biting everyone. Also,
they said that when she laid on the ground screaming she was crushing them. She
was hung. Soon, the girls started accusing more people and older girls joined
the girls. Soon other people started accusing everybody. For example, a dad accused
his own wife.
The people would beat the accused
people until they would lie and say that they were a witch so they would stop
beating them. Some would not admit it and were killed or sent to jail. Also,
some that had confessed felt bad about lying and so took back what they said.
This whole horribleness lasted for
about a year. About 19 people were hung. One was pressed to death and four died
in jail. Then, the people regained their
senses. Jail doors were open and the people stopped believing in witches. The
two girls were never punished for what they had done, but one of them confessed
later in life. Many people were hung and sent to jail. Some were even
brave enough to get killed rather than to lie.
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